Defending champions Spain won the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup with a 1-0 victory over first-time finalists Colombia whose campaign ended in a heartbreak after an own goal in the summit clash here on Sunday.
Spain emerged the winners after an own goal by Colombian defender Ana Maria Guzman Zapata in the 82nd minute of the final at the DY Patil Sports Stadium.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino, alongside top officials from the Asian Football Federation (AFC) and All India Football Federation (AIFF), was in attendance at the venue as Spain retained the title they won in 2018.
Spain took the lead with Cristina’s goal, when she scored off the rebound after the Colombian goalkeeper had stopped it the first time. However, the score remained 0-0 as the goal was disallowed by a VAR review.
It ruled that Cristina had touched the ball with her hand.
The two teams also met in the group phase, with Spain winning 1-0. This was European giants Spain’s second title. In the third-place classification match, Nigeria beat Germany 3-2 on penalties. After regulation time the teams were locked 3-3.
Two missed penalties by Germany’s Paulina Platner and Loreen Bender and a save by goalkeeper Omilana Faith off Paulina Bartz’s shot paved the way for Nigeria’s first-ever medal in the tournament.
Nigeria began the match in good stead and were rewarded when forward Opeyemi Ajakaye broke her goal drought with her brilliant 20th-minute opener for the Flamingos.
The game stayed that way for the first half but the Nigerians doubled the lead three minutes into the second half.
Coach Olowookere Bankole’s girls then made it three when Etim Edidiong found the back of the net in the 63rd minute.
But the Germans were not done. They scored three goals in the last 17 minutes to push the game to penalties.
Written with inputs from PTI