Qatar’s nerve-jangling 0-0 draw with Bolivia headlined the dramatic closing act of Groups A, B, C, and D at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 at the Aspire Zone on Sunday.

Battling for a place in the knockout rounds as hosts, Qatar threw everything into the game, but could not find a way past Bolivia’s resilient defence. The result leaves their last-32 hopes hanging by a thread, as they now await the remaining group games to learn whether their tally is enough to qualify as one of the best third-placed teams.

As it stands, Qatar will need a combination of results in other groups - specifically for various third-placed teams to finish on fewer points or with an inferior goal difference - to ensure qualification.

Player of the Match Yazan Mohamed nearly snatched victory in stoppage time, but luck deserted the hosts at every turn.

“It’s complicated and we’ve to wait, but we’ve had the clearest chances. Two shots against the post, a one-on-one against the goalkeeper... you learn from situations like this,” said Qatar coach Alvaro Mejia.

Elsewhere, Belgium, Japan, Senegal, Croatia, and South Africa secured their places in the knockout stage, joining Egypt, Venezuela, Switzerland, South Korea, and North Korea, who will all feature in the Round of 32.

Italy claimed top spot in Group A courtesy of a 3-1 win over South Africa. Samuele Inacio continued his scoring spree with goals in the 4th and 58th minutes, while Antonio Arena restored Italy’s lead with a crucial header in the 55th. Shaun Els (32nd) briefly ignited hopes for Bafana Bafana, but South Africa’s four points still see them advance as group runners-up.

“One of the keys to our win was stopping South Africa’s counter-attacks. It’s unreal to be able to showcase our skills in front of everyone here,” said Italy defender Dauda Idrissa.

The standout performance of the tournament came from Morocco in Group B, who recorded the biggest win in U-17 World Cup history - an astonishing 16-0 win over New Caledonia.

Bilal Soukrat (3rd), Oualid Ibn Salah (11th and 18th), Abdelali Eddaoudi (41st and 42nd), and others were relentless in attack, aided by New Caledonia’s two first-half red cards.

Morocco’s captain Hamza Bouhaddi reflected: “We’re delighted with this win and the spirit we showed today. This is our true level. We lost the first two matches, but we tried to put that behind us and we approached today’s game as if it were our first in the tournament.”

The result means Morocco, now third in their group, must also watch other results to confirm their passage as one of the best third-placed teams.

Japan emerged as Group B winners with a 2-1 win over Portugal. Takeshi Wada (35th) and Taiga Seguchi (45th) netted, while Zeega (80th) offered late hope for Portugal following Kaiji Chonan’s dismissal.

“I think we deserved a draw, for all the effort we did, but this is football. To Japan's credit, they defend like a team... They’re a good team and are also well organised,” conceded Portugal coach Bino Macaes.

Japan’s keeper Shuji Muramatsu was proud of their defensive cohesion:

“We can’t guarantee a lot of things, we can’t guarantee the clean sheet. But one thing we can guarantee is we’ll work hard.”

Group C saw Senegal storm into the knockouts as group winners after dismantling UAE 5-0. Malick Cisse (14th minute penalty) opened the scoring, followed by a Bakary Sonko hat-trick (19th, 41st, 60th), with Victor Mendy (74th) capping a complete team display.

“Before leaving Senegal, we set ourselves two goals: the first was to qualify, and the second was to finish top of our group. Thank God we achieved both,” said coach Papa Ibrahima Faye.

Croatia joined them in the next round after a 3-1 win against Costa Rica, securing their berth on strikes from Kresimir Rados (35th), Raul Kumar (55th), and Tino Kusanovic (89th). Although Thiago Cordero (58th) briefly gave Costa Rica hope, Croatia’s attacking class prevailed.

Group D featured another masterclass as Argentina thrashed Fiji 7-0. Uriel Ojeda (17th, 57th, 88th) grabbed a hat-trick, Mateo Martinez (30th, 43rd) delivered a brace, and late strikes from Santiago Silveira (89th) and Simon Escobar (90+1) completed the rout. Martinez was Player of the Match for his leadership, with Argentina continuing their perfect start.

Belgium joined the list of group winners with a 2-0 win over Tunisia, inspired by Noah Fernandez’s early strike (1st) and a stunning goal from Ali Camara (55th).

Collated Results:

Bolivia drew Qatar 0-0

Italy bt South Africa 3-1

Morocco bt New Caledonia 16-0

Japan bt Portugal 2-1

Senegal bt UAE 5-0

Croatia bt Costa Rica 3-1

Argentina bt Fiji 7-0

Belgium bt Tunisia 2-0

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