FIFA U-17 World Cup

FIFA U-17 World Cup
Founded 1985
Region International (FIFA)
Number of teams 24
Current champions  Nigeria (4th title)
Most successful team(s)  Nigeria (4 titles)
Website U-17 World Cup
2015 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 held in China 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 by the United Arab Emirates and won by Nigeria, with the next edition being hosted by Chile in 2015.

Nigeria is the most successful nation in the tournament's history, with four titles and three runner ups. Brazil is the second most successful with three titles and 2 runner ups. 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.

Structure

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 (i.e. 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.

Qualification

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.

Confederation Championship
AFC (Asia) AFC U-16 Championship
CAF (Africa) African Under-17 Championship
CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) CONCACAF Under-17 Championship
CONMEBOL (South America) South American Under-17 Football Championship
OFC (Oceania) OFC U-17 Championship
UEFA (Europe) UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship

Results

Summaries

FIFA U-16 World Championship

Year Host Final Third Place Match Number of teams
Champion Score Second Place Third Place Score Fourth Place
1985
Details		  China
Nigeria		 2–0
West Germany
Brazil		 4–1
Guinea		 16
1987
Details		  Canada
Soviet Union		 1–1 a.e.t.
(4–2 PSO)
Nigeria
Ivory Coast		 2–1 a.e.t.
Italy		 16
1989
Details		  Scotland
Saudi Arabia		 2–2 a.e.t.
(5–4 PSO)
Scotland
Portugal		 3–0
Bahrain		 16

FIFA U-17 World Championship

Year Host Final Third Place Match Number of teams
Champion Score Second Place Third Place Score Fourth Place
1991
Details		  Italy
Ghana		 1–0
Spain
Argentina		 1–1 a.e.t.
(4–1 PSO)
Qatar		 16
1993
Details		  Japan
Nigeria		 2–1
Ghana
Chile		 1–1 a.e.t.
(4–2 PSO)
Poland		 16
1995
Details		  Ecuador
Ghana		 3–2
Brazil
Argentina		 2–0
Oman		 16
1997
Details		  Egypt
Brazil		 2–1
Ghana
Spain		 2–1
Germany		 16
1999
Details		  New Zealand
Brazil		 0–0 a.e.t.
(8–7 PSO)
Australia
Ghana		 2–0
United States		 16
2001
Details		  Trinidad and Tobago
France		 3–0
Nigeria
Burkina Faso		 2–0
Argentina		 16
2003
Details		  Finland
Brazil		 1–0
Spain
Argentina		 1–1 a.e.t.
(5–4 PSO)
Colombia		 16
2005
Details		  Peru
Mexico		 3–0
Brazil
Netherlands		 2–1
Turkey		 16

FIFA U-17 World Cup

Year Host Final Third Place Match Number of teams
Champion Score Second Place Third Place Score Fourth Place
2007
Details		 South Korea Korea Republic
Nigeria		 0–0 a.e.t.
(3–0 PSO)
Spain
Germany		 2–1
Ghana		 24
2009
Details		  Nigeria
Switzerland		 1–0
Nigeria
Spain		 1–0
Colombia		 24
2011
Details		  Mexico
Mexico		 2–0
Uruguay
Germany		 4–3
Brazil		 24
2013
Details		  UAE
Nigeria		 3–0
Mexico
Sweden		 4–1
Argentina		 24
2015
Details		  Chile 24
2017
Details		  India 24

Performances by countries

Team Titles Runners-up Third-place Fourth-place Medals
 Nigeria 4 (1985, 1993, 2007, 2013) 3 (1987, 2001, 2009) 7
 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) 1 (2013) 3
 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 (19851) 2 (2007, 2011) 1 (1997) 3
 Scotland 1 (1989) 1
 Australia 1 (1999) 1
 Uruguay 1 (2011) 1
 Argentina 3 (1991, 1995, 2003) 2 (2001, 2013) 3
 Ivory Coast 1 (1987) 1
 Portugal 1 (1989) 1
 Chile 1 (1993) 1
 Burkina Faso 1 (2001) 1
 Netherlands 1 (2005) 1
 Sweden 1 (2013) 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
1 as West Germany

Performances by continental zones

Africa is the most successful continental zone with 6 tournament wins (4 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 and Colombia twice in fourth place, but they have 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. Additionally 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 three times(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.

