New Zealand will learn their group opponents at the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup early on Saturday when the tournament draw is held in Zurich.
New Zealand are one of 24 teams that will participate in the tournament to be held in Indonesia from November 10 to December 2, 2023.
Teams will be drawn into six groups of four, with teams seeded into four pots for the draw at FIFA’s Switzerland headquarters.
The draw will take place at 2am (NZT) on Saturday September 16, 2023.
Seeding of teams
The pots are:
Pot 1: Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico, France, Spain, Japan
Pot 2: Germany, Mali, England, Korea Republic, Argentina, Ecuador
Pot 3: New Zealand, IR Iran, Senegal, USA, Uzbekistan, Morocco
Pot 4: Canada, New Caledonia, Panama, Venezuela, Poland, Burkina Faso
Teams were allocated pots on a points system based on their performances at the past five U-17 World Cups, with five bonus points added to each of the confederation’s current champions that won their qualifying tournament for the 2023 edition.
Indonesia are automatically placed in Pot 1 as hosts.
FIFA’s general principle is to ensure no group has more than one team from the same confederation drawn into it.
Tournament format
The top two in each of the six groups, along with the four best third-placed teams, will reach the knockout phase. Thereafter, a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, a third-place play-off and final will unfold.
How to watch the draw
The draw will be streamed live and across the world on FIFA’s digital platforms. FIFA’s broadcast partners in Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Spain, Sub-Sahara Africa, Togo and Venezuela will also transmit the draw either on TV or on their digital platforms.
Check this website on Friday September 15 for links to the live stream.
Who’ll make the draw
Two former internationals will help make the draw under the supervision of aime Yarza, Director FIFA Tournaments.
They are Ghana international midfielder Stephen Appiah and Brazil goalkeeper Júlio César.
Appiah was a member of the Ghana team that won the 1995 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Ecuador. He was 14 when he played in that tournament.
César was on the losing side in that 1995 final but went on to play 87 full internationals for Brazil.
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