What India are up against

India will host the U-17 World Cup in just under two weeks in what is undoubtedly the biggest footballing event to grace the subcontinent.Being hosts, India have been granted direct entry to the finals. India are slotted into Group A along with Colombia, USA and Ghana.

Unlike India, all three of their opponents USA, Colombia and Ghana have previous experience of playing in the U-17 World Cup.

The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be Colombia's sixth appearance at the blockbuster event. It will be their first since Nigeria 2009, where they had managed a thirdplace finish.

Ghana have been a household name when it comes to the tournament, thanks to improved focus on youth football in many African countries over the past three decades. They have participated in nine of the 17 World Cup events starting with their first back in Scotland 1989.

Their most successful stint though was back in the 90s. The U-17 stars of the West African nation won twice (Italy 1991 and Ecuador 1995), finishing runners-up as many times (Japan 1993 and Egypt 1997 all during four back-to-back editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Even in the 1999 edition of the tournament held in New Zealand, Ghana finished third. They qualified again for the 2005 edition of the tournament but failed to get through the group stage. Some salvation was achieved when in 2007 they ended the tournament as the fourth best team but for another 10 years, the Black Starlets have been nowhere to be seen in the world's elite junior football championship.

That's no reason to underestimate them though. They're likely to provide stern physical tests to anyone in the World Cup. The USA meanwhile has qualified for almost every edition of the tournament since its inception back in 1985. The US side fai led to qua li fy only once, in 2013.

T he 2 017 edition of the tournament will be their 16th ap pearance in the U-17 World Cup.

Their best finish to date is four th place back in the 1999 edition of the tournament where they were led by the now legendary Landon Donovan.

To put things into perspective, this is India's very first Under-17 World Cup. In that sense, one must keep the expectations grounded to reality as opposed to expecting a miracle of sorts. As much as been said by the team management, but home support will only improve the chances of the team.