This tournament is peculiar in that the majority of titles have gone to teams from outside the strongest regional confederations (CONMEBOL and UEFA). Of the fifteen editions held so far, nine (60 percent of the total) have been won by teams from North and Central America, Africa and Asia.

Confederation (continent) Performances
Winners Runners-up Third
CAF (Africa) 6 times: Nigeria (4), Ghana (2) 5 times: Nigeria (3), Ghana (2) 3 times: Ghana (1), Côte d'Ivoire (1), Burkina Faso (1)
UEFA (Europe) 3 times: France (1), Soviet Union (1), Switzerland (1) 5 times: Spain (3), Germany (1), Scotland (1) 7 times: Germany (2), Spain (2), Netherlands (1), Portugal (1), Sweden (1)
CONMEBOL (South America) 3 times: Brazil (3) 3 times: Brazil (2), Uruguay (1) 5 times: Argentina (3), Brazil (1), Chile (1)
CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) 2 times: Mexico (2) 1 time: Mexico (1) 0 time:
AFC (Asia) 1 time: Saudi Arabia (1) 0 time: 0 time:
OFC (Oceania) 0 time: 1 time: Australia (1) 0 time:

Awards

At every tournament three awards are presented:

Tournament Golden Ball Golden Shoe Award Goals Golden Glove Fair Play Award
1985 China Brazil William West Germany Marcel Witeczek 8    West Germany
1987 Canada Nigeria Philip Osundu Ivory Coast Moussa Traoré 5  Soviet Union
1989 Scotland Scotland James Will Guinea Fode Camara 3  Bahrain
1991 Italy Ghana Nii Lamptey Brazil Adriano 4  Argentina
1993 Japan Ghana Daniel Addo Nigeria Wilson Oruma 6  Nigeria
1995 Ecuador Oman Mohamed Kathiri Australia Daniel Allsopp 5  Brazil
1997 Egypt Spain Sergio Santamaría Spain David 7  Argentina
1999 New Zealand United States Landon Donovan Ghana Ishmael Addo 7  Mexico
2001 Trinidad and Tobago France Florent Sinama Pongolle France Florent Sinama Pongolle 9  Nigeria
2003 Finland Spain Cesc Fàbregas Spain Cesc Fàbregas 5  Costa Rica
2005 Peru Brazil Anderson Mexico Carlos Vela 5  North Korea
2007 Korea Republic Germany Toni Kroos Nigeria Macauley Chrisantus 7  Costa Rica
2009 Nigeria Nigeria Sani Emmanuel Spain Borja González 5 Switzerland Benjamin Siegrist  Nigeria
2011 Mexico Mexico Julio Gómez Ivory Coast Souleymane Coulibaly 9 Uruguay Jonathan Cubero  Japan
2013 United Arab Emirates Nigeria Kelechi Iheanacho Sweden Valmir Berisha 7 Nigeria Dele Alampasu  Nigeria
2015 Chile

Records and statistics

The United States appeared in all first 14 editions of the competition (1985–2011) until missing out in 2013, Brazil has appeared 14 times too while Argentina and Australia 11 times.

Nigeria have won the tournament 4 times followed by Brazil with 3 tournament wins. Nigeria have appeared in the final on 7 occasions while Brazil have made 5 final appearances.

Mexico is the first and only host team that won on home soil (2011).

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.

Nigeria holds the record for most goals scored by a team in a single tournament with 26 goals in the 2013 tournament hosted by United Arab Emirates. They are closely followed by Germany with a total of 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]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Canuck keeper turns hero in England draw". FIFA. June 22, 2011. Retrieved 23 June 2011.

External links