The quarter-final matches of the FIFA U’17 World Cup, currently going on in Indonesia, takes place between Friday 24 and Saturday 25 November,2023.
Pairings for this second knockout stage, has Spain slug it out with Germany in the first match. Spain got to this stage after narrowly beating the hard fighting Japanese team 2-1, in a very pulsating match in the round of 16, while Germany overcame the USA challenge with a 3-2 victory. Both nations have never won the cadet tournament, despite being global football powers in the senior category. So far, Spain has better pedigree, as they were runners-up in 1991,2003 and 2007. Germany’s best effort so far was as a loser to Nigeria in the final of the very first edition in 1985.
In the second quarter-final match, South American perennial rivals, Brazil and Argentina will engage themselves in a battle of superiority, pride and prejudice. This clash promises to be a very thrilling encounter and touted to be the star match of the tournament. Argentina romped into this stage, with an emphatic 5-0 win over Venezuela, as Brazil defeated fellow South American nation Ecuador 3-1.
On Saturday 25 November, France will take-on the surprise team of the tournament Uzbekistan. France survived a penalty shoot-out against the West African nation of Senegal to get to this point, while Uzbekistan gave England a big shocker beating them two goals to one.
The last quarter-final match has Mali and Morocco, in an all-African duel. During the round of 16, Mali humbled Mexico 5-0 to progress to this stage. Morocco managed to overcome Iran 4-1 on penalties, after a 1-1 stalement during regulation time. Past performance shows that Mali has a better record, having been to the final in 2015 when they lost to Nigeria. Morocco’s best so far in the tournament’s history was when they reached the round of 16 in 2013.
