The

FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

2001, the ninth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

Arima Arima, officially The Royal Chartered Borough of Arima is the easternmost and second largest in area of the three boroughs of Trinidad and Tobago. It is geographically adjacent to Sangre Grande and Arouca at the south central foothills of th ...

Marabella Marabella is a former town in southern Trinidad, between San Fernando (to the south) and Pointe-à-Pierre (to the north). Early 19th-century maps highlighted it as Marabella Junction because of the railway intersection to Williamsville and othe ...

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

Couva Couva is an urban town (48,858 in 2011 census) in west-central Trinidad, south of Port of Spain and Chaguanas and north of San Fernando and Point Fortin. It is the capital and main urban centre of Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo, and the Greate ...

, and

Bacolet Bacolet is a town and suburb in the city of Scarborough on the island of Tobago Tobago () is an island and ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trinidad and about off the nor ...

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

between 13 and 30 September 2001. Players born after 1 January 1984 could participate in this tournament. Although

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

had only appeared once before at the

, in Canada back in 1987 when they finished sixth, the current crop of French youngsters arrived in the Caribbean determined to emulate their illustrious elders' winning ways at France '98 and

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

. And so it was, Jean-François Jodar's side showing maturity beyond their years. Aggressive in the tackle and tactically very organised, they oscillated between a 3-5-2 and 3-6-1 and were able to rely on two extremely gifted individuals from Le Havre:

Anthony Le Tallec Anthony Le Tallec (born 3 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward or an attacking midfielder for Liverpool, Sochaux, and Annecy FC. Club career Liverpool Born in Hennebont, Le Tallec was signed from Le H ...

and

Florent Sinama Pongolle Florent Stéphane Sinama Pongolle (born 20 October 1984) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He was signed at only 16 by Liverpool, but could never impose himself in the first team. He also spent several seasons ...

, who won both the top scorer, with 9 goals scored, and Player of the Tournament awards. The young "Blues" won five of their six games, losing to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in the first round but getting their revenge in the Final. They hit five in a game on two occasions, against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

(5–3) and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(5–1) in group matches, before brushing past two footballing giants,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(2–1 in both games) at the knockout stage and overcoming Nigeria 3–0 in the final to win their first ever FIFA U-17 World title.

Venues

Mascot

The official mascot of this FIFA U-17 World Championship, Trinidad & Tobago 2001, was BEATS, the humming bird. Its outfit is the same as the home national team, red shirt, black short and red socks. It has Trinidad & Tobago 2001 on the chest.

Squads

2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship squads Group A Head coach: Renê Simões Head coach: Martin Novoselac Head coach: Ange Postecoglou Head coach: Sérgio Farias Group B Head coach: John Ellinge ...

Qualification

The following 16 teams qualified for the tournament:

Group stages

Group A

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Group B

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Group C

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Group D

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Knockout stages

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Third place match

Final

Winners

Awards

Goalscorers

Florent Sinama Pongolle of France won the Golden Shoe award for scoring nine goals.

Final ranking

External links

FIFA U-17 World Championship Trinidad and Tobago 2001
FIFA.com
FIFA Technical Report (Part 1)
an
(Part 2)
{{DEFAULTSORT:2001 Fifa U-17 World Championship

International association football competitions hosted by Trinidad and Tobago FIFA U-17 World Cup tournaments