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The biggest sporting event the country's ever witnessed, the FIFA U-17 World Cup is just around the corner and the fans are waiting with bated breath to watch it happen. Established in 1985 as the U-16 World Championship, it changed to FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2007 and has since been known by that name.
The junior World Cup is the first big platform which offers talented footballers to showcase their abilities in front of the world. The U-17 World Cup is a springboard for young talented footballers, giving fans and pundits a chance to get a glimpse of the stars of the future. Many legends of the present generation like Ronaldinho, Fernando Torres, Andres Iniesta among others first featured in this tournament.
This event marks the first time India is hosting and at the same time playing in a football World Cup. This implies that the Indian National Anthem will be played for the first time in a FIFA tournament.
While you eagerly wait for the countdown to the mega event to get over, we at Sportkeeda bring to you a series of articles that reveal 10 interesting facts about the U-17 World Cup that you probably didn’t know about.
#1 Three teams are making their debut in the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 - Niger, New Caledonia as well as hosts India
#2 India is the 18th Asian team to take part in the U-17 World Cup. The last AFC representatives to make their tournament bow were Iraq in 2013.
#3 The first goal in the history of the tournament was scored by Brazilian footballer Bismarck, apparently named after the world-famous politician Otto Von Bismarck.
#4 An astonishing number of 12 players who have played in FIFA U-17 World Cup have also represented their country in a FIFA World Cup final.
#5 Brazil’s Ronaldinho is the only player to win both the FIFA U-17 (1997) and the FIFA World Cup (2002) title.
#6 Only Brazil and Nigeria have successfully defended their title: Brazil (1997 in Egypt and 1999 in New Zealand) and Nigeria (2013 in the UAE and 2015 in Chile).
#7 Apart from winning the FIFA U-17 World Cup a record 5 times, Nigeria also has won the FIFA Fair Play Award a record four times (1993, 2001, 2009 2013).
#8 Nigeria has gone the longest in the tournament’s history without conceding a goal. From the 1987 tournament to the World Cup of 1993, they spent 830 minutes on the field without conceding a single goal
#9 Iraq is the only team in the tournament that hasn’t won a single U-17 World Cup game. Before this, the team played in the 2013 edition of the tournament and couldn’t win a single match
#10 For the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, the family of Shibdas Bhaduri received the first ticket of the tournament from Carlos Puyol. Bhaduri was the captain of the Mohun Bagan team that won the IFA Shield in 1911.
Keep following the series for more wacky and interesting facts about next month's FIFA U-17 World Cup which will be live and exclusive on SONY TEN 2 and SONY TEN 3.
