To be eligible to play, a player must have been born on or after 1 January 1992.
Venues
FIFA chose eight venues out of nine possible locations.[2][3][4]
On 21 May 2009, FIFA gave Nigeria a "Yellow Card" as FIFA noted a significant delay in the preparations for the tournament.[5] While Abuja and Lagos were ready, FIFA vice-president Jack Warner gave four other venues (Enugu, Calabar, Ijebu-Ode and Kano) a month to get 100 percent ready or the tournament would be moved. One potential venue (Warri) was removed after recent violence flared up in the Niger Delta.
The 2009 edition was under increasing threats from the armed rebel group The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and warned FIFA against hosting the tournament in Nigeria.[6] However, the militants were offered amnesty in exchange for laying down their weapons, and the tournament went on smoothly without any incidents.
Teams
The final draw for the group stage was held on 7 August 2009 at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.[7][8]
Teams were allocated to groups on the basis of geographical spread. Teams were placed in four pots, and one team was drawn from each pot for each group. Pot 1 contained the five African teams plus one from CONMEBOL; Pot 2 contained the remaining teams from the Americas excluding one CONCACAF team; Pot 3 consisted of teams from Asia and Oceania plus the remaining CONCACAF team; Pot 4 consisted of teams from the European confederation.
Source: [citation needed] Rules for classification: The 4 best 3rd place teams qualify for the knockout stage. The first determining factor is points, the second is goal difference, and the third is the number of goals scored. If teams are still level, then Fair-Play ranking is used as the fourth criterion. This ranking is as follows: −1 for yellow card, −3 for a red card (straight or 2 yellows in the same game), −4 in case of a yellow card followed by a straight red card in the same game. If the teams are still level at this point, a drawing of lots determine the qualified team(s). Notes: