Qatar 2025 U-17 World Cup Draw Set for Sunday as Tournament Expands to 48 Teams for First Time

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May 24, 2025
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24-May-2025

Qatar 2025 U-17 World Cup Draw Set for Sunday as Tournament Expands to 48 Teams for First Time

DOHA - The draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 will be held tomorrow, Sunday, in Doha. The tournament is scheduled to take place from November 3 to 27, marking the first time in the competition history that 48 teams will participate.

FIFA previously awarded Qatar the hosting rights for five consecutive editions of the U-17 World Cup, beginning in 2025 under its new expanded format, which features 48 teams - a historic first across all FIFA tournaments.

The upcoming tournament will see 104 matches played over a span of 25 days. All games will be held at eight stadiums within the Aspire Academy, while the final will take place at Khalifa International Stadium.

Under the tournament format, the 48 qualified teams will be divided into 12 groups of four. The top two teams from each group, along with the eight best third-placed teams, will advance to the Round of 32, totaling 32 teams in the knockout stages. The knockout rounds will proceed from the Round of 32 to the Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final match on November 27.

FIFA seeded the participating teams into four pots based on their performance in the past five editions of the U-17 World Cup. Each pot contains 12 teams. Host nation Qatar is placed in Pot 1 and will lead Group A, playing the tournament opener on November 3.

Pot 1 includes: Qatar, Brazil, France, Mali, Germany, Mexico, Argentina, England, Japan, Paraguay, USA, and Senegal.

Pot 2 includes: South Korea, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Italy, Belgium, New Zealand, Chile, Venezuela, Croatia, Colombia, Honduras, and Burkina Faso.

Pot 3 includes: Costa Rica, Tajikistan, Panama, Indonesia, North Korea, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, New Caledonia, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and Haiti.

Pot 4 includes: UAE, Portugal, Czech Republic, Ireland, Switzerland, Zambia, Egypt, Uganda, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, El Salvador, and Fiji.

FIFA allocated qualification slots to the continental federations as follows:

Asia (AFC): 9 teams - Qatar (as host), Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, UAE, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Tajikistan.

Europe (UEFA): 11 teams - Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, and Switzerland.

Africa (CAF): 10 teams - Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Zambia, Egypt, and Uganda.

North, Central America & Caribbean (CONCACAF): 8 teams - Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and USA.

South America (CONMEBOL): 7 teams - Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia.

Oceania (OFC): 3 teams - Fiji, New Caledonia, and New Zealand.
The U-17 World Cup began in 1985, with Nigeria holding the record for most titles (five), followed by Brazil with four. Saudi Arabia remains the only Arab nation to have won the title, doing so in 1989. The current champions are Germany, who won the most recent edition in 2023. (QNA)

Likewise,  The draw for the 11th edition of the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025 will take place tomorrow, Sunday, in Doha.

The tournament will be hosted by Qatar from Dec. 1 to 18, under the supervision of FIFA for the second consecutive time.

FIFA adjusted the timing of the draw ceremony, initially scheduled for today, to tomorrow due to its previous conflict with the final of the 2025 Amir Cup between Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa at Khalifa International Stadium.

The international football federation, which granted Qatar the right to host the next three editions of the Arab Cup in 2025, 2029, and 2033, used its Apr. 3 world rankings to determine the nine teams that will qualify directly for the finals, while the remaining teams will compete in a preliminary round on Nov. 25 and 26, just before the start of the tournament.

Based on FIFA rankings, the teams that have qualified directly for the finals are: Qatar (host, ranked 55th), Morocco (12th), Egypt (32nd), Algeria (defending champion, 36th), Tunisia (49th), Saudi Arabia (58th), Iraq (59th), Jordan (62nd), and the United Arab Emirates (65th).

The teams that will compete in the playoff round are: Oman (77th), Bahrain (84th), Syria (93rd), Palestine (101st), Mauritania (110th), Lebanon (112th), Sudan (114th), Libya (117th), Kuwait (134th), Yemen (158th), South Sudan (170th), Djibouti (192nd), and Somalia (201st). Seven teams will advance from the playoff to join the nine already qualified, completing the 16-team lineup.

FIFA announced that Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, and Egypt will head the four groups in the finals and will be placed in the top seeding pot. Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Jordan will be in the second pot. The UAE, along with three playoff winners, will be placed in the third pot, while the fourth pot will include four other playoff winners.

Before the finals draw, FIFA revealed the matchups for the playoff round. The 14 teams were split by geography between Asia and Africa, with the highest-ranked Asian team facing the lowest-ranked African team, and so on. According to the April rankings, the following fixtures were determined: Oman vs. Somalia, Bahrain vs. Djibouti, Syria vs. South Sudan, Palestine vs. Libya, Lebanon vs. Sudan, Kuwait vs. Mauritania, and Yemen vs. Comoros. Winners of the first three matches will join the UAE in Pot 3 for the finals draw, while winners of the remaining four matches will enter Pot 4.

The previous edition of the FIFA Arab Cup, held in Qatar in 2021, was a resounding success. It was an exceptional tournament played in the same stadiums used for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, featuring high-quality football and record-breaking attendance. A total of 571,605 spectators attended the 32 matches, averaging nearly 18,000 per match.

Algeria claimed the title by defeating Tunisia 2–0 after extra time in the final at Al Bayt Stadium, in front of more than 60,000 fans.