U17 Indonesia eliminated despite historic victory
Despite beating Honduras 2-1 to set a World Cup milestone, U17 Indonesia still stopped when the remaining groups closed; the final third place spot went to Mexico thanks to fair-play points.
U17 Indonesia was officially eliminated from the group stage of the 2025 U17 World Cup despite a 2-1 victory over Honduras in the final round of Group H. The next round for the 8/12 third-placed teams with the best records closed when the series of results in Groups K, J, I and L did not support them, and the last spot fell to Mexico thanks to fair-play points.
Fair-play decides the final third ticket
In the group of third-placed teams, U17 Indonesia was below Mexico. The race for the final spot then only between Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Despite having the same number of points, goal difference and productivity, Mexico finished higher thanks to the fair-play score: -7 compared to -13 for Saudi Arabia. This result closed the 32 teams in the round of 32, meaning U17 Indonesia could not be included in the 8/12 third-placed teams with the best records.
The flow of events in the groups: a harsh domino effect
The door to the next round of U17 Indonesia is narrowed step by step by the following results:
- Group K: Uganda beat France 1-0, putting their rivals at a disadvantage.
- Group J: Paraguay held Ireland to a 0-0 draw, failing to create a favorable goal difference.
- Group I: The Czech Republic only lost to the United States 0-1, making the secondary index not enough to change the correlation.
- Group L: Saudi Arabia lost 0-2 to Mali; after fair-play, Mexico won the final third place.
| The key battle | Score | Consequences in the third team race |
|---|---|---|
| Uganda - France (Group K) | 1-0 | Narrowing the door for teams waiting for wildcards |
| Paraguay - Ireland (Group J) | 0-0 | Maintain the balance, disadvantageous for Indonesia |
| Czech Republic - United States (Group I) | 0-1 | No sub-index mutation |
| Saudi Arabia - Mali (Group L) | 0-2 | Fair play puts Mexico above Saudi Arabia |
A historic victory, but not enough
Previously, U17 Indonesia defeated Honduras 2-1 in the final round of Group H. This was the first victory in the history of Indonesian football at a World Cup. However, in a tournament format that requires fierce competition in the third-placed group, the results in other groups did not open the way to the round of 32 for Nova Arianto and his team.
32 teams enter the round of 32 of the U17 World Cup 2025
List by source: Italy, South Africa, Japan, Portugal, Morocco, Senegal, Croatia, Argentina, Belgium, Tunisia, Venezuela, UK, Egypt, Switzerland, South Korea, Mexico, Germany, Colombia, North Korea, Brazil, Zambia, US, Burkina Faso, Czech Republic, Ireland, Uzbekistan, Paraguay, France, Canada, Uganda, Austria, Mali.
