Ghana 1-0 Colombia, FIFA U17 World Cup 2017, As it happened

That's all from us for now. But stay tuned for our SK live commentaries on the big match from tonight, as India take on USA, in their first ever World Cup match. It's a historic moment, folks. So do not even dare to miss it. The match kicks off at 8pm IST. You can follow the live commentary here: https://www.sportskeeda.com/live/india-vs-usa-live-score-and-commentary-fifa-u17-world-cup-2017

The first 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in New Delhi was quite a thriller, with both Ghana and Colombia playing some scintillating football. Both the sides created some good chances, in a match that ebbed and flowed from one end of the pitch to the other. However, it was Ghana, who came out winners in the end, with a first half goal, courtesy Sadiq Ibrahim.

FULL TIME! The ball is played back to Colombia keeper Mier, who hooves it upfield. However, the South Americans have run out of time, as the referee blows his whistle.

90'+5 Ayiah swivels past a defender on the edge of the box, and puts his laces through it. However, he did not connect with the ball well enough, and skewed it wide.

90'+1 Ibrahim is played through, as he dinks it over the Colombia defender to put Ayiah throguh one-on-one with the keeper. However, the latter's first touch does him in, as Mier collects the ball easily.

90' Yellow Card: Ibrahim tries to break down the right flank, but Martinez gives a hard tug on his shirt. Yellow card for the Colombia player.

88' Substitution for Ghana: Arko-Mensah comes n for Toku.

86' Substitution: Barrero will not be able to continue. He hobbles off the pitch with tears in his eyes. Juan Vidal comes on in his place.

83' Campaz received the ball after a flurry of passes, on the edge of the area, and played a deliate through ball between the legs of the Ghana defenders, towards Barrero. Barrero however, could not reach it. He seemed to have pulled something, as he tried to reach the ball.He is now lying on the pitch, holding his right knee.

81' Meneses receives the ball in the middle of the park, and plays it through to Caicedo on the right wing. The latter ran dangerously into the box, and opened up his left foot, to pull the trigger. However, he was unable to curl it into the far post, as the ball trickled past the byline.

78' Barrero, chasing the ball, barges into Ghana keeper Danald Ibrahim, who immediately goes down. However, he gets back on his feet after receiving a little medical attention.

77' Toku plays a delicate one-two with Aminu to release the latter on the left flank, close to the box. Aminu turns and tries to smash it into goal, but Mier saves adeptly.

76' Substitution, Ghana: Isaac Gyamfi comes on for Moammed Iddriss

73' Ayiah is played through on goal, and is one-on-one with the keeper. However, he is tackled, fairly, as the ball bobbles between the Ghana captain and Mier. Ayiah manages to get a foot on the ball, to play a cut-back, but there was nobody there to get on the end of that.

70' Campaz plays it through to Barrero, who again cuts it back for Campaz. However, the ball is a little too far for Campaz, as Ghana defenders thwart yet another attack.

68' Substitution: Deyman Cortes comes off, as Santiago Berrero is brought on.

65' Colombia have their seventh corner of the game, which again they played short, before playing in a cross. Ghana Keeper Danald Ibrahim rushed out of his line, but made a feeble punch, as Colombia got the ball again. However, the chance was eventually cleared by Ghana.

60' Ibrahim gets the ball on the right again. He cuts it back for Toku outside the area, who blasts it into the stands.

58' Colombia are hogging the loin's share of the ball, but Ghana are presenting a well-drilled defence. They are thwarting everything that Colombia are throwing at them.

55' Colombia have been chasing shadows so far. They have committed 10 fouls so far, as compared to Ghana's 4.

49' Ibrahim breaks down the right wing, and fires in a low cross for Ayiah. However, it was a bit off a difficult chance, and the latter shoots wide.

48' Correafinds imself outside the box with a bit of space, and decides to pull the trigger. However, his shot was so wayward, that it probably landed on the moon.

The players are back out on the pitch, and we are all set for the second half kickoff!

Half time! And the referee blows the whistle, as Colombia keeper Kevin Mier hooves a long goal kick down the field. It has been an enthralling quarter of an hour of football, with Ghana dominating the proceedings. However, Colombia have also had their moments, and have looked dangerous on the counter. Ghana go into the dressing room with a one-goal lead at half time. A win in this first game will firmly put one of their feet in the Round of 16.

45'+3 Aminu takes a short corner for Ghana, plays a one-two, dinks past a couple of defenders. However, he does a bit too much there, and ends up running the ball over the goal line. Goal kick to Colombia.

45'+1 Ayiah has gone down on the pitch once again. That earlier knock seems to have taken its toll, as he hobbles off the pitch.

44' Mejia hurls a long throw into the box, but the Ghana defenders adeptly clear it. The Colombia man gets it back, and attempts to cross it into the box. However, his cross is thwarted by Ibrahim, this time. Ghana have showed some solid defending today.

39' GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! Toku plays a lovely ball down the left flank to release Ayiah, who fires it into the box, seeing two of his comrades in the area. Imrahim, unmarked, rushes in from the far post, to fire it in. And that's how we have the first goal of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, folks!

