FIFA World Cup U-17, where the Stars of the Future begin their road!

By Christian Basantes

 

Hello my fellow soccer fans, one more time here to greet you and talk more about our passion, the beautiful game, Football! This time, I'm here to talk about one of my favorite soccer tournaments, the FIFA World Cup, but the U-17! where the stars of the future show their talent and world class!.

It was in 1982, when FIFA president, Joao Havelange, had the idea to create a tournament for teen football players. The success of the U-20 World Cup was the beginning of this U-17 World tournament, and in 1985, China hosted the first World Cup with 16 National Teams. Later in 2007, at the tournament played in Korea Republic, the competition expanded to 24 National Teams. Since 1985, every two years, the competition takes place, and we’ve seen great young players that later became great stars.

Who are the best teams in this competition? Well, Brazil and Nigeria have the record of 3 world titles. Those are the most successful teams. In the major competitions, we normally see teams like Argentina, Germany, Italy as the ones that get the final victory. However, in this one, the unusual thing happens. Teams like Ghana, France, México, and Switzerland have tasted World victory. In short, this is the list of U-17 World Champions in the history:

As you may notice, 13 editions of this World Cup have been played so far. It is not a surprise to see African teams like Nigeria and Ghana winning these competitions. The same I’d say for Saudi Arabia and Switzerland. The only question that comes to my mind is What happen later to these teams? Why they don’t have the same success in a major tournament? Well, that’s another discussion; however, their country names are in the world soccer history.

Tomorrow, a new history will start. The 14^th edition of the U-17 World Cup is this summer. From June 18^th to July 10^th, 24 National Teams will be playing in 7 cities of Mexico in order to find the new U-17 World Champion. On May 17^th, in the draw celebrated in Mexico City, the groups were conformed and here they are:

So, what is the most difficult group? Or better say, what is the famous “group of death”? Well, these times, there is not easy opponent; I think all the groups are complicated. Whoever wants to be the Champion, will have to fight in every minute of every single game. No matter, who wins at the end, I really hope it is the team that really deserve it.

I'm sure that now, you are wondering who is going to be the new U-17 World Champion. Well, in order to figure out this mystery, let's follow the games, and of course, let's cheer and support our teams. In my case, Go Ecuador!!!

Tomorrow, at 1 pm, in the city of Morelia, the hosts Mexico will play North Korea, and the party will start!!

Thanks for the opportunity and enjoy the beautiful game!!

Christian Basantes

PS. Wondering about the Game schedule? Please go to http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/index.html