FIFA U-17 World Cup attendance crosses 1 million

News Agencies 20 October 2017, 18:11 IST

FIFA U-17 World Cup attendance crosses 1 million

The attendance for matches of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 breached the million mark in the final match of the Round of 16.

The cumulative total as of now stands at 1,007,396.

The last set of pre-quarterfinal matches involved Ghana taking on Niger and Brazil locking horns with Honduras on Wednesday.

Reflecting on the figures, a statement from the Local Organising Committee said, "To say that we have been overwhelmed by the response from football lovers from around the country would be an understatement and we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of you for creating awareness about the event and making it reach out to as many people as it has."

"Over the remaining nine days, the Local Organising Committee would like to make this tournament the biggest FIFA U-17 World Cup ever, the previous record of 1,230,976 was set in the very first edition in China in 1985."

Javier Ceppi, Tournament Director of the LOC, said, "We really feel that Football has taken over the country and the craze that the Tournament has generated is one of a kind. The fans have been fantastic and now India 2017 is on track to become the most attended FIFA U-17 World Cup in the history of the Event. Keeping that in mind, we have recalled some of the complimentary tickets given in Goa, Guwahati, Kochi and Navi Mumbai and will be opened today so that all football lovers on those cities can have an opportunity to watch the last matches. For that to happen, we appeal to all football fans and spectators to get their tickets and fill up the stadiums on the next matches, so that India 2017 can leave its mark and have the record of attendance for a FIFA U-17 World Cup."

Here are the attendance figures from previous editions of the FIFA U-17 World Cup:

China 1985 - 1230976

Canada 1987 - 169152

Scotland 1989 - 256000

Italy 1991 - 36992

Japan 1993 - 232992

Ecuador 1995 - 462976

Egypt 1997 - 632992

New Zealand 1999 - 216832

Trinidad and Tobago 2001 - 328288

Finland 2003 - 183616

Peru 2005 - 551808