Potential clash between Egypt and Morocco in the U-17 World Cup.

Arab Sea Newspaper - Follow-ups

FIFA announced the knockout stage path for the U-17 World Cup tournament held in the Qatari capital, Doha, after the conclusion of the group stage competitions yesterday, Tuesday. Three Arab teams qualified for the knockout stages: Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia, while the teams of Qatar, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia bid farewell to the tournament after losing the opportunity to qualify, whether in the first or second place, or among the best eight teams occupying the third place in the 12 groups. The round of 32 draw resulted in Egypt facing Switzerland, with the winner of that match playing the winner between Ireland and Canada in the round of 16. Meanwhile, Morocco will meet the United States, and the winner will advance to face Zambia or Mali. If both Egypt and Morocco qualify for the semi-finals, they will have a purely Arab clash to determine the qualifier for the final. As for the Tunisian team, they will meet Austria in the round of 32, and the winner will face the winner of the match between South Korea and England. The tournament also witnesses strong matches including Argentina against Mexico and Portugal against Belgium, in addition to other round of 32 matches between Venezuela and North Korea, Japan against South Africa, Italy and the Czech Republic, Croatia and Uzbekistan, Senegal and Uganda, and Germany and Burkina Faso. This edition of the U-17 World Cup is the first to be held with the participation of 48 teams, with FIFA's plan to hold five consecutive annual editions in Qatar during the period from 2025 to 2029.