Rebecca Henriquez
@RebeHenriquez
The International Federation of Associated Football (FIFA) announced important changes to the format of the U-17 World Cup, both in the women’s and men’s categories, and confirmed the venue for the next five editions to be held, to reaffirm its commitment to football. youth.
“The FIFA Council has confirmed that the U-17 World Cup will be expanded to 48 teams, and will be held annually instead of every two years as part of the governing body’s strong commitment to youth football,” said the FIFA Council’s highest authority. sport.
According to the entity, the next five editions of the competition, starting in 2025, will be held in Qatar, while the U-17 Women’s World Cup will be expanded to 24 teams and will be held annually from 2025 in Morocco until 2029.
“As part of FIFA’s commitment to the youth categories, and following the recent decision to expand the U17 World Cup to 48 teams and organize this competition annually instead of every two years, it has been confirmed that, from 2025, the The next five editions of this competition will be held in Qatar,” FIFA said in a statement.
“Similarly, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, which has been expanded to 24 teams, will be held annually from 2025 and will take place in Morocco until 2029. This is preceded by a declaration of interest process carried out carried out around the world to host the competitions, with particular emphasis on taking advantage of existing football infrastructure and making the competitions more efficient and sustainable,” he added.
It was also announced that an important record of $2.25 billion has been reserved to finance the development of football, during the 2023 to 2026 cycle, which represents an investment that multiplied by seven compared to the 2016 development programs.
“In this way we will offer the 211 member associations more tailored services and assist them in carrying out their development and training projects, all in the name of taking football to new shores,” said the president of the association. entity, Gianni Infantino.
Men’s football had its first edition in 1985 in China, and the last in Indonesia the previous year. The most winning countries in this competition are Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, Mexico, Germany and France.
While the women’s category began in 2008 in New Zealand and the last edition was in 2022 in India and the winners have been Spain, North Korea, on two occasions, and Japan, South Korea and France on one occasion.
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