Five minutes later, a cross by Riley and cleared by Shubhangi Singh was received and brought down by Melina, who then shot with her second touch into the net. At the mid-way mark, the silent stadium stood gaping at a forgettable scoreline of 0-5 with Gisele Thompson netting the fifth goal in the 39th minute.

Natalia decided to test bench strength when she replaced Riley Jackson with Mia Bhuta in midfield. And that, made the scoreline explode. Mia assisted Emri Ella– six minutes into the second half – to make it 6-0, while Taylor Suarez scored from the spot to set the record for biggest win for USA in the history of the tournament.

The cherry on top for the United States team was 62nd-minute strike by Mia. The only US player of Indian descent in the 2022 World Cup, Mia buried the ball into the net with a left-footed curler from outside the box.

India, on the other hand, failed to land a single shot on target in the match. The embarrassing loss will be a reality check for India and coach Thomas Dennerby, who had stressed that his team will be defensively strong and difficult to score against.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was formally introduced to both the India and USA teams amidst vibrant fireworks. Also present on the occasion were Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Sports Minister Anurag Thakur and Nisith Pramanik, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura, AIFF President Kalyan Choubey and Secretary Dr Shaji Prabhakaran.
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TOP: An aeriel view of the iconic Kalinga Stadium, the Bhubaneswar-based venue of the FIFA U-17 Womens World Cup 2022.
RIGHT: Players of the USA team celebrate after scoring a goal against debutants and host India in Bhubaneswar on 11 October 2022.