The women’s national football team hailed FIFA’s decision to give the 2020 U-17 World Cup to India, calling it a “game-changer“. On Friday, FIFA announced India as the hosts for the tournament. It will be the second FIFA World Cup event being held in India in four years - the first being the U-17 World Cup in 2017. “My initial reaction was ‘wow’!” said head coach Maymol Rocky, before stating that hosting the World Cup will be a huge step in developing the sport and increasing its popularity, especially among girls. “I am delighted that an Indian women’s team will take part at a World Cup for the very first time. It will increase awareness about women’s football and in the process, create a bigger base for subsequent age-group and senior national teams - which is good for us as coaches as well,” she stated. RELATED | SAFF Women’s C’ship: India defeats Sri Lanka, storms into semis Coach Maymol also said that like the U-17 World Cup, this competition will pave the way for the sport to grow pan-India. “The U-17 World Cup in 2017 was a huge success and this is a chance to carry forward the excellent work,” she said. She added, “It has helped spread the game across the country and we have seen some great talents come out from that team as well. We can expect the same from the girls’ team that will play in 2020 and a few years down the line, it will only help add more quality in the senior team as well.” Goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan hailed the news as a “game-changer” for the sport in India. “I’m very excited that India will host the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup next,” she said. RELATED | Bigger challenge lies ahead: AIFF chief on getting U-17 Women’s World Cup “It will be a golden opportunity for the girls to step up and change the way women’s football is looked at in our country. We are already moving in a positive direction and this World Cup will accelerate the process and can be a real game-changer for us,” the custodian added. Defender Dalima Chhibber opined that the opportunity to play in a World Cup will promote participation from women in the sport. She stated, “The World Cup will be a great platform for young girls. I feel that this will encourage parents to support their children in playing football and push more youngsters to take up the sport.”<doc-sep>India will host the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, FIFA confirmed in a statement on Friday. This comes as a great opportunity for the Indian women team to leave a lasting impression on a global stage. Spain are the defending champions while New Zealand and Canada finished third and fourth respectively. The development comes after India played hosts to FIFA U-17 men’s World Cup. Javier Ceppi, the U-17 men’s World Cup tournament director congratulated India after being declared the hosts for the event. He put out a tweer saying: “amazing news for India and the women’s game”. @IndianFootball will host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2020. Amazing news for India and the women's game!!! — Javier Ceppi (@JavierCeppi) March 15, 2019 By virtue of being the host country, India will enter the tournament for the first time in history. Back in 2017, India had also hosted the Under-17 Men’s FIFA World Cup. Currently, the Indian women’s national team is taking part in the SAFF Women’s Championship where it kicked off its campaign with a resounding 6-0 win over Maldives at the Sahid Rangashala Stadium on Wednesday.<doc-sep>What's the Story? India has been officially appointed as the hosts of the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. France was the only other country to bid for the tournament but the highest governing body of football in the world gave the rights to India. The dates and venues for the tournament are yet to be announced. In case you don't know... FIFA started to organize the U-17 Women's World Cup from 2008 in a gap of every two years with North Korea winning the inaugural tournament in New Zealand. After that, South Korea, France, Japan, North Korea, and Spain won the subsequent editions of the tournament. FIFA opened the bid for hosting the tournament on 25 July 2018 and France were the first country to pitch their name in. India, too, pitched for hosting the tournament later. The last date to express their interest was 12 September 2018 and, FIFA announced a day later that India and France were the only two countries to officially place a bid. The heart of the matter FIFA was slated to announce the host of the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup on March 15th, 2019 via their 9th FIFA Council press conference. After closely examining bids from both France and India, the parent body addressed the media in Miami that India would host the eighth edition of the tournament. AIFF, the highest governing body of football in India, also confirmed the development via their official Twitter handle. We are delighted to announce that India has been confirmed as the host of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2020 🙌🇮🇳🏆#ShePower #BackTheBlue #IndianFootball — Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) March 15, 2019 What's next? This would be the second World Cup to be played on the Indian soil after India successfully hosted the FIFA U-17 Men's World Cup in 2017. FIFA and the entire world praised India a lot for their efforts. A total of sixteen teams will participate in the 2020 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup including India. The slot allocation to each of the confederations and the fixture details will be announced by FIFA on a later date.<doc-sep>India has won the rights to host the 2020 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup, which will be the seventh edition of the biennial tournament. As host, India will gain a direct qualification to the tournament and will be participating for the first time. India, which is affiliated to the Asian Football Confederation, failed to qualify for the 2018 edition after finishing third in its AFC under-16 championship qualifying group, behind South Korea and Philippines. The top three teams from the AFC Under-16 Championship qualify for the Under-17 Women's World Cup. “We are delighted to announce that India has been confirmed as the host of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020,” Infantino said after the FIFA Council meeting in Miami, USA. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) had expressed its interest to host the tournament in 2018, a year after the country successfully hosted the Under-17 Men's World Cup, which England won, beating Spain in the final. The Spain under-17 women's team is the defending champion, while North Korea has had most success in the competition with two titles. Japan in 2014, France in 2012 and South Korea in 2010 have been the other winners. After being awarded the hosting rights, AIFF tweeted, "We are delighted to announce that India has been confirmed as the host of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2020". We are delighted to announce that India has been confirmed as the host of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2020#ShePower #BackTheBlue #IndianFootball — Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) March 15, 2019 This will be the second FIFA tournament India will be hosting, after the country hosted the U-17 Men’s World Cup in 2017.<doc-sep>
India have been confirmed as the hosts of FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2020, All India Football Federation's twitter handle announced on Friday. Ever since India hosted the FIFA U-17 Men's World Cup in 2017, they were in talks to host the U-17 Women's World Cup as well and they were confirmed as hosts on Friday. By virtue of being the hosts, India's U-17 women's football team will be part of the World Cup. This will be only the second time that India will play in a FIFA World Cup. The last time India played in a World Cup was the U-17 Men's World Cup, where also India qualified by virtue of being the hosts. We are delighted to announce that India has been confirmed as the host of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in 2020 #ShePower #BackTheBlue #IndianFootball Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) March 15, 2019 India had hosted the U-17 World Cup in 2017 successfully and all of the national team's games were held in New Delhi at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, where they had an average attendance of 50,000. The final of that tournament was held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, where England defeated Spain to lift the U-17 Men's World Cup. When India host the U-17 Women's World Cup next year, Spain will be defending their title. In the 2018 edition of the event, Spain had defeated Mexico in the final to lift the title. Also, New Zealand and Canada had finished third and fourth in the event last year. Javier Ceppi, the tournament director for the FIFA U-17 Men's World Cup that India hosted in 2017, took to Twitter after the news was confirmed and expressed his happiness. @IndianFootball will host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2020. Amazing news for India and the women's game!!! Javier Ceppi (@JavierCeppi) March 15, 2019 Also AIFF president Praful Patel took to Twitter and said, "A very proud moment and a honour that our country #India and #AIFF has been confirmed as the host of #FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2020. We will strive to make it a grand success."