2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup
Copa do Mundo Sub-17 da FIFA Brasil 2019
Tournament details
Host country	Brazil
Dates	26 October – 17 November
Teams	24 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	4 (in 3 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Brazil (4th title)
Runners-up	Mexico
Third place	France
Fourth place	Netherlands
Tournament statistics
Matches played	52
Goals scored	177 (3.4 per match)
Attendance	174,603 (3,358 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Sontje Hansen (6 goals)
Best player(s)	Gabriel Veron
Best goalkeeper	Matheus Donelli
Fair play award	Ecuador
	← 2017 2021 ; 2023 →

The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was hosted by Brazil between 26 October and 17 November 2019.^[1]

Originally, Peru was scheduled to host the tournament between 5 and 27 October 2019,^[2] however, it was announced in February 2019 that they would no longer host the tournament, following inspection of the facilities and concern over organizational challenges.^[3] A formal announcement on 15 March 2019 ratified the recommendation to move the tournament to Brazil.^[4] With the ratification to name Brazil as host, this marked the country's first time to host a FIFA youth competition, having previously hosted the senior World Cup twice as well as the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship, the 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, and numerous editions of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.

England were the defending champions, but unable to defend their title after being eliminated in the group stages at the 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in the Republic of Ireland. England became the second consecutive title holders that failed to qualify. Brazil won their fourth U-17 World Cup title, winning 2–1 against Mexico in the final, which was also the first time in the history that Brazil won a FIFA World Cup tournament at home soil.

Host selection

The bidding process to host the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was launched by FIFA in June 2017.^[5] A member association may bid for both tournaments, but they would be awarded to different hosts.^[6]

Original round of bidding

Two countries publicly declared their formal bids to host the tournament.^[7]^[8]

Peru
Rwanda (withdrawn)

On 8 March 2018, Rwanda withdrew its bid to host the tournament due to time and logistic aspects.^[9] FIFA then unanimously announced Peru as the host country after the FIFA Council meeting on 16 March 2018 in Bogotá, Colombia.^[2]

Second round of bidding

On 22 February 2019, FIFA announced that the tournament would be moved to a yet-to-be-determined host after inspection visits found issues with the prepared infrastructure and organization in Peru.^[3]^[10] On the same day, FIFA Secretary-General Fatma Samoura sent a letter to the Brazilian Football Confederation to determine if the tournament could be held in that country, and the answer was positive. CONMEBOL reinforced the idea by claiming that, because of the preparation for the 2019 Copa América, which was scheduled to start in less than four months, Brazil would be the only one able to make the commitment in such a short time. With the change of venue, the tournament was delayed by three weeks. Brazil was confirmed as the new host by the FIFA Council on 15 March 2019. However, of all the stadiums that were chosen to host the Copa América 2019 games were not used as all the venues were used as training venues by the participant's national squads.^[11]^[4]

Qualified teams

A total of 24 teams qualified for the final tournament. Brazil as host team along with 23 other teams qualified from six separate continental competitions. The slot allocation was approved by the FIFA Council on 10 June 2018.^[12]

Confederation	Qualifying tournament	Team	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
AFC (Asia)	2018 AFC U-16 Championship	Australia	13th	2015	Runners-up (1999)
		Japan	9th	2017	Quarter-finals (1993, 2011)
		South Korea	6th	2015	Quarter-finals (1987, 2009)
		Tajikistan	2nd	2007	Round of 16 (2007)
CAF (Africa)	2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations	Cameroon	2nd	2003	Group stage (2003)
		Nigeria	12th	2015	Champions (1985, 1993, 2007, 2013, 2015)
		Angola	1st	N/A	Debut
		Senegal^{[note 1]}	1st	N/A	Debut
CONCACAF (Central, North America and Caribbean)	2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship	Canada	7th	2013	Group stage (1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2011, 2013)
		United States	17th	2017	Fourth place (1999)
		Mexico	14th	2017	Champions (2005, 2011)
		Haiti	2nd	2007	Group stage (2007)
CONMEBOL (South America)	Host nation	Brazil	17th	2017	Champions (1997, 1999, 2003)
	2019 South American U-17 Championship	Argentina	14th	2015	Third place (1991, 1995, 2003)
		Chile	5th	2017	Third place (1993)
		Ecuador	5th	2015	Quarter-finals (1995, 2015)
		Paraguay	5th	2017	Quarter-finals (1999)
OFC (Oceania)	2018 OFC U-16 Championship	New Zealand	9th	2017	Round of 16 (2009, 2011, 2015)
OFC (Oceania)	2018 OFC U-16 Championship	Solomon Islands^{[note 2]}	1st	N/A	Debut
UEFA (Europe)	2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship	France	7th	2017	Champions (2001)
		Netherlands	4th	2011	Third place (2005)
		Italy	8th	2013	Fourth place (1987)
		Spain	10th	2017	Runners-up (1991, 2003, 2007, 2017)
		Hungary	2nd	1985	Quarter-finals (1985)

