A little over three months ago, the last U-17 World Cup ended in Indonesia, which Germany won for the first time in history after beating France in the final. It was the last edition of the tournament with that format, since FIFA voted on several changes, both for the men’s and women’s categories.
The most recent news is that the contest will have a fixed headquarters for the next five years. Qatar, in the men’s category, and Morocco, in the women’s category, will host the tournament consecutively between 2025 and 2029, as decided by the Council of the governing body of world football.
READ MORE
+ + 2024 Copa Libertadores draw: The reason there could be two Brazilian clubs in the same group
+ + Brazil could host the 2027 Women’s World Cup
+ + Possible matches on the road to the Champions League Final
“The decision followed a global call for expressions of interest to host both competitions, focused on leveraging the existing football infrastructure for the efficiency and sustainability of the tournament,” FIFA said in a statement.
Introducing the hosts for the next five editions of the #U17WC and #U17WWC: Qatar and Morocco! 🇶🇦🇲🇦 pic.twitter.com/17kNuOfw33
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) March 14, 2024
In that sense, Qatar has just been the home of the last men’s World Cup in 2022, won by Argentina. For its part, Morocco will be, along with Spain and Portugal, one of the hosts for the 2030 World Cup, in a special edition for the centenary of the first tournament, with the first three games to be played in South America.
The fixed venues are not the only changes implemented to the top under-17 tournament, won by Brazil in the men’s category four times (1997, 1999, 2003 and 2019). FIFA had announced in December that the tournament was going from biannual to annual starting in 2025, at the same time that it will increase from 24 to 48 teams in the men’s category and from 16 to 24 in the women’s category.
