Friday’s draw of the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Championship has pitched African Champions, The Gambia U-17 in group C alongside Iran, Netherlands and Colombia.

The Gambia will have their first taste of the championship on Sunday 25th October against Iran in Calabar in Group C opener.

The Baby Scorpions’ second opponents will be a more familiar side, The Netherlands, on Wednesday October 28th 2009.

The Gambia will wrap up its Group C clash against Colombia on Saturday October 31st .

After two days rest, the second Round of 16 teams will commence on Wednesday November 4th 2009.

The quarter finals of the championship are set for Sunday November 8. Lagos and Abuja will host the semi finals and finals billed for November 12 and 15th respectively.

Two-time African champions, Gambia, will prepare in the United Kingdom for a month before they move to Ghana for another two weeks of training ahead of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in October.

The President of the Gambia Football Association (GFA), Seedy Kinteh, disclosed that the Darling U-17 will be in the UK for all of September, after which the team will spend two weeks in October in Ghana.

Gambia is expected in Nigeria on October 14, 10 clear days before the big kick-off.

The tournament will be played in Abuja, Bauchi, Calabar, Enugu, Ijebu-Ode, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos from 24 October to 15 November 2009. 

The Nigeria and Gambia U-17 friendly match that was scheduled in Banjul could not hold as the Nigeria side who failed to turn up were said to have ineligible players who are above 17.

Match Schedule

Sat 24-10-09

Abuja A   - Nigeria Vs Germany

Abuja A  - Honduras Vs Argentina

Lagos B - Brazil VS Japan

Lagos B - Mexico Vs Switzerland

Sun 25-10-09  

Calabar C - Iran VS Gambia

Calabar C - Colombia Vs Netherlands

Enugu D - Turkey Vs Burkina Faso

Enugu D - Costa Rica Vs New Zealand

Mon 26-10-09   

Kano E - United Arab Emirates Vs Malawi

Kano E - Spain Vs United States

Kaduna F - Uruguay Vs South Korea

Kaduna F - Algeria Vs Italy

Tuesday 27-0ct-09    

Abuja  A - Argentina Vs Germany

Abuja A - Nigeria Vs Honduras

Lagos B - Switzerland Vs Japan

Lagos B - Brazil Vs Mexico

Wednesday 28-Oct-09

Calabar C - Netherlands Vs Gambia

Calabar C - Iran Vs Colombia

Enugu D - New Zealand Vs Burkina Faso

Enugu  D - Turkey Vs Costa Rica

Thursday 29 Oct-09

Kano  E - USA VS Malawi  

Kano  E - United Arab Emirates Vs Spain

Kaduna F - Italy Cs South Korea

Kaduna F - Uruguay Vs Algeria

Friday 30 Oct-09 

Abuja A - Germany Vs Honduras

Bauchi A - Argentina Vs Nigeria

Lagos  B - Japan Vs Mexico

Abuja B - Switzerland Vs Brazil

Saturday 31 Oct-09

Calabar C - Gambia VS Colombia

Enugu  C - Netherlands Vs Iran

Enugu D - Burkina Faso Vs Costa Rica

Calabar D - New Zealand Vs Turkey

Sunday 1 Nov-09

Kano E - Malawi Vs Spain

Ijebu-Ode E - USA Vs UAE

Kaduna F - South Korea Vs Algeria

Kano F - Italy VS Uruguay

Wednesday 4 Nov-09 R-17

Ijebu-Ode- 2nd A Vs 2nd C- W1

Enugu - 1st D Vs 3rd from B, E or F- W2

Lagos 1st B Vs 3rd from A, C or D-W3

Kaduna  1st F Vs 2nd E - W4

Thursday 5 Nov-09

Kano - 1st E Vs 2nd D - W5

Calabar - 1st C Vs 3rd from A, B, or F- W6

Bauchi - 2nd B Vs 2nd F - W7

Abuja - 1st A Vs 3rd from C, D or E - W8

Sunday 8 Nov-09 Quarter-final

Bauchi - Winner 1 VS Winner 2 - WA

Ijebu-Ode - Winner 3Vs Winner 4 - WB

Monday 9 Nov-09

Kaduna - Winner 5 Vs Winner 6 - WC

Calabar - Winner7 Vs Winner 8 - WD

Thursday 12 Nov-09 - Semi-final

Lagos - Winner A Vs Winner B

Lagos - Winner C Vs Winner D

Sunday 15-Nov-09 Final

Abuja -

Abuja - Final - winner 49 Vs winner 50