The 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 19th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football tournament contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was held in Indonesia from 10 November to 2 December 2023.[1] This was the first time that Indonesia hosted a FIFA tournament, the first time that the FIFA U-17 World Cup was held in Southeast Asia and the third Asian country to host U-17 World Cup after United Arab Emirates in 2013 and India in 2017. It was the third time a men's FIFA tournament was held in the region, after the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia and the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand.
This edition marked the return of the tournament after a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing FIFA to cancel the 2021 edition.[2]
Brazil were the defending champions, having won their fourth title in 2019, but were eliminated after losing 3–0 to Argentina in the quarter-finals.
Peru were announced as the 2021 U-17 World Cup hosts following a FIFA Council meeting on 24 October 2019 in Shanghai, China.[3]
After the 2021 edition was cancelled, Peru was awarded the hosting rights of the next edition in 2023.[3]
However, after extensive discussions between the Peruvian Football Federation and FIFA on the hosting suitability of Peru caused by its infrastructural deficiencies, Peru withdrew as hosts on 3 April 2023, with FIFA announcing an immediate opening of a replacement hosting rights tender.[4]
On 23 June 2023, FIFA officially appointed Indonesia as the new host, believed to have been in compensation for the loss of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup hosting rights which were given to Argentina after Indonesia took issue with the Israeli team in that tournament.[5]
A total of 24 teams qualified for the final tournament. Indonesia, the host team along with 23 other teams qualified from six separate continental competitions.
Players born on or after 1 January 2006 and on or before 31 December 2008 were eligible to compete in the tournament.
Seeding
The 24 teams were organised to be drawn into six groups of four teams. The hosts Indonesia were automatically seeded to Pot 1 and into the first position of Group A, while the remaining teams were seeded into pots based on their results in the last five FIFA U-17 World Cups (with more recent tournaments weighted more heavily, and with five bonus points added to each of the 6 continental champions from the 2023 qualifying tournaments), as follows:[10]
The draw took place at 16:00 CEST (21:00 WIB host time) on 15 September 2023 at FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland.[11] The ceremony was presented by Mollie Kmita and conducted by FIFA Director of Tournaments Jaime Yarza, with the former footballers Júlio César, from Brazil, and Stephen Appiah, from Ghana, acting as draw assistants.[12]
The draw started with teams from pot one being drawn first and placed in the first position of their groups (hosts Indonesia automatically assigned to A1). Then were drawn the teams from pot 2, followed by pot 3 and pot 4, with each team also drawn to one of the positions within their group; no group could contain more than one team from each confederation.
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of 90 minutes of normal playing time, the match would be directly decided by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner; no extra time would be played.
In the round of 16, the four third-placed teams were matched with the winners of groups A, B, C, and D. The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depended on the four third-placed teams which qualified for the round of 16:
As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
The tournament's logo was revealed on FIFA+ on 1 September 2023. The design uses red and white inspired from the flag of Indonesia, as well as turquoise to symbolize the sea that flows through the archipelago. The crown features a ball which represents the passion for football around the world.[18]
The mascot of the 2023 FIFA U17 World Cup in this edition, named Bacuya, played an important role in inviting people to come to the stadium to see the world's young footballers compete. Bacuya, or Badak Cula Cahaya. The horned rhino refers to an animal native to Indonesia. Bacuya appeared wearing a red and white Indonesian national team jersey.[22]
Bacuya's philosophy is that of a young Javan rhinoceros who is very shy and reserved. Despite these characteristics, his curiosity compels him to run stoically into the field as if in search of something. Shades of green grass motivate him until he finds a ball. When something suddenly extraordinary happens, his horns light up with new colors.[23]
Music
After previously "Glorious" became the official song for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup, this song by the EDM music group from Indonesia named Weird Genius is again the official song for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup. With new arrangements, this song also features three Indonesian soloists; Lyodra Ginting, Tiara Andini, and Ziva Magnolya (LTZ).[24]
^The match, originally scheduled for 19:00 local time, was delayed 30 minutes to prevent overlap with the other Group D match between Senegal and Poland, which had been delayed due to rain.
^The match, originally scheduled for 16:00 local time, was delayed 45 minutes due to rain.
^The match, originally scheduled for 19:00 local time, was delayed 30 minutes due to rain.
^ ab"Update on FIFA Women's World Cup and men's youth competitions". FIFA. 24 December 2020. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2020. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided to cancel the 2021 editions of the men's FIFA U-20 World Cup and FIFA U-17 World Cup, and to appoint Indonesia and Peru respectively, who were due to host the tournaments in 2021, as the hosts of the 2023 editions.
