# 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship

The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland from 13 to 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 1986 could participate in this tournament. Some controversy followed the tournament after a number of players from the Sierra Leone squad defected to Finland.

## Teams

| Confederation | Qualifying Tournament | Qualifier(s) |
| AFC (Asia) | 2002 AFC U-17 Championship | South Korea Yemen China |
| CAF (Africa) | 2003 African U-17 Championship | Cameroon Sierra Leone Nigeria |
| CONCACAF (North, Central America & Caribbean) | 2003 CONCACAF U-17 Tournament | United States Costa Rica Mexico |
| CONMEBOL (South America) | 2003 South American U-17 Championship | Argentina Brazil Colombia |
| OFC (Oceania) | 2003 OFC U-17 Championship | Australia |
| UEFA (Europe) | Host nation | Finland |
| UEFA (Europe) | 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship | Portugal Spain |

## Venues

The tournament was played in four cities in Finland: Helsinki, Turku, Tampere and Lahti.
| HelsinkiLahtiTampereTurku2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship (Finland) |
| HelsinkiLahtiTampereTurku2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship (Finland) | Helsinki | Turku | Tampere | Lahti |
| HelsinkiLahtiTampereTurku2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship (Finland) | Finnair Stadium | Veritas Stadion | Tampere Stadium | Lahti Stadium |
| HelsinkiLahtiTampereTurku2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship (Finland) | Töölö Stadium | Turku Stadium | Ratina Stadium (Tampere Stadium) | Lahti Stadium |

## Squads

For a list of the squads see 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship squads

## Group stage

All times are local (EEST/UTC+3)

### Group A

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Colombia | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 7 |
| Mexico | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 5 |
| Finland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 12 | –9 | 3 |
| China | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | –2 | 1 |

### Group B

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Argentina | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 9 |
| Costa Rica | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Nigeria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Australia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | –5 | 0 |
Note: Second place was determined by drawing of lots

### Group C

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Brazil | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 7 |
| Portugal | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 13 | –4 | 4 |
| Cameroon | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Yemen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | –4 | 1 |

### Group D

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Spain | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 7 |
| United States | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 |
| South Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | –5 | 3 |
| Sierra Leone | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | –2 | 1 |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| 23 August – Helsinki | 23 August – Helsinki | | | |
| Colombia | 2 | | | |
| Colombia | 2 | 27 August – Tampere | 27 August – Tampere | | |
| Costa Rica | 0 | 27 August – Tampere | 27 August – Tampere | |
| Costa Rica | 0 | Colombia | 0 | |
| 24 August – Turku | 24 August – Turku | | Colombia | 0 | |
| 24 August – Turku | 24 August – Turku | Brazil | 2 | |
| Brazil | 3 | Brazil | 2 | |
| Brazil | 3 | | | | 30 August – Helsinki | 30 August – Helsinki |
| United States | 0 | | | | 30 August – Helsinki | 30 August – Helsinki |
| United States | 0 | | | | Brazil | 1 |
| 23 August – Lahti | 23 August – Lahti | | | | | Brazil | 1 |
| 23 August – Lahti | 23 August – Lahti | | | | Spain | 0 |
| Argentina | 2 | | | | Spain | 0 |
| Argentina | 2 | 27 August – Helsinki | 27 August – Helsinki | | | |
| Mexico | 0 | 27 August – Helsinki | 27 August – Helsinki | | | |
| Mexico | 0 | Argentina | 2 | | | |
| 24 August – Tampere | 24 August – Tampere | | Argentina | 2 | | | |
| 24 August – Tampere | 24 August – Tampere | Spain (a.e.t.) | 3 | | Third place | Third place |
| Spain | 5 | Spain (a.e.t.) | 3 | | Third place | Third place |
| Spain | 5 | | | | 30 August – Helsinki | 30 August – Helsinki |
| Portugal | 2 | | | | 30 August – Helsinki | 30 August – Helsinki |
| Portugal | 2 | | | | Colombia | 1 (4) |
| | | | | | Argentina (p) | 1 (5) |

### Final

* 2003 FIFA Under-17 World champions
* Brazil Third title

## Goalscorers

There were 117 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 3.66 goals per match.
5 goals
* Cesc Fàbregas
* Carlos Hidalgo
* Manuel Curto
4 goals
* Abuda
* Evandro
* Freddy Adu
3 goals
* Hernán Peirone
* Jiang Chen
* Adrián Ramos
* José Manuel Jurado
* David Silva
2 goals
* Ezequiel Garay
* Ederson
* Leonardo
* Joseph Mawaye
* Serge N'Gal
* Wang Yongpo
* Fredy Guarín
* Harrison Otalvaro
* Tomi Petrescu
* Ezekiel Bala
* Vieirinha
* Samuel Barlay
* Obi Metzger
* Yang Dong-Hyun
* Xisco Nadal
1 goal
* Lucas Biglia
* Neri Cardozo
* Ariel Cólzera
* Alejandro Faurlín
* Diego Lagos
* Dez Giraldi
* Arouca
* Léo Matos
* Thyago
* Stéphane Mbia
* Landry N'Guémo
* Sebastián Hernández
* Juan Gilberto Núñez
* Yosimar Arias
* Pablo Rodríguez
* Alonso Salazar
* Jarno Parikka
* Julio Ceja
* Gerardo Flores Zúñiga
* Oscar Herrera
* Manuel Mariaca
* Rafael Murguía
* Mikel John Obi
* Bruno Gama
* Manuel Fernandes
* Márcio Sousa
* Alimamy Sesay
* Han Dong-won
* Lee Yong-rae
* David Rodríguez
* Sergio Sánchez
* Sisi
* Steven Curfman
* Guillermo González
* Dwight Owens
* Jamie Watson
* Yasser Al-Badani
* Sami Juaim
* Abdulelah Sharyan
1 own goal
* Márcio Sousa (against Yemen)
* Tiago Costa (against Cameroon)
* Ruz (against Sierra Leone)
* Sergio Sánchez (against South Korea)
* Dwight Owens (against South Korea)
* Abdullah Al-Safi (against Portugal)

## Final ranking

| Rank | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Brazil | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 1 | +14 | 16 |
| 2 | Spain | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 10 | +6 | 13 |
| 3 | Argentina | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | +6 | 13 |
| 4 | Colombia | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 5 | +9 | 11 |
| Eliminated in the quarter-finals ||||||||||
| 5 | United States | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 6 |
| 6 | Mexico | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | Costa Rica | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | –2 | 4 |
| 8 | Portugal | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 18 | –7 | 4 |
| Eliminated at the group stage ||||||||||
| 9 | Nigeria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 | Cameroon | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 11 | –5 | 3 |
| 12 | Finland | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 12 | –9 | 3 |
| 13 | Sierra Leone | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | –2 | 1 |
| 14 | China | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | –2 | 1 |
| 15 | Yemen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 | –4 | 1 |
| 16 | Australia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | –5 | 0 |