The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be the 17th edition of the competition, the biennial international men’s youth football championship contested by the U17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA.
The tournament will be hosted by India between the 6th and 28th of October 2017. This will be the first FIFA tournament hosted by the country. The final will be held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 28th October 2017. Nigeria, the 2015 champions will not be able to defend their title as they failed to qualify for the final round of the CAF qualifying tournament, thereby not meeting the qualification criteria. In doing so, they became the first incumbent title holders since Switzerland in 2009 to fail to qualify for the subsequent tournament. Surprisingly Nigeria is the most successful team at this level having won the title on 5 occasions and finishing second 3 times.
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The Road to India
24 youth teams will contest for the title in this year’s competition, with the teams having qualified via regional qualification tournaments.
Africa
Ghana, Guinea, Mali and Niger reached the semi-finals of the 2017 CAF Africa U-17 Cup of Nations in Gabon to take Africa’s spots at India 2017.
Asia
Iraq, Iran, Japan and Korea DPR joined the hosts in qualifying for India 2017 by virtue of reaching the semi-finals of the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship.
Europe
Spain, Turkey, England and Germany reached the 2017 UEFA European U-17 Championship semi-finals and, in doing so, secured berths at India 2017. They will be joined by France, who won a play-off match against Hungary and clinched their spot in the global tournament.
North, Central America and Caribbean
The 2017 CONCACAF U-17 Championship was held in Panama from 21 April to 7 May 2017.Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and USA secured the four available spots for India 2017.
South America
The 2017 South American U-17 Football Championship took place from 23 February to 19 March 2017 in Chile. Paraguay, Chile, Brazil and Colombia collected the four available slots.
Oceania
The 2017 OFC U-17 Championship was held in Tahiti from 11 to 24 February 2017. New Caledonia and New Zealand reached the OFC final to qualify for India 2017.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage will be held on the 7th of July 2017 in Mumbai.
Venues
Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata – Capacity: 85,000
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi – Capacity: 75,000
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi – Capacity: 60,000
DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai – Capacity: 55,000
Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati – Capacity: 35,000
Fatorda Stadium, Margoa – Capacity: 19,000
With the title holders out of the competition, it will be an interesting tournament to watch out for as it progresses. Stay logged on as ThePapare.com will be bringing you all the live updates on all the action in India.
