Colombia joins Brazil, Chile in FIFA U-17 World Cup

New Delhi, March 21: Colombia have joined Brazil, Chile and Paraguay in securing the four CONMEBOL tickets on offer to the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.

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Paraguay were the first to seal passage after they beat Venezuela 3-1 on the fourth day of the hexagonal final-stage of competition last Thursday.

Chile, who were the hosts for the qualifiers and for the previous edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, then earned qualification in the second match of the evening with a 1-0 victory over Ecuador.

Colombia won South America's fourth and final qualification berth and came from behind for a 2-1 victory over Paraguay on the final match day on Sunday.

Juan Vidal scored the winner for the team. Brazil were crowned continental champions with a stunning 5-0 final-round win over Chile. Vinicius Jr. topped the scoring charts with seven goals and was awarded the best player' award.

Tournament Director for the Local Organising Committee, FIFA U-17 World Cup, Javier Ceppi said, "We have got four very strong South American teams coming to India.

"If you see the FIFA Rankings for the senior teams, three of them are within the top 10 (Brazil: 2nd; Chile: 4th; Colombia: 7th), while Paraguay is bouncing back after qualifying to four consecutive senior World Cups.

"We are sure that fans will be very happy to go to the stadiums and seeing the new Neymar, Alexis Sanchez, James Rodriguez or Chilavert's of South America.

"I was talking to several football people in Chile (which was where the qualifiers took place) and they told me that the level is amazing, that the four qualified teams would hands down beat almost every senior team in the world.

"We are sure that these teams will give Indian football fans a real treat." The FIFA U-17 World Cup will be held in India from October 6 to 28 later this year.

PTI