With the tournament over and players returning home to their clubs, there is a lot to reflect on.

The U17 World Cup is hosted every 2 years. This year’s tournament was hosted in Brazil; the Brazilian U-17 team gets to be in the tournament automatically for being the host nation. There are 24 nations in six groups of four. This tournament averaged just over 3.5 goals a game, which is an increase from the 2018 U-17 World Cup, which averaged 2.5 goals per game. There were some results that didn’t surprise anyone and there were plenty of results that shocked people. 

The group stages were quite interesting. Brazil and Angola led the top half of Group A and went on to the knockout stage. Nigeria and Ecuador led Group B. France and Korea Republic went on to represent Group C in the knockout stages. Japan and Senegal led Group D. Group E was led by Spain and Argentina. Last but not least, Paraguay and Italy led Group F.

Some teams that weren’t in the top half of the group that went on to the knockout stages were the Netherlands, Mexico, Chile, France, and Australia. In the Round of 16s, there was not a single draw. Each team had a point to prove and they did exactly that. The eight teams that went on to the quarterfinals were the following: Netherlands, Korea Republic, Spain, Italy, Paraguay, Mexico, France, and Brazil. 

The Netherlands and France both defeated their respective opponents, Paraguay and Spain. The Netherlands beat Paraguay 4-1 and France topped Spain 6-1. Brazil came out on top with a 2-0 result against Italy. Mexico also had a tough task ahead of them and defeated Korea 1-0. 

The final draw of the tournament was the semifinals. The semifinals included the Netherlands, France, Mexico, and Brazil. Both games were played on November 14. The day started with Mexico competing against the Netherlands. It was like a very intense game of chess. After the referee blew his whistle to end regular time, the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Santiago Munoz scored a goal in his own net in the 74th minute and his fellow teammate Efrain Alvarez scored right before the 80th minute. They went on to penalties to determine who would play the Finals in Brasilia. Mexico would come out on top 4-3 in penalties. Later that day, Brazil went on to play France. This was a true test against both sides and Brazil went on to beat France 3-2 after regular time.

The finals were set. Neither team went home as the Netherlands and France were given the opportunity to play for bronze and add to their trophy cabinet. The finals were between Brazil and a Mexico side that has made it to their third finals in the last few U-17 tournaments.

The Netherlands played France to start the Day of Champions. France ended up beating the Netherlands 3-1. France’s very own Arnaud Kalimuendo-Muinga scored three goals to finish their tournament with a hat-trick. France left with silverware despite not making it to the Grand Finals that would be played hours later. 

The night was set. Brazil and Mexico were ready to battle to be declared U-17 World Cup Champions. This was a very intense match that went back and forth throughout the 90 minutes, but that wasn’t enough for Mexico to win gold because Brazil went on to win the whole tournament. 

Brazil won 2-1. Mexico scored the first goal from Bryan Gonzalez past the full hour mark in the 66th minute. Late in the game, Brazil came back with an equalizer in the 84th minute thanks to a goal from Kaio Jorge. This resulted from a penalty that was committed by Mexico’s Alejandro Gomez. Lazaro had the winning goal in the 95th minute. A few moments later, the referee blew the whistle for the final time in the tournament. 

After the finals, they announced some key awards. The recipient of the Golden Boot Award was the Netherlands striker Sontje Hansen, who netted six goals throughout the tournament. The next two awards went to Brazil. Brazil’s striker Gabriel Veron won the FIFA Golden Ball Award, an award that acknowledges the best player in the tournament, and their goalkeeper Matheus Donelli won the Golden Glove Award. The award acknowledges the best keeper in the tournament. Ecuador’s U-17 won FIFA’s Fair Play Award. The runner-up, Mexico, received their medals and the champions received their medals as well as the U-17 World Cup Trophy.

All information provided by FIFA.com and bleacherreport.com.

Photo by Buda Mendes – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images.