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The FIFA U-17 World Cup, over the ages, has always managed to bring the future stars of the football world into the limelight. There have been several u-17 stars who went on to become legendary players and some of them even served as an inspiration to this upcoming generation of footballers as they were growing up.
The FIFA U17 World Cup promises to be one with a lot of quality attacking displays with loads of teams with star names in their forward lineups, all of whom will be hoping to make a name for themselves and showcase their potential on the biggest stage available to them. They will also want to immortalise themselves in the history books by bringing glory to their nation.
From strikers who have been on the move in recent transfer windows to record holders and big money names, we look at the top 6 attackers that you need to keep an eye out for in the month-long football extravaganza that starts next month.
#1 Jan Fiete-Arp (Germany)
An out and out centre-forward who idolises Harry Kane, Germany's number nine Jan Fiete-Arp is going to be leading the strike force for Deutschland in the FIFA U17 World Cup in October. Arp, who already has his name in the record books for the fastest hattrick in the European U17 Championship history with a hattrick in just 13 minutes, scored 7 goals in 5 matches for Germany in the tournament before they crashed out on penalties to eventual champions Spain.
Arp, currently plays for Hamburger SV's junior side and has been there in the club's youth setup since 2010. He once scored 16 goals in a match while playing for the Hamburger SV U12 side in a match which they won by 22 goals!
He has put on impressive performances for his club in recent times too.scoring 37 goals in 45 matches while playing for the U17 side. Arp, who is far from the finished article can score with both his feet and is good in the air too and would be one to watch out for as he takes charge for the Germans going forward in the U17 World Cup.
#2 Abel Ruiz (Spain)
Ruiz is Spain's record all-time goal scorer with 29 goals for the U17 level and will also take over the record for most appearances for the U17 Spanish side when he plays in the upcoming FIFA U17 World Cup.
Ruiz is one of the biggest upcoming talents in recent years to have graduated from Barcelona's famous La Masia academy and is one of the most exciting young talents in Spanish football at the moment. The Almussafes born 17-year-old has all the qualities to be a top player and is currently showing his potential for the Barcelona B team and has already scored a goal in his 3 matches so far.
Ruiz scored 4 goals in the recently concluded European U17 championships, where he captained the Spanish side to glory as they defeated England in the finals and will be itching to replicate a similar result in the U17 World Cup which is all set to be Ruiz's last hurrah for the Spanish U17 side.
#3 Vinicius Junior (Brazil)
The Brazilian wonderkid who was recently roped in by European Champions Real Madrid is one of the most expensive players who will be playing in the upcoming FIFA U17 World Cup. Vinicius, who is currently playing for Flamengo in the Brazilian league, has a deal in place which will see him go to Real once he turns 18 but he will immediately return to Flamengo on loan for that season.
The boy from Rio De Janeiro has been creating quite a roar among both media and fans alike with his beautiful attacking displays. The Brazilian has already scored 12 goals in 14 matches for his country this year, 7 of which, along with two assists came in his 8 games in his nation's South America U17 Championship winning campaign earlier this year.
Vinicius has set his reputation as a star striker for his side and has garnered a lot of plaudits for his skills, goals and overall performances and could very well end up as one of the main elements if the Samba boys are to win the FIFA U17 World Cup.
#4 Jadon Sancho (England)
Sancho, who recently joined Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund from Manchester City has long been called one of the best talents to come out of the ManCity academy along with fellow national teammate Phil Foden.
A winger by trade, he more often than not finds himself in a striker's position which usually translates to goals! Sancho started his career at Watford's academy before City swooped him up and it's after arriving in Manchester that his career took off.
He scored twice on his debut for the U18s, but it was the 2016/17 season where he started to showcase his talent as he went on to score 20 goals in 35 games for City’s youth team. For the Young Lions side, he scored 5 goals and 5 assists in their European U17 Championship campaign in which they finished runners-up, bagging the Player of the tournament accolade.
Sancho is one of England's key men in the FIFA U17 World Cup which is set to start in October and with him already in the limelight will be on the attackers to watch out for.
#5 Amine Gouiri (France)
France, at the senior level has one of the most talented squads of young players playing for them at the moment. Their current young bunch has already been touted as another lot who are all set to take over the footballing world in the years to come and one such player who's already making headlines is, U17 centre-forward, Amine Gouiri.
At 17, the Olympique Lyonnaise striker has already bagged the tag of being the next Antoine Greizmann and has taken no time to show the world a glimpse of his talent.During Les Blues campaign in the European U17 Championships earlier this summer, Gouiri broke the all time goal scoring record for the number of goals scored in the Championship finals with 8 goals.
He started with Lyon in 2014 and was training with the first team as early as 2016. The Frenchman has been on the radar for many of the top European clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Juventus all of whose scouts had their eyes on him during last year's UEFA Youth League.
Gouri has scored 15 goals in 13 appearances for the French U17 and is one of the future stars who will be showcasing their talent during the U17 World Cup in India.
#6 Eric Ayiah (Ghana)
Ghana will be hoping they have unearthed one of their biggest talents, in captain Eric Ayiah- a striker with an abundance of talent at his disposal. He has all the makings to be someone who can lead the two-time U17 World Champions to gold in the upcoming U17 World Cup.
Ayiah who plays the role of a traditional centre-forward scored 4 goals and was the joint top scorer along with Djibril Toure of Guinea in the recently concluded AFCON U17. Ayiah whose role models are Cristiano Ronaldo and Asamoah Gyan surprisingly wears number 6 at the back of his shirt as a tribute to the Ghanaian National Day which is coincidentally also his birthday.
Ayiah who currently plays for local side Charity Stars FC has an agreement in principle to join Portuguese giants FC Porto after the U17 World Cup in India this year, a tournament in which he hopes he can take his nation all the way after settling for silver at the AFCON U17. He is poised to be the next of Ghana's biggest footballing exports and will be one to watch out for during the World Cup.
