The battle for the FIFA U-17 World Cup is down to the final eight—Ghana, USA, England, Brazil, Mali, Germany, Spain and Iran. Much to the satisfaction of the Indian football fans, there have been no major upsets and sides from traditional senior World Cup heavyweights have reached the quarterfinal stage.
France is perhaps the only exception, but given that it was drawn against Spain in the round of 16, one big boy had to depart either way. Les Bleus lost 2-1 to the Spaniards after conceding a penalty in the dying minutes of the game.
There were several thumping victories too. Germany began the proceedings with a 4-0 defeat of Colombia. It restored some pride for the Germans, having lost by the same margin to Iran in the group stage, and reinstated the team’s status as a title contender.
USA then crushed Paraguay 5-0 as Tim Weah scored a hat-trick in the same week that his ex-player father, George Weah, took one step closer to becoming the president of Liberia. A high-flying Mali side obliterated a Mohammad Dawood-less Iraq 5-1, while Brazil dismissed little Honduras 3-0 on the final night of the round.
Ghana got the better of debutants Niger 2-0 to set up another all-African match-up with Mali in the next stage and Iran beat Mexico 2-1. But the closest game of the round was England beating Japan in an electric, nail-biting game that ended with the Europeans winning the penalty shootout.
It has been a rarity at FIFA U-17 World Cups past for the favourites to glide through. Of the eight teams this year, only Brazil has been a constant in the previous three editions. Also, of the 18 editions of the Cup, Germany and Spain have reached the last eight only six times each, while England has gotten there twice.
One of the concerns, before the tournament began, was whether the level of interest could be maintained among the Indian masses, as this is a youth tournament. With countries like Argentina, the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy failing to qualify, it meant that the later stages of the tournament would lack the lustre of a senior tournament.
The attendance at games so far may not be like it is for cricket games in India, but the average attendance at this edition has been the highest ever for a FIFA junior event. Now that the favourites are through, organisers can expect even greater turnouts as we approach the business end of the campaign.
The onset of the quarterfinal stage also marks the end of the road for fans in New Delhi. The national capital is the only venue that will not host any of the remaining games. When the schedule was announced months ago, tournament director Javier Ceppi was firm in his decision to deny New Delhi from hosting games after Diwali because of pollution concerns.
Quarterfinal fixtures:
October 21:
Ghana vs Mali (5pm, Guwahati)
USA vs England (8pm, Goa)
October 22:
Iran vs Spain (5pm, Kochi)
Germany vs Brazil (8pm, Kolkata)
