The 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the thirteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Nigeria from 24 October to 15 November 2009. Switzerland won the tournament, beating the host team and holders, Nigeria, with a solitary 63rd-minute goal separating the two teams. The Golden Ball to the Best Player was given to Nigerian Sani Emmanuel; the Golden Shoe for top scorer was given to Spaniard Borja, with five goals (although he tied with Nigerian Sani Emmanuel, Uruguayan Sebastián Gallegos, and Swiss Haris Seferovic); the Golden Glove was given to Swiss Benjamin Siegrist; finally, the FIFA Fair Play Award was given to Nigeria.

Player eligibility

To be eligible to play, a player must have been born on or after 1 January 1992.

Venues

FIFA chose eight venues out of nine possible locations. On 21 May 2009, FIFA gave Nigeria a "Yellow Card" as FIFA noted a significant delay in the preparations for the tournament. While Abuja and Lagos were ready, FIFA vice-president Jack Warner gave four other venues (Enugu, Calabar, Ijebu-Ode and Kano) a month to get 100 percent ready or the tournament would be moved. One potential venue (Warri) was removed after recent violence flared up in the Niger Delta.

Threats to the tournament

The 2009 edition was under increasing threats from the armed rebel group The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and warned FIFA against hosting the tournament in Nigeria. However, the militants were offered amnesty in exchange for laying down their weapons, and the tournament went on smoothly without any incidents.

Teams

The final draw for the group stage was held on 7 August 2009 at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.

Match officials

Squads

Allocation of teams to groups

Teams were allocated to groups on the basis of geographical spread. Teams were placed in four pots, and one team was drawn from each pot for each group. Pot 1 contained the five African teams plus one from CONMEBOL; Pot 2 contained the remaining teams from the Americas excluding one CONCACAF team; Pot 3 consisted of teams from Asia and Oceania plus the remaining CONCACAF team; Pot 4 consisted of teams from the European confederation.

Group stage

All times are West Africa Time (UTC+1)

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Ranking of third-placed teams

Knockout stage

All times are West Africa Time (UTC+1)

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place match

Final

Awards

Goalscorers

Final ranking