As part of promoting the upcoming U-17 World Cup matches to be held in Kochi next month, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the event 'one million goals' by kicking a football into the goal in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.

The state-level inauguration was done by Vijayan at 3pm and soon this event got going across the length and breadth of the state, including 941 local bodies, 87 municipalities, six corporations, and more than 7,000 educational institutions and clubs.

The programme will end by sunset and by then a record one million goals are expected to be scored by celebrities and the common man.

Every person is allowed to take only one shot.

After Vijayan took the kick, leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala, cabinet colleagues of Vijayan and several legislators all took spot kicks in an attempt to score.

Kochi will host six league matches, one pre-quarterfinal and one quarter-final during the U-17 World Cup. The response to the event has been good with tickets for the first Group D fixture to be held in Kochi on October 7 being sold out.