Two minnows and two giants—that is what Group E of the FIFA U-17 World Cup comprises of. While the scales are tipped heavily in favour of France and Japan to progress, little-known Honduras and New Caledonia are expected to be pushovers.
You may have to Google where the two small countries are located on the world map, but, as in every cup competition, one cannot afford to write off teams so easily. On a particularly good day, who says a Honduras or New Caledonia cannot upset a mighty France?
Besides, if one of them manages to shave off some points from the bigger sides to finish third, they might get a chance to take one of the four spots in the round of 16 available for the best third-placed teams from the six groups.
With five of six matches played at Guwahati, Northeast fans will have their attention fixed on the European team, of which much is expected from as the tournament progresses.
Honduras
Coach: Jose Valladares
The tiny Central American country has earned the unwanted reputation of being the tournament’s whipping boys. Since its World Cup debut in 2007, it has participated at every edition except the 2011 one. Their best finish was a quarterfinal in 2013, apart from which they have crashed out at every group stage.
The team had a relatively easy path to the World Cup, having beaten minnows like Haiti and Curacao to reach a classification stage, in which they finished second to USA.
Coach Valladares has been instrumental in developing the youth in the country to reach the World Cup regularly and this will be his third consecutive one.
Despite their relative low standing, watch out for Honduras’s Carlos Mejia, who scored seven goals at the CONCACAF tournament to be the top scorer.
Japan
Coach: Yoshiro Moriyama
Qualifying from the Asian federation is no mean feat, but the fact that Japan has done it so often shows how well a system they have in place. Sadly though, it has never translated to good performances in the main tournament.
A mixture of performances in the competition has often abruptly ended their campaign—they do well in the group stages and falter in the round of 16.
The team, however, performed well at the 2016 AFC U-16 Championships in Goa, where it got to the semifinal.
Striker Takefusa Kubo represents the nation at the U20 level as well and was formerly a part of Barcelona’s youth academy before he returned home. He was one of the finds of the U16 tournament and his coach, who has been in charge since 2011, will rely on the boy to help Japan out of the group stage.
France
Coach: Lionel Rouxel
When it comes to footballing talent, there is no country that possesses depth like France senior team does, at the moment. It makes watching this group of players all the more exciting.
The team, though, barely scrapped through to reach the tournament. Losing to eventual champions Spain in the quarterfinal of the U-17 Euro championships this year, the young Frenchmen had to beat Hungary in a playoff to reach India.
Despite winning the tournament in 2001, France has played in only five editions of the competition, with a quarterfinal finish its second best result. That could be a result of the toughness associated with winning one of just five spots from a country like Europe.
The coach, Lionel Rouxel is a former forward who took charge of the team in 2015 and will coach a team in an international competition for the first time.
A proponent of attacking football, Rouxel has in Amine Gouiri the star of the 2017 U-17 Euros. Gouiri scored eight goals during that tournament to become top scorer of the edition.
New Caledonia
Coach: Dominique Wacalie
Like hosts India and African side Niger, this French territory in the Pacific makes its debut in the World Cup. Though the country became a FIFA member only in 2004, the history of their football federation traces back to 1928.
New Caledonia qualified for this event by reaching the final of the Oceania U-17 championship this year, which they lost to New Zealand. The team beat teams like Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands en route to the final.
Coach Dominique Wacalie is a former professional who played in the lower leagues of France and very little is known about his style of play.
Having no prior international experience for the country or the manager, New Caledonia should consider themselves lucky if they manage even one point.
Fixtures:
October 8:
New Caledonia vs France (5pm)
Honduras vs Japan (8pm)
October 11:
France vs Japan (5pm)
New Caledonia vs Honduras (8pm)
October 14:
France vs Honduras (5pm)
New Caledonia vs Japan (5pm)
