FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup in Indonesia provides showcase for young talent

New Zealand’s performance at November’s FIFA U-17s Mens World Cup in Indonesia will give players a chance to showcase their talent against some of the world’s best in their age group.

On past experience, the squad is likely to help propel the careers of future All Whites.

At the last FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2019 in Brazil, the New Zealand team included a youngster called Marko Stamenic from Western Suburbs.

This year, he was playing for Red Star Belgrade in his his second Champions League campaign, and has become a regular starter for the All Whites.

Other names in the 2019 New Zealand squad were fellow All Whites midfielder Matt Garbett, and Phoenix youngsters Oscar van Hattum, Alex Poulsen and Ben Old.

In 2015, the U-17 World Cup tournament was the first time the wider world got to see Joe Bell, Sapreet Singh, James McGarry, Callum McCowatt and others who have since established professional careers.

In 2013, the New Zealand team included future All Whites Andre De Jong, Alex Rufer and Oli Sail, while Tim Payne, Bill Tuiloma and Kip Colvey were part of the class of 2011 who also made it out of the group stage.

Other big names who emerged at U-17 World Cups

The following players are among the notable participants at previous U-17 tournaments (player/country/tournament host):

New Zealand’s opponents

New Zealand will face Venezuela, Germany and Mexico in their group at the 24-team tournament to be played from November 10 till December 2, 2023.

New Zealand’s games in Group F will be staged at the 30,000-capacity Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung.

Fixtures

Game to be played on Sunday November 12, 2023

New Zealand v Venezuela
Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, Bandung (10pm, NZT)

READ MORE: New Zealand face Venezuela in Sunday’s opener at FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup >>>>

Game to be played on Thursday November 16, 2023 (NZT)

New Zealand v Germany
Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, Bandung (1am, NZT)

Game to be played on Saturday November 18, 2023

New Zealand v Mexico
Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, Bandung (10pm NZT)

Past records

Venezuela qualified as one of four teams to progress from the 2023 South American U-17 Championship. This will be their second appearance at an U-17 World Cup. They failed to get out of their group at the 2013 tournament.

Germany were one of five European teams to qualify through the UEFA European Championship.

The Germans await their 11th appearance at an U-17 World Cup. Germany have never won the tournament but finished runners-up in 1985.

Mexico reached the Indonesia tournament via the CONCACAF U-17 Championship, and will play at their 15th U-17 World Cup. They were champions in 2005 and 2011.

New Zealand are going to the U-17 World Cup for the 11th time. Their best performances were in 2009, 2011 and 2015 when they reached the round of 16.

Draw

Format

The 24 nations have been split into six groups of four. The top two in each group, along with the four best third-placed teams, will reach the knockout phase.

The knockout stage will have a round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, a third-place play-off and final, where the winners will be crowned in Surakarta.

Schedule

You can download a PDF of the tournament schedule here >>>>

Tickets

Tickets are on sale for the tournament:

Past winners

More football stories