Notes

^ Guinea was removed from the competition by CAF for age fabrication. The CAF Executive Committee approved Senegal as their replacement.^[13]
^ The Solomon Islands, which originally finished second in the 2018 OFC U-16 Championship, were found by the OFC to have deliberately fielded overage player Chris Satu during the tournament. As a result, they had forfeited all results and their place in the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.^[14] The decision was appealed by the Solomon Islands Football Federation, and the OFC Executive Committee met to decide on their replacement after the appeal process has been concluded and decided to uphold the appeal, thus allowing Solomon Islands to take part in the tournament.^[15]

Venues

The tournament used four venues in three cities.^[13]

Goiânia		Gama Goiânia Cariacica class=notpageimage\| Location of the host cities of the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Estádio da Serrinha	Estádio Olímpico
Capacity: 9,900	Capacity: 13,500

Gama (Brasília area)	Cariacica (Vitória area)
Estádio Bezerrão	Estádio Kléber Andrade
Capacity: 20,310	Capacity: 21,000

Organization

Emblem

The official emblem was unveiled on 10 July 2019 ahead of the draw. The emblem takes its inspiration from the country's rich history and diverse landscapes, with a variety of distinctive elements coming together to form the shape of the tournament trophy. The base evokes the lush green of Brazil's natural scenery. Sweeping vegetation leads the viewer's eye past the intense reds of the Brazilian soil and yellowy orange of the country's world-famous gemstones towards a celebratory figure. That figure, in turn, reaches towards a ball, the design of which is inspired by the iconic curved columns of Cathedral of Brasília, a masterpiece by renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.^[16]

Draw and schedule

The match schedule was unveiled on 10 July 2019, the day before the final draw.^[13] The kick-off times were confirmed on 25 July 2019.^[17]

The final draw was held on 11 July 2019, 15:00 CEST (UTC+2), at the FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland.^[18] The draw ceremony was presented by Bruno Sassi and conducted by FIFA Director of Competitions Christian Unger, with the former U-17 World Cup champions Nigerian Celestine Babayaro and the former Brazilian footballer Sonny Anderson, acting as draw assistants. The ceremony was also attended by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Brazilian Football Confederation President Rogério Caboclo.

The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four teams with hosts Brazil being automatically seeded into Pot 1 and assigned to the first position of group A. The remaining teams were seeded into their respective pots based on their results in the last five FIFA U-17 World Cups (more recent tournaments weighted more heavily), and with five bonus points added to each of the 6 continental champions from the qualifying tournaments, as follows:^[19]

Pot	Team	Confederation	2009	2011	2013	2015	2017
Pot	Team	Confederation	Points (20%)	Points (40%)	Points (60%)	Points (80%)	Points (100%)	Bonus ^{[note 1]}	Total points
1	Brazil (H)	CONMEBOL	Host nation, automatically assigned to Pot 1
	Nigeria	CAF	3.2	DNQ	11.4	14.4	DNQ		29
	France	UEFA	DNQ	3.2	DNQ	8	9		20.2
	Japan	AFC	0	4	5.4	DNQ	5	+5	19.4
	Spain	UEFA	3.2	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	15		18.2

2	Argentina	CONMEBOL	1.2	1.6	7.8	0	DNQ	+5	15.6
	United States	CONCACAF	1.2	1.6	DNQ	0.8	9		12.6
	New Zealand	OFC	0.6	1.6	0	3.2	1	+5	11.4
	Paraguay	CONMEBOL	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	2.4	9		11.4
	Ecuador	CONMEBOL	DNQ	2.4	DNQ	7.2	DNQ		9.6
	South Korea	AFC	1.4	DNQ	DNQ	5.6	DNQ		7

3	Netherlands	UEFA	0.6	0.4	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	+5	6
	Italy	UEFA	2	DNQ	3.6	DNQ	DNQ		5.6
	Cameroon	CAF	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	+5	5
	Australia	AFC	DNQ	1.6	DNQ	3.2	DNQ		4.8
	Chile	CONMEBOL	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	3.2	1		4.2
	Canada	CONCACAF	DNQ	0.8	1.2	DNQ	DNQ		2

4	Angola	CAF	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ		0
	Haiti	CONCACAF	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ		0
	Hungary	UEFA	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ		0
	Senegal	CAF	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ		0
	Solomon Islands	OFC	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ		0
	Tajikistan	AFC	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ		0

