| Founded | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Region | International (FIFA) |
| Number of teams | 24 |
| Current champions | Mexico (2nd title) |
| Most successful team | Nigeria Brazil (3 titles each) |
| Website | U-17 World Cup |
| 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup | |
The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to the FIFA U-17 World Championship and known by its current name since 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
The first edition was staged in 1985 and tournaments have been played every two years since then. It began as a competition for players under the age of 16 with the age limit raised to 17 from the 1991 edition onwards. The most recent tournament was hosted and won by Mexico. It has been announced that the next edition will be played in the United Arab Emirates in 2013.
Brazil and Nigeria are the most successful nations in the tournament's history, with three wins each. Ghana and Mexico have won the tournament twice.
A corresponding tournament for female players, the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, began in 2008, with Korea DPR winning the inaugural tournament.
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Each tournament consists of a group phase, where four teams play against one another and standings in the group table decide which teams advance, followed by a knockout phase of successive matches where the winning team advances through the competition and the losing team is eliminated. This continues until two teams remain to contest the final, which decides the tournament winner. The losing semi-finalists also contest a match to decide third place.
From 1985 to 2005 there were 16 teams in the competition, divided into four groups of four teams each in the group phase. Each team played the others in its group and the group winner and runner up qualified for the knockout phase. From 2007 the tournament was expanded to 24 teams, divided into six groups of four teams each. The top 2 places in each group plus the four best third-placed teams advanced to the knockout phase.
Competition matches are played in two 45 minute halves (ie 90 minutes in total). In the knockout phase, until the 2011 tournament, if tied at the end of 90 minutes an additional 30 minutes of extra time were played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if still tied. Starting with the 2011 tournament, the extra time period was eliminated to avoid player burnout, and all knockout games progress straight to penalties if tied at the end of 90 minutes.
The host nation of each tournament qualifies automatically. The remaining teams qualify through competitions organised by the six regional confederations. For the first edition of the tournament in 1985, all of the teams from Europe plus Bolivia appeared by invitation of FIFA.
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third-place | Fourth-place | Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 3 (1985, 1993, 2007) | 3 (1987, 2001, 2009) | 6 | ||
| Brazil | 3 (1997, 1999, 2003) | 2 (1995, 2005) | 1 (1985) | 1 (2011) | 6 |
| Ghana | 2 (1991, 1995) | 2 (1993, 1997) | 1 (1999) | 1 (2007) | 5 |
| Mexico | 2 (2005, 2011) | 2 | |||
| Soviet Union | 1 (1987) | 1 | |||
| Saudi Arabia | 1 (1989) | 1 | |||
| France | 1 (2001) | 1 | |||
| Switzerland | 1 (2009) | 1 | |||
| Spain | 3 (1991, 2003, 2007) | 2 (1997, 2009) | 5 | ||
| Germany | 1 (1985) | 2 (2007, 2011) | 1 (1997) | 3 | |
| Scotland | 1 (1989) | 1 | |||
| Australia | 1 (1999) | 1 | |||
| Uruguay | 1 (2011) | 1 | |||
| Argentina | 3 (1991, 1995, 2003) | 1 (2001) | 3 | ||
| Côte d'Ivoire | 1 (1987) | 1 | |||
| Portugal | 1 (1989) | 1 | |||
| Chile | 1 (1993) | 1 | |||
| Burkina Faso | 1 (2001) | 1 | |||
| Netherlands | 1 (2005) | 1 | |||
| Colombia | 2 (2003, 2009) | 0 | |||
| Guinea | 1 (1985) | 0 | |||
| Italy | 1 (1987) | 0 | |||
| Bahrain | 1 (1989) | 0 | |||
| Qatar | 1 (1991) | 0 | |||
| Poland | 1 (1993) | 0 | |||
| Oman | 1 (1995) | 0 | |||
| United States | 1 (1999) | 0 | |||
| Turkey | 1 (2005) | 0 |
Africa is the most successful continental zone with 5 tournament wins (3 for Nigeria, 2 for Ghana) and 5 times as runner up. Notably the 1993 final was contested by two African teams, the only occasion when the final has been contested by two teams from the same confederation.
South America has 3 tournament wins and has been runner up three times. Additionally Argentina has finished in third place on 3 occasions but has never appeared in the final.
Europe has 3 tournaments wins (1 each for France, USSR and Switzerland) and has been runner up 5 times. Spain has been runner up on 3 occasions. Additionaly Portugal and Netherlands have won third-place medals in 1989 and 2005 respectively.
The CONCACAF zone has 2 tournament wins (for Mexico in 2005 and 2011), this confederation has reached the final twice (with Mexico).
Asia has 1 tournament win (for Saudi Arabia in 1989), the only time that a team from this confederation has reached the final and the only time an Asian team won a FIFA tournament in male category. (Australia was runner up in 1999 but at that time was in the Oceania Football Confederation).
Oceania has no tournament wins and 1 occasion as runner up (for Australia in 1999). Australia has since moved to the Asian confederation.
At every tournament three awards are presented:
| Tournament | Golden Ball | Golden Shoe Award | Goals | Fair Play Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 China | William | Marcel Witeczek | 8 | West Germany |
| 1987 Canada | Philip Osundu | Moussa Traoré | 5 | Soviet Union |
| 1989 Scotland | James Will | Fode Camara | 3 | Bahrain |
| 1991 Italy | Nii Lamptey | Adriano | 4 | Argentina |
| 1993 Japan | Daniel Addo | Wilson Oruma | 6 | Nigeria |
| 1995 Ecuador | Mohamed Kathiri | Daniel Allsopp | 5 | Brazil |
| 1997 Egypt | Sergio Santamaría | David | 7 | Argentina |
| 1999 New Zealand | Landon Donovan | Ishmael Addo | 7 | Mexico |
| 2001 Trinidad and Tobago | Florent Sinama-Pongolle | Florent Sinama-Pongolle | 9 | Nigeria |
| 2003 Finland | Cesc Fàbregas | Cesc Fàbregas | 5 | Costa Rica |
| 2005 Peru | Anderson | Carlos Vela | 5 | North Korea |
| 2007 Korea Republic | Toni Kroos | Macauley Chrisantus | 7 | Costa Rica |
| 2009 Nigeria | Sani Emmanuel | Borja González | 5 | Nigeria |
| 2011 Mexico | Julio Gómez González | Souleymane Coulibaly | 9 | Japan |
The United States has appeared in all 14 editions of the competition (1985–2011) and is the only country to do so, Brazil has appeared 13 times, Argentina and Australia 11 times.
Brazil and Nigeria have each won the tournament 3 times. Nigeria have appeared in the final on 6 occasions while Brazil have made 5 final appearances.
Mexico is the first and only host team that won on home soil (2011).
Mexico (2011) were the only team to win the competition with a perfect record with seven straight wins.
France's Florent Sinama-Pongolle in the 2001 edition and Souleymane Coulibaly from Côte d'Ivoire in the 2011 edition hold the record for the most goals scored by a player in a single tournament, scoring 9 goals.
Germany hold the record for most goals scored by a team in a single tournament with 24 goals in the 2011 tournament hosted by Mexico.
Canada's Quillan Roberts holds the record as the only goalkeeper to score a goal at the tournament, and in any FIFA 11-a-side tournament, scoring the equalizer in the 87th minute against England on June 22, 2011.[1]
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