The official draw of U-17 World Cup is still a few hours from now. The entire football fraternity across the world is waiting for the draw that is going to take place today in the presence of Sunil Chhetri, Esteban Cambiasso and Nwankwo Kanu.
SportsKeeda has got a prediction for different groups. Let’s see who can face whom in the group stage and who can be India’s opponents in the earlier stage of the competition.
There are four pots for the 24 qualified teams with India being the host country highlighted in red in Pot 1.
As per the rules, two teams from the same pot won’t face each other in the group stage. That gives an edge to the Indian side as the two best teams in the competition Brazil and Germany are sharing the same pot with India.
Teams from the same confederation will also avoid each other in the group stage which again means India won’t face Japan, Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
There will be six groups and each group will contain four teams. India being the host country will remain in group A. Let’s have a look at the predicted groups:
Group A: India, Spain, Honduras, Paraguay.
Group B: Brazil, Japan, Turkey, Ghana
Group C: Germany, New Zealand, Iraq, Chile
Group D: Mali, USA, North Korea, New Caledonia
Group E: France, Iran, Colombia, Niger
Group F: Mexico, England, Costa Rica, Guinea
The top two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams advance to the round of 16. The rankings of the teams from each group will be decided in the following way.
#1 Points obtained in all group matches;
#2 Goal difference in all group matches;
#3 Number of goals scored in all group matches;
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as follows:
#1 Points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
#2 Goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned;
#3 Number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
#4 Fair play points:
- First yellow card: minus 1 point;
- Indirect red card (second yellow card): minus 3 points;
- Direct red card: minus 4 points;
- Yellow card and direct red card: minus 5 points;
- Drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.
If the groups are formed as per the predictions of SportsKeeda, then India will face a tough challenge against Spain and Paraguay. However, if India can go past Paraguay then they have a good chance of qualifying for the Round of 16.
