Our group for the FIFA U-17 World Cup taking place in Qatar later this year has been confirmed
β New Zealand Football π³πΏ (@NZ_Football) May 25, 2025
π²π± Mali
π³πΏ New Zealand
π¦πΉ Austria
πΈπ¦ Saudi Arabia pic.twitter.com/89citudWza
Strong group. Mali runners up in African qualification, Saudi Arabia the same in Asia, Austria won their group phase and came 2nd (behind Germany) in the advanced group stage, so didn't progress to the finals, but qualified for the World Cup anyway.
Our OFC neighbours with even stronger groups you feel - New Caledonia landing Japan, Morocco & Portugal. With Fiji grouped with Argentina, Belgium & Tunisia. Two OFC qualifiers was generous, you feel three qualifiers is just merely taking the piss just a wee bit...
OFC U16 qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup get underway in August. Hopefully we get another tournament or a few fixtures in before the 2025 edition in November. π€
U17's could almost be a full time programme with these yearly world cups + friendlies/tournaments. Really good to see.