The U17 World Junior Championships will be held annually in Qatar until 2029.
The Council of the World Football Association FIFA decided this on Thursday (March 14, 2024) in a virtual meeting. In addition, the U17 World Cup will be held in Morocco for the next five years starting in 2025.
The two tournaments had previously been held every two years. Last year, FIFA announced that the U17 World Cup would be played annually from 2025 and increased from 24 to 48 teams. The tournament for the female U17 teams will in future take place with 24 nations.
DFB President is a member of the Council
The focus when choosing the hosts was “on the use of the existing football infrastructure in the interest of tournament efficiency and sustainability,” FIFA announced after the meeting. As a German representative, DFB President Bernd Neuendorf is a member of the world association’s council.
The German U17 won the World Cup title in Indonesia last year. Qatar was the host of the 2022 Men’s World Cup and had previously been criticized for human rights violations, among other things.