FIFA officials to supervise U-20 World Cup draw

FIFA officials have started arriving in Abu Dhabi yesterday to supervise the draw of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup which the UAE will host from March 25 to April 16.

The draw for the 24-team tournament will be held on Wednesday.

The teams will be divided into six groups comprising four teams each according to the FIFA ranking which will select five teams in addition to the hosts as group heads.

The rest of the teams will be divided into three categories according to their technical standards and their international rankings before being distributed into the different groups which will compete in Abu Dhabi (two groups), Dubai (two groups), Al Ain and Sharjah, one group each.

The teams which have already reached the finals of the World Cup are: Korea Republic, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan from Asia in addition to the UAE as hosts.

Egypt, Cote D'Ivoire, Mali and Burkina Faso from Africa.

Canada, Mexico, Panama and the United States from the Concacaf.

Australia form the OFC.

Spain, Germany, Slovakia, Ireland Republic, Czech Republic and England from Europe.

The teams from South America are not yet decided as the qualifiers are still going on with defending champions, Argentina, leading the standings. The four teams will be decided by tomorrow, January 28, the last day of the South American qualifiers.

FIFA has decided that groups A and D will compete in Abu Dhabi. The UAE are sure head one of these two groups. Groups B and E will compete in Dubai while group C will play in Sharjah and group F will play in Al Ain.

The matches of the second round, of 16 teams will compete in a knockout basis and will play in all the four cities with two matches in each of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain and sharjah while the quarter-finals will be held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, two matches in each city. The semi finals will be held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, one match in each and the final and third place match will be held in Abu Dhabi, mostly Zayed Sports City.

The draw will be held at the Abu Dhabi Armed Forces Officers Club on Wednesday, January 29, with the participation of FIFA officials and footballers form the UAE including Adnan Al Talyani and Zuhair Bakhit, the two international UAE players who retired lately.

Meanwhile, the UAE national youth team continued their preparations after the end of the international youth friendly tournament which the UAE FA organised with the participation of Korea, Ireland and France last week.

Jean Francois Jodar, their French head coach, was happy with his team's performances in the tournament despite the fact that they finished third with two points from three matches.

The technical staff of the UAE await the outcome of the draw to know the teams which they will face in the finals so as to play friendly matches in the coming period against similar teams to provide the opportunity for their players to gain experience.

It is expected that the UAE will organise a friendly tournament with the participation of Egypt and Saudi Arabia next month on condition that both teams will not be paired with the UAE in the same group in the finals.