FIFA and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) have finally announced a 22-days long schedule for the U-17 World Cup. The tournament will commence on October 6 and four matches, two each from Group A and B, will be played on the day. 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four each. While Navi Mumbai will host the Group A matches, New Delhi will stage Group B, Goa and Kochi Group C and Group D, Guwahati and Kolkata Group E and Group F.
Each venue will host at least one round-of-16 match. The quarterfinals will be played at Goa, Guwahati, Kochi and Kolkata and semifinals at Guwahati and Navi Mumbai. Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium will be the venue for grand finale of the tournament.
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Head of FIFA Tournaments, Jaime Yarza said that each venue will be hosting at least eight matches and revealed how the match schedule has been created.
“The FIFA U-17 World Cup is an exciting milestone for the growth of football in India and it has now reached a very important stage. The match schedule has been created following a thorough analysis of players’ health, competition format, team movements, weather, local festivities, geography and other factors.
“Each venue will host at least eight matches, and we took existing infrastructure into account, as well as local enthusiasm, when allotting the matches,” he said.
While Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium (Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan) will host maximum 10 matches, Goa’s Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium and Guwahati’s Indira Gandhi Athletic stadium will host nine each. On the other hand, Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium, New Delhi’s Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium and Kochi’s Jawahar Lal Nehru international stadium will be hosting eight matches each.
LOC Tournament Director Javier Ceppi also had his say during the announcement of the schedule.
“This is the first time that India is hosting a FIFA tournament. It will be also the first time an Indian team will play in a FIFA competition. In recognition of the increasing excitement about the beautiful game in India, ‘Football Takes Over’ was the first and most fitting choice as the official slogan for the tournament.
“Soon we will open ticket sales and fans will have great opportunities to attend matches at discounted rates. We are expecting huge interest from football fans in this historical FIFA U-17 World Cup in India,” Ceppi said.
A total of 11 teams, including India, from Asian Football Confederation (AFC), South America (CONMEBOL) and Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) have qualified. The remaining 13 teams, from Europe (UEFA), North and Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) and Africa (CAF), will be qualifying for the tournament in the coming days.
The draw to determine the groups will take place on July 7th in Mumbai.
