Indonesian Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali has informed that the draw for the group stage of the 2023 U-20 FIFA World Cup will be held on April 1, 2023.
“To date, 12 countries have qualified to compete at the 2023 U-20 (FIFA) World Cup," he said at the Youth and Sports Ministry’s headquarters here on Monday.
The countries are Indonesia, which has automatically advanced as the host, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, the United States, Fiji, New Zealand, England, France, Israel, Italy, and Slovakia.
A total of 24 countries will take part in the Cup from May 20 to June 11, 2023. They will be divided into six groups.
The remaining 12 participants, who have not been determined, will come from the Asian, African, and South American confederations, which will send four representatives each.
Those countries will still need to compete in the U-20 tournaments of their respective confederations, which will be held around February to March 2023, to qualify for the U-20 FIFA World Cup.
The South American U-20 Championship will take place in February 2023, while the AFC U-20 Asian Cup and the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations will be held in March 2023.
The semi-finalists in the championships will get to play at the 2023 U-20 FIFA World Cup.
The minister said that the matches of the 2023 U-20 FIFA World Cup will take place in six stadiums, namely Gelora Bung Karno Stadium (Jakarta), Si Jalak Harupat Stadium (Bandung, West Java Province), and Manahan Stadium (Solo, Central Java Province).
The venues also include Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium (Surabaya, East Java Province), Gelora Sriwijaya Jakabaring Stadium (Palembang, South Sumatra Province), and Kapten I Wayan Dipta Stadium (Gianyar, Bali Province).
Wishnutama Kusubandio, who served as the tourism and creative economy minister in 2019–2020, is expected to open the ceremony.
"After the drawing (ceremony is held), there will be a trophy tour, as the championship (World Cup) trophy will be exhibited in various cities of Indonesia. I have told the President (Joko Widodo) regarding it (the plan for the tour)," Amali informed.
Editor : Abdullah Rifai
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