{"id":640776,"date":"2026-04-30T15:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640776\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T15:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:06:08","slug":"football-fever-returns-to-qatar-after-fifa-confirms-u-17-world-cup-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/640776\/","title":{"rendered":"Football fever returns to Qatar after FIFA confirms U-17 World Cup dates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n         Published on<br \/>\n            30\/04\/2026 &#8211; 15:09 GMT+2\n            <\/p>\n<p>Qatar will once again host the world\u2019s top young footballers after FIFA confirmed the dates for the U-17 World Cup Qatar 2026. <\/p>\n<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-ad__placeholder__logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\" width=\"72\" height=\"72\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n          ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>          <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-ad__placeholder__logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\" width=\"72\" height=\"72\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n          ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>The tournament will run from 19 November to 13 December. It is the second of five consecutive editions set to take place in Qatar through 2029. <\/p>\n<p>The 2026 competition will once again feature 48 teams, continuing the expanded format introduced at last year\u2019s tournament. The change has opened the door for more nations to compete and mirrors the format that will be used at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. <\/p>\n<p>So far, 30 teams have already secured their place, with the remaining spots to be decided through continental qualifiers in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>Building on a record-setting 2025<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 edition in Qatar was the largest in the competition\u2019s history and turned Doha into a hub for emerging global talent. <\/p>\n<p>More than 197,000 fans attended matches across the tournament, while scouts from top clubs gathered to track the next generation of players in a single venue. <\/p>\n<p>A defining feature of the 2025 tournament was its format, with matches staged across Doha&#8217;s Aspire Zone. <\/p>\n<p>The setup gave the competition a festival feel, allowing fans to watch multiple games in a single day while exposing young players to a demanding match schedule.<\/p>\n<p>Portugal reigning champions<\/p>\n<p>Portugal lifted the trophy in 2025 after defeating Austria 1\u20130 in the final at Khalifa International Stadium. <\/p>\n<p>The U-17 tournament also helped launch a new wave of young stars, reinforcing its role as a key stepping stone in international football. <\/p>\n<p>The final draw for the 2026 tournament will take place on 21 May in Zurich, with matches again set to be played at Aspire Zone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published on 30\/04\/2026 &#8211; 15:09 GMT+2 Qatar will once again host the world\u2019s top young footballers after FIFA&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,13201,596,16260,85],"class_list":["post-640776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fifa","tag-football","tag-qatar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}