Earlier this year, Qatar was awarded the hosting rights for the FIFA U-17 World Cup from 2025 to 2029.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino met with Qatar Football Association President Jassim Rashid Al Buenain in Paris to discuss Qatar’s upcoming role of hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Amid the hosting of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Infantino expressed that the meeting took place as Qatar is set to host the first five editions of the expanded FIFA U-17 World Cup, kicking off in 2025.
“It was great to meet the President of the Qatar Football Association, Jassim Rashid Al Buenain,” Infantino posted on his social media channels.
“We had the chance to reminisce about the glory of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and I congratulated him on their AFC Asian Cup victory back in February. We also looked forward to Qatar staging its third global FIFA tournament after the FIFA Council, in March, awarded the Gulf state multi-year hosting rights to the FIFA U-17 World Cup,” Infantino added.
“It’s an exciting time for football in Qatar and I’m excited to continue working closely with the football association to realise the full potential of our beautiful sport in the country.”
In March of this year, FIFA announced that the Men’s and Women’s Under-17 World Cups will now be held annually, starting in 2025.
Both tournaments have been expanded, with the men’s edition featuring 48 teams and the women’s category hosting 24 teams.
As Qatar will host the men’s tournament, Morocco was chosen to host the women’s tournament starting from 2025 until 2029.
This year’s 2024 edition of the Women’s Under-17 World Cup will be hosted by the Dominican Republic, beginning on October 16th.
