FIFA U17 has been improved massively by FIFA in terms of slots allocation. In a tournament that has been played by 24 teams recently, the next edition is set to be contested by 48 teams.
In the last edition hosted by Indonesia in 2023, Africa was represented by four teams; Morocco, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso.
In the 2025 edition, Africa is set to be represented by 10 teams, FIFA says. Africa has the most titles in the FIFA U17 World Cup with Nigeria winning five (85,93,07,13,15) and Ghana lifting the title on two occasions (91,95).
Not only Africa that has gotten an improved slot, but all the other continents have also been allocated extra slots.
Asia has been given 9 slots,
CONCACAF (8), South America (7)
Oceania (3) and Europe, who have been allocated with the highest (11).
FIFA plans to give young talents the platform and the exposure at an early stage thereby switching the tournament from every two years to one.
Germany are the defending champions after beating France 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regular time in Indonesia in 2023.
The 20th edition will be hosted in Qatar as they will also host the next 5 editions annually from 2025 to 2029.
