Minutes before last Thursday’s under-17 group-stage game between Senegal and Costa Rica kicked-off in Doha, a group of energetic infants were enjoying themselves near the pitch. “Does anyone own these children?” shouted a concerned policeman as he broke up their fun. The officer’s query was greeted with laughter by spectators within earshot.
This perhaps sums up the 2025 Fifa Under-17 World Cup. Played in the Aspire Zone, a sprawling park of eight pitches in west Doha, Qatar, it resembles more an overblown picnic than the highest-level football tournament for players of school-going age.
Gary Spain, the FAI’s supporter liaison officer, compared it with major competitions he has previously attended. “It’s much more intimate,” he said. “You can actually see the players up close.”
I was reminded of this as two North Korean players passed underneath my eyeline during the Ivory Coast-Mexico game.
RM Block
For Ireland, making their first appearance at a male World Cup in 22 years, this has been a fantastic tournament. The team comprehensively beat Panama 4-1 in their opener, before coming from behind to beat Uzbekistan on Saturday to secure a place in the last 32.
Previously a biennial event, this year’s tournament is the first of five that will be hosted annually in Qatar. Surprisingly, Fifa has declined to use any of the 2022 World Cup stadiums – not even for Qatar’s games. It has opted instead for the training pitches of the Aspire. The tournament final will be an exception in this regard, as it will be hosted at the nearby Khalifa Stadium, which has capacity for 45,000 spectators.
The lack of stadium facilities perhaps devalues the tournament, but the advantage is that fans can watch multiple matches in an afternoon. Heider, an Iraqi-born Mancunian who moved to Qatar last year for work, saw three further games after watching England beat Haiti 8-1. “The nice thing is you can bob in and out of matches,” he said.
A day pass costs just under €5. The addition of a Prime Pitch Match – of which Ireland v Paraguay on Tuesday is one such game – costs just over €7. Like Heider, most fans here are from Qatar’s numerous immigrant communities that make up almost 90 per cent of the population. Indonesia had the biggest support of any nation so far in their meeting with Brazil.
Michael O’Sullivan, former chairman of Limerick FC, was with his wife visiting their engineer son and heard the tournament was on at the same time.
“It was opportunity to come and see Ireland play,” said O’Sullivan. “It’s amazing for a team to play in a World Cup. We know with the senior team how rare this happens.”
The players’ families naturally make up another large sector. Alongside the Irish players’ relatives, we come across the father of Canada’s Richard Chukwu, Senegal’s Malick Lo and 15-year-old New Zealand goalkeeper Will Martin. Though born in Australia, Martin qualifies to play for New Zealand through his Kiwi father, Will Sr. New Zealand coach Martin Bullock was sent videos of the youngster in action and was sufficiently impressed with his goalkeeping prowess.
Scouts are often spotted in the Aspire Zone with their notebooks at the ready, as are coaches from various nations catching a glimpse of future opponents.
El Hadji Dieng founded the Be Sport Academy in Dakar. “It is a good chance for these players to have visibility because they want to be professional players and this platform gives them that,” he said.
Spain agrees, concluding that the tournament offers a glimpse of “the stars of the future”. He recalls watching Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady at previous youth tournaments.
This is something Fifa is keen to bring visibility to. However, while Lionel Messi played in this tournament, Cristiano Ronaldo and current Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele never did. Nor did two of the most exciting talents of the past decade – Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal.
Sadly, few players from these tournaments move on to senior level. Taken on its own merit as a standalone tournament, however, it can be seen as a symbol of hope for countries like Ireland. There are signs of light at the end of a 22-year tunnel of disappointment.
