A return of one point from a possible six is often enough to write off any team’s chances of progressing in tournament football.
But as the national Under-17 team Cubs play their final group game at the on-going Fifa U-17 World Cup against France on Tuesday, qualification to the round-of-32 remains an achievable target.
The Cubs have in fact made hard work of the two games played so far, dominating and taking the lead against Canada before a loss in concentration allowed two late goals to flip the result into a 2-1 loss.
They also largely kept Chile in check, stopping the South Americans from scoring in open play before forcing a 1-all draw with Derrick Ssozi’s stoppage time effort.
“We are playing a tough opponent in France in regards to pedigree. But from what I’ve seen today (against Chile) , unlike the first game, we are very good in every aspect of the game,” Cubs head coach Brian Ssenyondo said after seeing his team force a 1-all draw against Chile with a goal in added time from Ssozi.
“It (the performance) shows resilience. It shows a team that has character and can come back from a goal down and from the painful loss we got against Canada,” Ssenyondo noted.
From a number of permutations, the Cubs must first win against France this afternoon to stand any chance of progress.
The result would put them level on four points with their opponents who go into the final round of games joint top with Canada.
With head to head considered ahead of goal difference, a win for Uganda will put them above France and then hope to better Chile’s record who start the day bottom of Group K also on one point before they play Canada.
A failure to finish among the top two in the group means the Cubs can then wait to see if their record is among that of the the eight best third-placed teams from all 12 groups to advance to the round-of-32 stage.
We were unfortunate that we did not score from open play but it is also good that we conceded from a set play and also scored from it.
“So there are positives to take from it (1-all draw against Chile) so it can only encourage us going into the France game. “I believe we shall put up a spirited performance and we will attain our target hopefully,” Ssenyondo stated.
To reach their maiden World Cup, the Cubs faced a somewhat similar elimination game from the Afcon Under-17 tournament that saw them need to defeat Gambia 2-1 in a playoff to confirm their place at the global stage.
Striker James Bogere scored both goals in that victory and will again be the main source of goals having been a constant menace for the Cubs from the two games thus far scoring the opener in the 2-1 loss to Canada and having two goals cancelled cancelled for marginal offside decisions in each of the two games.
Fifa U17 World Cup
Group K Standings
France 2 1 1 0 2 0 +2 4
Canada 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4
Uganda 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
Chile 2 0 1 1 1 3 -2 1