Izuchukwu Okosi
The draw for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023 took place on Friday evening, 15 September, with five-time cadet champions, Nigeria, conspicuously missing from the pots as they failed to qualify after the U-17 Africa Cup of Nations in Algeria, earlier in the year.
Other African representatives; Morocco, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso (who eliminated Nigeria in the U-17 AFCON) will face tricky opponents in the group stage.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe draw was conducted by Jaime Yarza, Director FIFA Tournaments, with Stephen Appiah and Julio Cesar – a former FIFA U-17 World Cup champion and finalist respectively – acting as assistants.
Hosts Indonesia will face off in the opening match of the tournament against Ecuador, while the group-stage draw also threw up a mouth-watering clash between the past two winners of the tournament, Brazil and England.
Matches at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Indonesia 2023 will take place across four host cities – Surabaya, Surakarta, Jakarta and Bandung. The tournament begins on November 10 and the winners will be crowned in Surakarta on 2 December.
The 24 nations have been split into six groups of four.
The top two in each group, along with the four best third-placed teams, will reach the knockout phase.
Thereafter, a last 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, a third-place play-off and final will unfold.
Nigeria are the most successful team in the history of the tournament with five titles.
Group A
Indonesia
Ecuador
Panama
Morocco
Group B
Spain
Canada
Mali
Uzbekistan
Group C
Brazil
IR Iran
New Caledonia
England
Group D
Japan
Poland
Argentina
Senegal
Group E
France
Burkina Faso
Korea Republic
USA
Group F
Mexico
Germany
Venezuela
New Zealand
Previous U-17 World Cup winners
1985: Nigeria
1987: Soviet Union
1989: Saudi Arabia
1991: Ghana
1993: Nigeria
1995: Ghana
1997: Brazil
1999: Brazil
2001: France
2003: Brazil
2005: Mexico
2007: Nigeria
2009: Switzerland
2011: Mexico
2013: Nigeria
2015: Nigeria
2017: England
2019: Brazil
