Joeys learn U-17 World Cup fate

FIFA have announced Ecuador, Hungary and Nigeria as Australia's group stage opponents at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Brazil this October.

Joeys

Tristan Hammond, centre (top), in action for the Joeys Source: FFA

The Joeys learned their fate on Thursday night (AEST) in Canberra at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), where they watched FIFA's official draw as part of a team activity.

Trevor Morgan’s side qualified for the tournament as a result of their semi-final finish at the 2018 AFC U-16 Championship and will now face a tough trio in Group B.

Australia, one of Asia's four nations represented at the tournament alongside Japan, Korea Republic and Tajikistan, will first face Ecuador on October 27 (AEST), before hosting Hungary three days later and five-time champions Nigeria on November 1.

The top two teams from each group will then progress to the round of 16, along with four of the best third-placed teams.

Having failed to reach the knockout stages since 2001, Morgan hopes this Australian side can finally buck the trend, but knows the difficulty surrounding the task at hand.

"The draw has given us three very interesting opponents," Morgan said.

"One (Ecuador) is a South American opponent for our first match, and they obviously have real quality as they beat Argentina 4-1 in April.

"For Hungary it is their second appearance at a FIFA U-17 World Cup and we will have a good look at them, while Nigeria has won the tournament five times.

"Tonight's draw gives us some targets and some things to aim for, but the focus has to be on ourselves and giving our players the chance to push for a spot in the squad for Brazil and then playing the best football we can with the weapons that we have."

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup – Joeys group stage schedule

Ecuador v Australia
Sunday 27th October
Estadio Olimpico, Goiania 
09:45 AEDT - 12:00 AEDT
LIVE on SBS and streamed live via The World Game website / app

Australia v Hungary
Wednesday 30th October 
Estadio Olimpico, Goiania
09:45 AEDT - 12:00 AEDT
LIVE on SBS and streamed live via The World Game website / app

Australia v Nigeria 
Saturday 2nd November 
Estadio Bezerrao, Brasilia 
06:45 AEDT - 09:00 AEDT
LIVE on SBS and streamed live via The World Game website / app


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2 min read
Published 12 July 2019 2:53pm
By SBS The World Game
Source: SBS

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