Johnson Cherian.
The 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, a biennial event, will be held in India between October 6 and October 28. This is the first time that a FIFA tournament is being held in the country.
The venues for the Under-17 World Cup will be Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata (capacity about 85,000); Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi (capacity above 41,000); Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi (capacity above 58,000); DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai (capacity above 45,000); Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati (capacity above 23,000), and Fatorda Stadium, Margao (capacity above 16,000).
A total of 24 teams will be competing in the tournament in six groups of 4 teams each.
Group A: India, United States, Colombia and Ghana.
Group B: Paraguay, Mali, New Zealand and Turkey.
Group C: Iran, Guinea, Germany and Costa Rica.
Group D: North Korea, Niger, Brazil and Spain
Group E: Honduras, Japan, New Caledonia and France
Group F: Iraq, Mexico, Chile and England
As it is the first time that India is hosting a FIFA tournament, the organisers expect that fans will throng the stadias to witness some high-octane football. Nigeria is the current champions of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. However, they did not qualify to play this time.
Indian matches
October 6, 2017: India vs United States
October 9, 2017: India vs Colombia
October 12, 2017: India vs Ghana
The top two teams in each group will automatically qualify for the round of 16. The last placed team in the group will be eliminated.
The third placed teams in each group will be playing against each other and the top four teams will qualify for the round of 16.
The round of 16 will start from October 16, the quarterfinals from October 22, semifinals from October 25 and the final will be on October 28.
