2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup Draw

The draw for the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup tournament, which will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from October 17th to November 8, was conducted on the 26th of August at the AL - Saqr conference suite of Fairmont Bab el Bahr hotel.

Many dignitaries attended the ceremony, among whom were the UAE minister of culture, youth and community development, H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan and Rafael Salguero, chairman of the organising committee for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, UAE 2013.

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FIFA U-17 World Cup

Sheikh Al Nahayan, who happens also to be the chairman of the local  organising committee, for the tournament addressed and welcomed, the audience to the ceremony. He said that the tournament, will be a unique experience, for both the players and football fanatics. He also said that, sports brings people together irrespective of their backgrounds, colours, shapes and sizes.

"This tournament will be one of a kind, for the players and for all football fanatics. It will be a unique and fun experience for everyone. The tournament will bring together people and has the power to unite people of all backgrounds of all colours, all races ... of all shapes and all sizes," he said.

Rafael Salguero, the chairman of the FIFA organising committee of the tournament, also welcomed the representatives of the 24 countries, that will be playing in the tournament and the general audience. He said, to the guests, "It's great to see you all here, and I wish you all a great evening and I hope to see stars out of this tournament, which will shine in the sky of football and enrich our game even more."

The two most successful countries in the history of the tournament, Brazil and Nigeria, will also participate in the mundial in October.
Both countries won the cup three times each and were also finalists three times each. Mexico which is the defending champion, has won it twice and Ghana has also won it twice. The rest of the winners only won it once.

In the drawing, the continental champions were seeded into six groups with each group containing four teams. They are as follows:

Group A (Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaima) UAE, Brazil, Hunduras, Slovakia.

Group B (A. D. Ras Al Khaima) Uruguay, New Zealand, I.Coast, Italy.

Group C (Fujairah, Sharjah) Croatia, Morocco, Panama, Uzbekistan.

Group D (Fujairah, Sharjah) Tunisia, Venezuela, Russia, Japan.

Group E (Dubai Al Ain) Canada, Austria, Iran, Argentina.

Group F (Dubai Al Ain) Mexico, Nigeria, Iraq, Sweden.