Mali get comprehensive win at FIFA Under-17 World Cup

Mali picked up a victory in their opening game in Group L at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, but there were narrow defeats for Burkina Faso and Uganda.

Mali served notice that they will be a force in this tournament as they defeated New Zealand 3-0 to get their title charge off to the perfect start.

Seydou Dembele had them ahead in the first half, before Zoumana Ballo added a second and Ndjicoura Bomba got a third to give the scoreline a more emphatic look.

Mali head the pool after Austria edged Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the other game in the pool. Mali will take on the Austrians in their next fixture on Saturday.

Uganda led their Group K opener against Canada up until the 88^th minute after James Bogere’s first half goal.

But once the Canadians equalised, they were then awarded a 98^th minute penalty that was converted to give the North American side a 2-1 victory.

Uganda must now look to regroup when they take on Chile on Saturday. The latter lost 2-0 to France in their opener. 

Burkina Faso also suffered an opening game defeat as they went down 1-0 to the United States and will look to bounce back when they play the Czech Republic on Saturday.  

The Czechs were 6-1 winners over Tajikistan in their first fixture.

The top two teams in each group automatically advance to the Round of 32, along with the eight best third-placed teams, providing plenty of opportunity for qualification.