Kolkata: The draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup was held in Mumbai on Friday where hosts India have been placed in a tricky group alongside USA, Colombia and Ghana in Group A. The competition gets underway from the 6th of October and would conclude with the final on the 23rd of the same month.
All the teams barring India in Group A have been regularly participating in the competition. India would compete in the tournament for the first time.
USA has made it to the tournament for 15 editions of the tournament and their best performance came in 1999 when they secured a fourth-placed finish. Colombia has participated in five editions of the competition and their best performance also is a fourth place finish in the year 2009.
Luis Norton De Matos, the coach of the Indian team labelled Ghana as the best team in this age-group from the African region. In the eight previous editions of the tournament, they emerged as the champions twice-in 1991 and 1995.
India (A1) would lock horns with USA (A2) on the 6th of October in their first match of the tournament in New Delhi. Had the match been held in Kolkata, Goa or Bengaluru a bigger crowd could have been expected to turn up.
The top two teams from all the six groups will be joined by four best third place teams in the round of 16, which would begin from the 16th of October.
October 21 and 22 would be the dates for the quarter-finals which would then be followed by two semi-final matches on the 25th of October in Navi Mumbai and Guwahati. The venue for the third place match and the final would be held in Kolkata on October 28. The hosts would then take on Colombia (A3) and Ghana (A4) in New Delhi on the 9th and 12th of October respectively.
Brazil (D3) would begin their campaign on the 7th of May against Spain (D4) at the Jahawaral Nehru Stadium in Kochi. The South American nation has made 13 appearances in the tournament so far and have emerged as the champions in 1997, 1999 and 2003. They have been placed in Group D alongside Spain, Niger and North Korea.
Spain are beginning their campaign against the three-time champions Brazil could pose to be a serious threat in the competition. Their best finish came in the tournament in the 1991, 2003 and 2007 editions of the tournament where they ended as the runners up.
Germany (C3) on the other hand have been placed in Group C with Costa Rica, Iran and Guinea. They would open their campaign against Costa Rica (C4) on the 7th of October at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa.
The top two teams from all the six groups will be joined by four best third place teams in the round of 16, which would begin from the 16th of October. October 21 and 22 would be the dates for the quarter-finals which would then be followed by two semi-final matches on the 25th of October in Navi Mumbai and Guwahati.
The venue for the third place match and the final would be held in Kolkata on October 28.