History Of The U-17 FIFA World Cup Long History

Indonesian U-17 World Cup 2023. (Photo: Doc. PSSI)

JAKARTA The 2023 FIFA U-17 Indonesia World Cup is in sight. The following is the long history of the age group competition that has lasted for 38 years.

In the inaugural event in 1985, the competition was not yet named as it is known today. The name of the competition is currently a name that has undergone two changes.

The International Football Federation (FIFA) when organizing the event for the first time used the name U-16 World Championship. The name change to the U-17 World Championship was then carried out in 1991 and became the name now in 2007.

The U-17 World Cup is an association football world championship for men under the age of 17 years. The current champion is Brazil, which won its fourth title in the 2019 tournament at home.

The U-17 World Cup in 2023 is the 19th edition after being postponed in 2020 due to the corona pandemic. This biennial championship was inspired by a similar tournament organized by Singapore, the Lion City Cup in 1977.

The Lion City Cup is the world's first U-16 football tournament. FIFA then created the U-16 World Championship following the recommendations of then secretary general Sepp Blatter who was in Singapore at the 1982 edition of the Lion City Cup.

From there, the first edition of the U-16 World Championship was then held in China. Since then, this tournament has been held every two years, an exception for the latest edition which has to be delayed due to the pandemic.

The number of contestants

In the span of time between 1985 and 2005, the number of participants in this competition was only 16 teams. This number is then divided into four groups, each of which consists of four teams to play the group phase.

All teams in the group face each other to find the two best teams that qualify for the knockout stages. However, in 2007, the number of contestants in the event was increased to 24 teams, which were divided into 6 groups with 4 teams each. The top two teams in each group along with the 4 third-placed teams advanced to the knockout stages.

However, starting the next edition year after Indonesia, this tournament will be held every year and will be attended by 48 teams. All the contestants will later be divided into 4'mini tournaments', each of which consists of 12 teams.

Each mini tournament is still divided into three groups, each consisting of 4 teams. Three group winners and one best runner-up will qualify for the semifinals of the tournament and 2 winners will qualify for the final.

Furthermore, the winner of each mini tournament will qualify for the 'large four' tournament. In that phase there will be 2 semifinals fighting for third place and two other teams stepping into the final to determine the U17 FIFA World Champion.

Match Time

This competition match is played in two usual rounds of other football competitions known today. Each round lasted 45 minutes (a total of 90 minutes).

In the knockout phase until the 2011 edition, if both teams play series after 90 minutes then there will be an additional 30 minutes (2 x 15 minutes) for extra time. The match will be followed by a penalty shootout if it is still a draw.

Well, this 2 x 15 minute extension was later abolished in the 2013 edition of the United Arab Emirates. This is done to avoid player fatigue. Starting from that edition, all the knockout system matches will go straight to penalty shootouts if the draw is at the end of 90 minutes.

The Most Successful Country

Africa is the most successful continent in the event with a collection of seven titles they have, 5 for Nigeria and 2 for Ghana, respectively. In addition, they have also been runners up 6 times.

Having five made Nigeria the most successful country in the history of this tournament. In addition to the series of titles, they also made runners up three times. Meanwhile, Brazil trailed the second most successful country with four titles and two runners-up, then Ghana and Mexico, each winning this tournament.

The other five titles outside are owned by France (2001), Russia (1987), Saudi Arabia (1989), Switzerland (2009), and England (2017).

In its history, two countries from one confederation met in the final match twice. The first occurred in the 1993 edition, where Nigeria and Ghana both stepped into the final round.

Teams from Africa repeated the 1993 final with Mali replacing Ghana who were disqualified for age violations in 2015. At that time Nigeria won to win their fifth title in this event.