The FIFA under 17 world cup has been filled with a lot of trills and excitement. The tournament , which started on the 17th of October, has gotten to the semi – final stage with two African country in this stage of the competition, Nigeria and Mali respectively.
Here’s Our Statistics on the Tournament
So far, the tournament has recorded a total of 134 goals in 48 matches played, with Nigeria having the highest goal scored with 17 goals, 14 from open play and 3 set pieces, and only conceding 3 on the way to the semis.
The Best attacking team in the tournament is Mali, with 114 attempts on goal, scoring 9, having, 31 shots saved,29 shots blocked and 45 attempt off target, and 40 on target.
The African teams in the tournament scored 30 goal and conceded 14 goals as at the last game, this was also South Africa’s maiden edition but as for the remaining teams like Nigeria, Guinea and Mali, this ofcourse is not new to them.
Highest Goal Scorer
Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen is currently the highest goal scorer in the tournament, with 8 goals and 2 assist, he could equal the highest goal scored ever in the Under 17 world cup by Julio Gomez of Mexico in Mexico 2011 and Sinama Pongolle of France In Trinidad & Tobago 2001 where they both scored 9 goals respective, the advantage for Osimhen is that he has two games to equal and even surpass the record.
Cards
The team with the most cards is Brazil with 7 yellow cards and 2 red cards, they committed 62 fouls and suffered 72 in return, before they were knocked out by Nigeria in the quarter final stage, they are followed closely by Nigeria with 9 yellow cards and 1 red card.
The Bad Boys
The bad boys of the tournament also have their stats, with Nigeria’s Funsho Bambgoye being the worst of them, after 4 games he has gotten 2 yellow cards and a red card, he is followed by United State of America’s Auston Trusty who got a red card in his 1st game.
Saves
What is a team without the man in between the sticks, the keeper of the tournament so far, is Mexico’s Abraham Romero with 16 saves and has only conceded 2 goals throughout the competition so far, he has a whopping 88.9 % save rate.
Highest Attempts
Teams with highest attempts are as follows, Mali tops this group with 114 shots, 40 on target, 45 off target, and 3 hit the wood work this is followed closely by Nigeria with 89 shots, 37 on target, 33 off target, and 2 hit the wood work the third on this list is the samba boys Brazil, with 81 shots, 21 on target, 37 off target and 1 hit the wood work.
Teams with Most Victories
Nigeria has ruled as king of the under 17 world for a while now, they have the most victories in this level, they have won this tournament 4 times in 1985,1993,2007 and the last edition at 2013 where the star ihenacho was founded before moving to man-city and getting his first call up to the national team. Nigeria is followed closely by Brazil, the samba boys have won this tournament 3 times they won in 1997, 1999, and 2003. After Brazil is another African team Ghana, the young black starlets of Ghana have won this tournament twice, they won it 19991 and 1995.
With two African countries in the semi- final, I can only hope Nigeria and Mali can make it to the final, so it can really be an African affair, at this years Under 17 world cup, the 1st semi -final will take place on the 5th of November between Mali and Belgium at 17:00 Gmt, at estadio la portada la serena, this would be followed by Nigeria vs Mexico which will take place at estadio municipal ester roa concepcion at 20:00 Gmt also on the 5th of November.
From these statistics, who do you think will take home the trophy?
Nigeria 17 goals 3 conceded
Mali 9 goals 1 conceded
Guinea 2 goals 5 conceded
South africa 2 goals 5 conceded
These statistics are as at the last matches played.
Rooting for the Golden eaglets…..Lets go Boyz.
