England Under-17s will take on Mexico, Iraq and Chile at this year’s FIFA U17 World Cup in India.
The group stage draw took place in Mumbai on Friday afternoon, with former U17 World Cup winner Nwankwo Kanu, U20 World Cup winner Esteban Cambiasso and Indian national team star Sunil Chhetri pulling out the 24 teams.
And Steve Cooper’s Young Lions were placed in Group F for the competition, which takes place between 6 and 28 October.
The group sees England renew World Cup rivalries with Iraq, who they played in the 2013 U20 World Cup in Turkey and shared a 2-2 draw in the group stage.
They also drew with Chile in a pre-World Cup warm-up in Santiago ahead of the last edition of this competition, hosted by the South American nation in 2015.
Mexico were U17 World Cup winners when they staged the competition in 2011, when England reached the quarter final stage with a squad featuring the likes of Jordan Pickford, Nathaniel Chalobah, Nathan Redmond and Raheem Sterling.
Cooper’s side sealed their place in this year’s World Cup by virtue of their performance at the U17 European Championship earlier this summer when they reached the final, only to lose to Spain after a penalty shootout.
The Young Lions will be based in the Kolkata region of India and play their games at the 66,000 capacity Vivekanada Yuba Stadium in the city.
They will kick-off against Chile on Sunday 8 October (12.30pm UK time), before facing Mexico on Wednesday 11 October at the same time.
The final group game against Iraq will take place on Saturday 14 October, kicking-off at 3.30pm UK time.
The draw
Group A - India, USA, Colombia, Ghana
Group B - Mali, New Zealand, Turkey, Paraguay
Group C - Germany, Iran, Costa Rica, Guinea
Group D - Brazil, Spain, Korea DPR, Niger
Group E - France, Japan, Honduras, New Caledonia
Group F - Mexico, England, Iraq, Chile
