15-year-old Zongo decides
©IMAGO
Defending champion Germany was surprisingly eliminated early from the U17 World Cup in Qatar. Coach Marc-Patrick Meister’s team lost 0-1 (0-1) in Doha to Burkina Faso in the round of the last 32 teams and thus missed out on the round of 16.
In the preliminary round games, the German young footballers reached the next round as group winners with just one win against El Salvador (7-0). Two years ago, the then U17 team won the World Cup title in Indonesia under current women’s national coach Christian Wück. Burkina Faso will now face Uganda in the round of 16 in the African duel.
The German team struggled against the Africans for a long time after falling behind early on. With his second goal of the tournament, 15-year-old Muhammad Zongo gave Burkina Faso the lead in the 5th minute with a remarkable long-range shot. The German team came into the game better and had a number of good scoring opportunities.
The German team came into the game better and had a number of good scoring opportunities. But the Africans defended their lead passionately in the 14 minutes of stoppage time and remained dangerous on the counterattack.