The Under-17 FIFA World Cup 2023 starts on November 10, 2023, and will go on until December 2, 2023. Nigeria has, so far, dominated the segment by winning the title five times. England will enter the tournament to defend its title from 2017. However, Spain is on a quest to clinch its maiden title. Indonesia, the hosts of the tournament, are making their debut, and Morocco and Panama are finally making a comeback after 10 years.
Mali were runners-up in 2015 and have every chance of making it to the final again. Interestingly, Panama and Morocco are the teams to kick off the tournament, with Mali and Uzbekistan fighting for the win simultaneously. The hosts will face Ecuador in the next slot on the sidelines of Spain vs. Canada.
There are a total of five groups—A, B, C, D, E, and F—with four teams each. The format replicates the one that was followed in 2019. Spain had won two out of three games, with only one registering a draw against Argentina. Both teams are in a different group this time but remain favorites to advance to the next stage.
Spain tops the list despite losing the semis of UEFA-17 against France. The GD was 2 under the final tally of 3-1. Spain went on to bring home three consecutive wins in the UEFA Euro-17 Qualifiers. All of them reflected a strong rebound, evident from the fact that a minimum of five goals were scored in them, restricting opponents to either a goalless board or one fine net.
For instance, Spain vs. Malta ended 7-0, followed by Spain vs. North Macedonia ending 5-0. Slovakia was fortunate enough to navigate their way around the Spanish defense for the only goal. That brought the score to 5-1 with a GD of 4 nonetheless. Spain would look to continue that momentum to make it to the final knockout round, probably ending the journey as runners-up.
Things sound different for hosts who have played what looks like a limited-quality sport. The stage is pretty big at the moment, and they would definitely need to put up a better fight than 3-2 at Indonesia vs. UAE, since the odds are set very high on many of the top FIFA betting sites.
Panama’s decade-long wait to contest for the title has now ended. The team lost the semis of the CONCACAF Gold Cup championship against Mexico but is now determined to leave an impression. Morocco has seen a lot of close calls in recent events. The one that just happened was against England when the game went to penalty shootouts and Morocco scored a winning edge with their sixth kick. The English were stuck at 5, losing to Morocco in an event that should have been on their side.
FIFA+ holds broadcasting rights for the U-17 FIFA World Cup, and services are available in all the major countries across the world.
