|
It's exactly three months to go for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India, and the official draw ceremony is set to take place in Mumbai on July 7, with former Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu, former Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso, India striker Sunil Chhetri, and Olympic silver-medalist PV Sindhu all expected to be in attendance. Here is everything you need to know ahead of the event: Six cities, 52 matches Six cities across India will host 52 matches, with the final scheduled for October 28 at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata. Two of the other venues -- Guwahati and Navi Mumbai -- will host the two semi-finals on October 25, while Kochi and Goa will also get to host matches at the quarter-finals stage. Teams in the fray There are 24 teams across six confederations - Asia (AFC), Africa (CAF), Central America (CONCACAF), South America (CONMEBOL), Oceania (OFC) and Europe (UEFA) -- with AFC and UEFA both having the most teams with five apiece, while OFC has just two nations. Defending champions Nigeria, also the most successful nation in U-17 World Cup history with five titles, failed to qualify for this edition. The next-best record belongs to Brazil, whose three titles place them ahead of Ghana. Brazil also share the record for most appearances with USA, both of whom will be playing their 16th U-17 World Cup in India and have missed out only once in the past. India are one of three debutants in the field, with Niger qualifying from AFC and New Caledonia making it through from OFC alongside New Zealand for the first time. It will, in fact, be the first time at any FIFA event in men's football for all three nations, with Niger and New Caledonia also never having qualified for the Olympics, where India have participated four times.
Also see: Past stars of the Under-17 World Cup
Nature of the draw All the qualified teams have been placed into four pots on the basis of ranking points that take into account their performance in the last five editions of the U-17 World Cup. The highest weightage has been given to their performance in the most recent edition of the tournament. 2015 runners-up Mali, for instance, are placed in the first pot, while 2007 runners-up Spain are in pot 2. India have been placed in the first pot by virtue of being hosts. The other teams in their pot are Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Mali and France. Spain are joined by Japan, New Zealand, England, Iran and USA in the second pot. The third pot will comprise Costa Rica, North Korea, Honduras, Iraq, Turkey and Colombia, while the last pot will have the names of Chile, Paraguay, Ghana, Guinea, Niger and New Caledonia. There will be pots representing the six groups labelled Groups A to F, while there will be balls within the six pots indicating positions 1 to 4 within the group. India have been assigned A1 by default, and the rest of the teams in the first pot will each be allocated one group each -- though their position could be anything between 1 to 4, depending on what is drawn -- and that is how the rest of the draw will proceed. FIFA generally ensures that no group has more than one team from the same confederation. This means India are likely to avoid Japan, Iran, North Korea and Iraq among their opponents at the group stages. For instance, a potential combination for three members of group A for India could be England, Costa Rica and Ghana.
|