36' Ayiah attempts to put Colombia defender Perera under some pressure, as the ball bobbles around the box. The two have a bit of a clash as they try to win the ball, and Yyiah goes down on the ground, wincing in pain. However, he hobbles back on the pitch affter receiving some treatment.

35' Gomez is slowly starting to grow into the game, as he dictates things for Colombia. However, the South Americans are playing on one side, making it easy for the Ghana defenders to close them down. Perhaps a bit of switch of play is required.

33' CORNER for Colombia! Gomez takes another short corner, as Campaz is played into the penalty box again. However, his low cross is easily cleared by the Ghana defence.

32' CORNER for Colombia! Colombia take it short, but the Ghana defenders were able to get their foot in, and clear for a trow-in.

28' Toku shows some great first touch, as he receives an aerial ball on the edge of a box, lobs the ball around a Colombia defender, and pulls the trigger. It takes a deflection and goes straight to Ibrahim, who taps it into the goal with ease. However, he turned around to see that the linesman had already flagged him offside.

25' Ghana started off as the stronger side, but Colombia have looked dangerous on the break so far. The South Americans are slowly growing into the game, now.

23' Campaz swings it in from the left yet again, but his cross is wayward, to say the least. Colombia do not seem to be able to find that final pass.

21' FREE KICK to Colombia! Gomez swings in a rather weird free kick, which the Ghana defenders negotiate easily.

20' Ibrahim goes in with a high challenge, as he plants his stunds into his opponent's shin. However, the referee just signals for a free kick. That could easily have been a Red card.

17' CHANCE! Campaz breaks through the Ghana defence yet again, as he weaves past the defenders. However, he dribbled himself into too tight an angle, and the Ghana GK got down to make an easy save.

15' CHANCE! Long ball played through, as Ghana defender lets the ball drop in the defending third. Campaz strikes it on the half volley, but he shoots wide.

14' Ibrahim in the tick of things again. Plays a miscued cross from the left, as the ball flies towards the top corner, as the keeper tips it over the bar.

12' Ghana skipper Ibrahim jumps high to play a headed through ball into the box. However, there was no pace on that header, and the Colombia keeper collected it easily.

8' The game is still 0-0 here as we faced some technical issues. We are back live again and both teams have basically cancelled each other out in the opening exchanges.

1' We are underway. The FIFA U17 World Cup is underway.

We are moments away from kick-off here and Colombia will start off proceedings from the centre circle.

Both sets of players are warming up now.

The lineups are out and here are the 22 players who will take to the field at kick-off.

Ghana XI: Ibrahim (GK), Yakubu, Ayiah (C), K Mohammed, Toku, A Mohammed, Yusif, Mensah, Alhassan, Iddriss, Ibrahim.

Colombia XI: Mier, Cifuentes, Gutierrez (C), Perea, Campaz, Gomez, Penaloza, Mejia, Meneses, Cortes, Martinez.

The referee for the match will be Frenchman Clement Turpin.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the FIFA U17 World Cup 2017.

Today, we have Ghana taking on Colombia in the opening clash of the U17 World Cup in New Delhi.

The African giants Ghana will look to clinch their third FIFA U17 World Cup crown in this edition and they have been handed a simpler group with hosts India and the USA being the other Group A teams apart from Colombia.

That said, the Colombians will be no pushovers and Los Cafeteros have been pulling up big trees at international level in recent years, suggesting that their upcoming generation is also one to look out for.

The match kicks off at 5 pm Indian Standard Time at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi.

Here are the full squads of both the teams:

Ghana

GOALKEEPERS: Danlad Ibrahim, Michael Acquaye, Kwame Aziz

DEFENDERS: Najeeb Yakubu, Gideon Mensah, Bismark Owusu, Edmund Arko-Mensah, Abdul Yusif, Gideon Acquah, Rashid Alhassan, John Otu

MIDFIELDERS: Isaac Gyamfi, Gabriel Leveh, Ibrahim Sulley, Kudus Mohammed, Emmanuel Toku, Mohammed Iddriss, Sadiq Ibrahim

FORWARDS: Eric Ayiah, Richard Danso, Mohammed Aminu

Colombia

GOALKEEPERS: Nicolás Gómez, Kevin Mier, Daniel Melo

DEFENDERS: Andrés Cifuentes, Guillermo Tegue

MIDFIELDERS: Christian Andrade, Thomas Gutiérrez, Andrés Perea, Bryan Gomez, Juan Penaloza, Robert Mejia, Yadir Meneses, Gustavo Carjaval, Fabian Angel, Etilso Martinez

FORWARDS: Leandro Campaz, Luiz Lopez, Santiago Barrero, Deiber Caicedo, Deyman Cortes, Juan Vidal

Ghana 1-0 Colombia, FIFA U17 World Cup 2017, As it happened

Ghana 1-0 Colombia, Full-time. Sadiq Ibrahim 39'