New Delhi: The official draw of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup will be held on Friday in Mumbai. Consider as the breeding ground of future stars, one of FIFA's blue riband tournament is scheduled to be held in India from 6-28 October.
India, despite being an outsider to the world football, was given the honours to host the biennial tournament considering the huge potential it carries, and thus the colts earned a direct entry. But how well Luis Norton de Matos' boys perform in the competition will depend partly on the draw.
So, here is everything you need to know about tomorrow's official draw:
Time & place: 7 July (19:00 IST) at Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai, India.
Star attractions: Football legends Esteban Cambiasso and Nwankwo Kanu along with Indian sporting icons Sunil Chhetri and PV Sindhu will attend the draw. The two Indian stars will take part as draw assistants.
How many teams are there: 24 teams have qualified for the tournament from six separate confederations. But defending champions and the most successful team in U-17 World Cup, Nigeria failed to book a place to India.
AFC (Asia): India (Hosts), Iran, Iraq, Japan, North Korea
CAF (Africa): Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger
CONCACAF (Central, North America and Caribbean): Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, United States
CONMEBOL (South America): Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay
OFC (Oceania): New Caledonia, New Zealand
UEFA (Europe): England, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey
Interestingly, India along with Niger and New Caledonia are the debutants.
How will the draw happen: There are four pots. Teams are assigned to each pot according to their past records in the tournament's history
Pot 1: India, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Mali, France
Pot 2: Spain, Japan, New Zealand, England, Iran, United States
Pot 3: Costa Rica, North Korea, Honduras, Iraq, Turkey, Colombia
Pot 4: Chile, Paraguay, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, New Caledonia
These teams will be divided into six groups. labelled Groups A to F. India are already given A1 by the virtue of being the hosts.
There is a FIFA mandate that teams from the same confederation should not be drawn against each other for the group stage. So, India will avoid Japan, Iran, North Korea and Iraq in the group stage.
In the Group A, India can have Spain/New Zealand/England/United States from Pot 2; Costa Rica/Honduras/Turkey/Colombia from Pot 3; Chile, Paraguay/Ghana/Guinea/Niger/New Caledonia from Pot 4.
Matches and venues: There will be a total of 52 matches, to be played across six cities – Guwahati, Goa, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium will host the final.
Live streaming: The event will be webcasted live on FIFA.Com.