The draw started with the hosts Brazil being "drawn" to A1. Teams from Pot 1 were drawn first, followed by Pot 2, Pot 3, and finally Pot 4, with each team also drawn to one of the positions within their group. Teams from the same confederation could not be drawn within the same group.^[19]^[20]

The draw resulted in the following groups:^[21]

Group A
Pos	Team
A1	Brazil
A2	Canada
A3	New Zealand
A4	Angola

Group B
Pos	Team
B1	Nigeria
B2	Hungary
B3	Ecuador
B4	Australia

Group C
Pos	Team
C1	South Korea
C2	Haiti
C3	France
C4	Chile

Group D
Pos	Team
D1	United States
D2	Senegal
D3	Japan
D4	Netherlands

Group E
Pos	Team
E1	Spain
E2	Argentina
E3	Tajikistan
E4	Cameroon

Group F
Pos	Team
F1	Solomon Islands
F2	Italy
F3	Paraguay
F4	Mexico

Match officials

A total of 20 refereeing trios (a referee and two assistant referees), 5 support referees, and 17 video assistant referees were appointed for the tournament.^[22]

Confederation	Referee	Assistant referees	Support referees	Video assistant referees
AFC	Khamis Al-Marri	Mohammad Dharman Ramzan Al-Naemi	Ko Hyung-jin	Yaqoub Al Hammadi Abdullah Ali Al Marri Hiroyuki Kimura
	Chris Beath	Anton Shchetinin Ashley Beecham
	Ma Ning	Shi Xiang Cao Yi
CAF	Victor Gomes	Souru Phatsoane Lionel Hasinjarasoa Andrianantenaina	Peter Waweru	—
	Redouane Jiyed	Lahcen Azgaou Mustaph Akerkad
	Amin Mohamed Omar	Attia Amsaeed Abdallah Ibrahim Mohammed
CONCACAF	Iván Barton	David Morán Zachari Zeegelaar	Juan Gabriel Calderón	Quetzalli Alvarado Drew Fischer Armando Villarreal
	Mario Escobar	Humberto Noel Panjoj Nicholas Andersson
	Adonai Escobedo	William Andrés Arrieta Micheal Barwegen
CONMEBOL	Mario Díaz De Vivar	Milcíades Saldívar Roberto Casiano Cañete	Edina Alves Batista Ivo Méndez	Germán Delfino Nicolás Gallo Piero Maza Bráulio da Silva Machado
	Guillermo Guerrero	Juan Carlos Macías Ricardo Baren
	Diego Haro	Víctor Ráez Michael Orué
	Andrés Rojas	Dionisio Ruiz John Alexander León
	Claudia Umpiérrez	Luciana Mascaraña Mónica Amboya
OFC	Nick Waldron	Isaac Trevis Jeremy Garae	—	—
UEFA	Andreas Ekberg	Mehmet Culum Stefan Hallberg	—	Luís Godinho Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea Marco Di Bello Bartosz Frankowski Dennis Higler Craig Pawson Bibiana Steinhaus
	Srđan Jovanović	Uroš Stojković Milan Mihajlović
	Georgi Kabakov	Martin Margaritov Diyan Valkov
	István Kovács	Vasile Marinescu Ovidiu Artene
	Andris Treimanis	Haralds Gudermanis Aleksejs Spasjonnikovs

Squads

Players born on or after 1 January 2002 and on or before 31 December 2004 were eligible to compete in the tournament.

Each team had to name a preliminary squad of between 22 and 50 players. From the preliminary squad, the team had to name a final squad of 21 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline. Players in the final squad could be replaced by a player from the preliminary squad due to serious injury or illness up to 24 hours prior to kickoff of the team's first match.^[23]

Group stage

The top two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams advanced to the round of 16.

All times are local, BRT (UTC−3).^[24]

Tiebreakers

The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:^[23]

Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat);
Goal difference in all group matches;
Number of goals scored in all group matches;
Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
Fair play points in all group matches (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
- Yellow card: −1 points;
- Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- Direct red card: −4 points;
- Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Drawing of lots.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Brazil (H)	3	3	0	9	1	+8	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Angola	3	2	1	4	4	0	6	Advance to knockout stage
3	New Zealand	3	1	2	2	5	−3	3
4	Canada	3	0	3	2	7	−5	0

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

26 October 2019

17:00

Brazil	4–1	Canada
Peglow 17', 46' Franklin 45+1' (o.g.) Veron 56'	Report	Russell-Rowe 86'

Estádio Bezerrão, Gama

Attendance: 11,468^[25]

Referee: Srđan Jovanović (Serbia)

26 October 2019