Internet Desk: Paraguay, Chile, Brazil and Colombia have secured the four CONMEBOL tickets on offer to the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.
Paraguay were the first to seal passage after they beat Venezuela 3-1 on Thursday’s fourth day of the hexagonal final-stage of competition.
Chile, who were the hosts for the qualifiers and for the previous edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, then earned qualification in the second match of the evening with a 1-0 victory over Ecuador thanks to Gaston Zuniga’s first-half strike.
Colombia won South America’s fourth and final qualification berth and came from behind for a 2-1 victory over Paraguay on the final match day on Sunday. Juan Vidal scored the winner for the team.
Brazil were crowned continental champions with a stunning 5-0 final-round win over Chile. Vinicius Jr. topped the scoring charts with 7 goals and was awarded the “best player” award.
Tournament Director for the Local Organizing Committee, FIFA U-17 World Cup, Javier Ceppi said, “We have got four very strong South American teams coming to India. If you see the FIFA Rankings for the Senior teams, three of them are within the top ten (Brazil: 2nd; Chile: 4th; Colombia: 7th), while Paraguay is bouncing back after qualifying to four consecutive senior World Cups. We are sure that fans will be very happy to go to the stadiums and seeing the new Neymar, Alexis Sanchez, James Rodriguez or Chilavert´s of South America. I was talking to several football people in Chile (which was where the qualifiers took place) and they told me that the level is amazing, that the 4 qualified teams would hands down beat almost every senior team in the World. We are sure that these teams will give Indian football fans a real treat.”
The FIFA U-17 World Cup will be held in India from October 6th to 28th later this year.