Rows Of Football Star Players From The U-17 World Cup Dropout, From Cesc Fabregas To Jadon Sancho

Manchester United Player Jadon Sancho/INSTAGRAM @sanchoeo10

JAKARTA - Indonesia officially hosts the 2023 U-17 World Cup which starts on November 10 to December 2. Although the echo is not as big as the senior World Cup and U-20, this agenda has succeeded in giving birth to a number of big names of world top footballers.

In the FIFA calendar, the U-17 World Cup is one of the agendas for player development. The players also made this event a stepping stone for a brilliant career.

Not a few footballers have had good opportunities and have a career that shot up after appearing in the U-17 World Cup. Even from the 2019 U-17 World Cup, there was Pedri who then shined after bringing Spain forward to the quarter-finals.

Apart from being Pedri, here are a row of world top footballers who are the dropouts of the U-17 World Cup who have had a brilliant career at the senior level:

Cesc Fabregas

Cesc Fabregas is a footballer who shines during his career and is now a green field legend. Before that point, Fabregas' name became known when he appeared in the 2003 U-17 World Cup which was held in Finland.

Fabregas became the brightest player at the time. This was proven by the two individual awards he won as the Player of the Year and Top Score after posting five goals for the Spanish national team.

Fabregas' slick performance has made many of Europe's top teams eye it. Fabregas, who graduated from Barcelona's academy, La Masia, was then eyed by Arsenal after appearing in the 2003 U-17 World Cup, when he was 16 years old, Fabregas successfully made his debut at Arsenal.

Toni Kroos

At the 2007 U-17 World Cup Germany failed to become world champion and had to settle for third place. However, as soon as they felt the prestige through the individual title won by their player, Toni Kroos.

Toni Kroos is listed as the winner of Golden Ball aka Best Player at the 2007 U-17 World Cup. At that time, Kroos performed well in midfield and he was even able to score five goals and one assist from six appearances.

After the U-17 World Cup which was held in South Korea, Toni Kroos immediately got a promotion opportunity to the senior team Bayern Munich. Not long after, Kroos made his debut with the first team and made two assists for Miroslav Klose.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

At the 2015 U-17 World Cup which was held in Chile, the England national team failed completely because it was stopped at the beginning. But who would have thought that the 2015 U-17 World Cup would actually be the moment of the birth of Alexander-Arnold's brilliant career.

Trent Alexander-Arnold became one of the few successful U-17 England players at senior level. Alexander-Arnold has been prominent since the age group with the proof that he was able to get promoted to Liverpool's first team when he was 18 years old. Now, Alexander-Arnold is one of the most important players in the Liverpool squad.

Victor Osimhen

Victor Osimhen performed outstanding with Napoli in the 2022/2023 season. He helped Napoli win the Serie A Scudetto after waiting 33 years. Osimhen also became the top scorer of Serie A in the same season.

But who would have thought that Osimhen's success story began when he defended Nigeria at the 2015 U-17 World Cup. In the edition held in Chile, Osimhen was able to bring Nigeria to win.

Osimhen also won the top score by scoring 10 goals. Osimhen scored a hat trick in the round of 16, as Nigeria won 6-0 over Australia.

Phil Foden

Phil Foden became the star of England when he won the 20217 U-17 World Cup. At that time, Foden became the main motor for the Steve Coper concoction team's attack with three goals and one assist from seven matches played.

At the end of the competition, apart from bringing England to the title, Phil Foden also became the best player in the 2017 U-17 World Cup. With that title, Foden was promoted to the first team of Man City and the 2017/2018 season became an important moment for Foden's career because he was able to bring City to the Champions League title.

Ferran Torres

Ferran Torres got a promotion opportunity to Valencia's first team in the 2017/2018 season. This success could not be separated from Torres' slick performance when he defended Spain at the 2017 U-17 World Cup.

Torres was able to bring Spain forward to the U-17 World Cup final even though in the end La Roja lost to England in the final with a score of 5-2.

Torres is now playing for Barcelona. Prior to that, players who are now 23 years old had defended Manchester City and experienced the Premier League title for the 2020/2021 season.

Aurelien Tchouameni

The U-17 World Cup in 2017 was not a sweet moment for France because they ran aground in the round of 16. France lost to Spain 2-1, after conceding in the 90th minute from penalty execution.

In addition to the less smooth journey for France, in fact the 2017 U-17 World Cup gave birth to the name Aurelien Tchouameni.

At that time, Tchouameni appeared to stand out in the midfield of Le Blues which then made her also feel the promotion of the youth team to Bordeaux's senior team. Furthermore, Tchouameni's career continued to skyrocket until Real Madrid bought it for 80 million euros in 2022.

Jadon Sancho

Jadon Sancho is a player from the England squad who won the 2017 U-17 World Cup. At that time, Sancho had an impressive record of three goals and two assists from three matches played.

A slick performance at the U-17 World Cup then made Sancho brought Dortmund from Man City. Dortmund had to pay 8.7 million euros and that price went up significantly when Dortmund sold it to Manchester United in 2021.