Ireland U17s draw Brazil at World Cup
Players of the Republic of Ireland on their arrival at Dublin Airport following their qualification for the FIFA U-17 World Cup to be held in Qatar Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Four-time winners Brazil await Ireland at the U17 World Cup in November after the group phase draw was made at Fifa’s Zurich headquarters on Thursday.
A 7-0 win over Slovakia in March confirmed Ireland’s spot at a tournament that’s now become an annual showpiece in Qatar. A hat-trick from Cork City’s Cillian Murphy along with goals from Ryan Sheridan, Josh Harpur, Joey Wuna and Desmond Armstrong saw the young Boys in Green finish as one of the best runners-up in Uefa qualifiers to earn a spot at the tournament.
Ireland, then under the management of Colin O’Brien, reached the knockout stages of last year’s inaugural 48-nation version of the event.
Brazil are first up for the Irish on Saturday, November 21, followed by Costa Rica three days later. They complete the group against African opposition in Tanzania on Friday, November 27, aiming to finish in the top two. The eight best third-placed team across the 12 groups join the winner and runners-up in the last-32 stage.
FAI director of football John Martin recently stated that the managerial vacancy, in succession to O’Brien, would be filled. Mark Connors was in charge for the qualifiers but O’Brien’s former assistant, ex-Cork City manager John Cotter, is also in the frame.
Qatar, Panama, Egypt, Greece
Korea Republic, CAF 1, New Caledonia, Ecuador
Argentina, Australia, CAF 2, Denmark Group D: France, Haiti, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Italy, Jamaica, Côte d'Ivoire, Uzbekistan
Senegal, Croatia, Cuba, Tajikistan
Mali, New Zealand, Belgium, Vietnam
Spain, China PR, Fiji, Morocco
Brazil, Republic of Ireland, Tanzania, Costa Rica
USA, Montenegro, Chile, Algeria
Mexico, Romania, Cameroon, Venezuela
Japan, Colombia, Serbia, Honduras
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