2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship

Last updated December 01, 2025

2003 FIFA U-17 World Cup
Jalkapallon alle 17-vuotiaiden maailmanmestaruuskilpailut 2003 U17-världsmästerskapet i fotboll 2003

Tournament details
Host country	Finland
Dates	13–30 August
Teams	16 (from 6 confederations)
Venue	4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Brazil (3rd title)
Runners-up	Spain
Third place	Argentina
Fourth place	Colombia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	32
Goals scored	117 (3.66 per match)
Attendance	183,616 (5,738 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Carlos Hidalgo Manuel Curto Cesc Fàbregas (5 goals each)
Best player	Cesc Fàbregas ^[1]
Fair play award	Costa Rica
← 2001 2005 →

The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland from 13 to 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 1986 could participate in this tournament. Some controversy followed the tournament after a number of players from the Sierra Leone squad defected to Finland.^[2]

Contents

Teams
Venues
Squads
Group stage
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Knockout stage
Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Playoff for third place
Final
Goalscorers
Final ranking
References
External links

Teams

Confederation	Qualifying Tournament	Qualifier(s)
AFC (Asia)	2002 AFC U-17 Championship	South Korea Yemen ¹ China
CAF (Africa)	2003 African U-17 Championship	Cameroon ¹ Sierra Leone ¹ Nigeria
CONCACAF (North, Central America & Caribbean)	2003 CONCACAF U-17 Tournament	United States Costa Rica Mexico
CONMEBOL (South America)	2003 South American U-17 Championship	Argentina Brazil Colombia
OFC (Oceania)	2003 OFC U-17 Championship	Australia
UEFA (Europe)	Host nation	Finland ¹
UEFA (Europe)	2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship	Portugal Spain

1. ^ Teams that made their debut.

Venues

The tournament was played in four cities in Finland: Helsinki, Turku, Tampere and Lahti.

	Helsinki	Turku	Tampere	Lahti
Helsinki Lahti Tampere Turku 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship (Finland)
	Finnair Stadium	Veritas Stadion	Tampere Stadium	Lahti Stadium

	Töölö Stadium	Turku Stadium	Ratina Stadium (Tampere Stadium)	Lahti Stadium

Squads

For a list of the squads see 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship squads

Group stage

All times are local (EEST/UTC+3)

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Colombia	3	2	1	0	11	2	+9	7
Mexico	3	1	2	0	5	3	+2	5
Finland	3	1	0	2	3	12	–9	3
China	3	0	1	2	5	7	–2	1

13 August 2003

17:30

Finland	2–1	China
Parikka 6' Petrescu 64'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Jiang Chen 4'

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 8,344

Referee: Heber Lopes (Brazil)

13 August 2003

20:00

Mexico	0–0	Colombia
	Report ^{[ dead link ]}

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 3,500

Referee: Martin Hansson (Sweden)

16 August 2003

15:00

China	1–2	Colombia
Wang Yongpo 67'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Guarín 73' (pen.) Hernández 80'

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 4,100

Referee: Richard Piper (Trinidad and Tobago)

16 August 2003

17:30

Finland	0–2	Mexico
	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Ceja 39' Herrera 51'

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 10,176

Referee: Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)

19 August 2003

17:30

China	3–3	Mexico
Wang Yongpo 35' Jiang Chen 61', 81'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Flores 51' Mariaca 73' Murguía 78'

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 4,500

Referee: Jerome Damon (South Africa)

19 August 2003

20:00

Colombia	9–1	Finland
Hidalgo 16', 32' (pen.), 50', 61' Ramos 36', 68', 71' Guarín 63' Núñez 74'	Report	Petrescu 41'

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 10,200

Referee: Gabriel Brazenas (Argentina)

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Argentina	3	3	0	0	5	0	+5	9
Costa Rica	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
Nigeria	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
Australia	3	0	0	3	1	6	–5	0

Note: Second place was determined by drawing of lots

13 August 2003

17:30

Argentina	2–0	Australia
Garay 6' Cólzera 69'	Report

Turku Stadium, Turku

Attendance: 4,124

Referee: Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)

13 August 2003

20:00

Costa Rica	1–1	Nigeria
Arias 83'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Bala 9'

Turku Stadium, Turku

Attendance: 4,292

Referee: Leone Rakaroi (Fiji)

16 August 2003

15:00

Australia	1–2	Nigeria
Giraldi 2'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Mikel 73' Bala 84'

Turku Stadium, Turku

Attendance: 5,502

Referee: Heber Lopes (Brazil)

16 August 2003

17:30

Argentina	2–0	Costa Rica
Peirone 84', 90'	Report

Turku Stadium, Turku

Attendance: 5,462

Referee: Jerome Damon (South Africa)

19 August 2003

17:30

Nigeria	0–1	Argentina
	Report	Faurlín 59'

Turku Stadium, Turku

Attendance: 6,104

Referee: Martin Hansson (Sweden)

19 August 2003

20:00

Australia	0–2	Costa Rica
	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Rodríguez 62' (pen.) Salazar 75'

Turku Stadium, Turku

Attendance: 5,424

Referee: Khalil Al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	3	2	1	0	9	1	+8	7
Portugal	3	1	1	1	9	13	–4	4
Cameroon	3	0	3	0	7	7	0	3
Yemen	3	0	1	2	4	8	–4	1

14 August 2003

17:30

Yemen	3–4	Portugal
Al-Badani 31' Sharyan 45+2' Sousa 77' (o.g.)	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Sousa 56' Curto 68' M. Fernandes 80' Al-Safi 82' (o.g.)

Ratina Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 6,400

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

14 August 2003

20:00

Cameroon	1–1	Brazil
Joseph Mawaye 5'	Report	Abuda 38'

Ratina Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 8,250

Referee: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)

17 August 2003

15:00

Portugal	0–5	Brazil
	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Léo 20' Abuda 52' Ederson 68' (pen.) Evandro 77' Thyago 86'

Ratina Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 10,190

Referee: Gabriel Brazenas (Argentina)

17 August 2003

17:30

Yemen	1–1	Cameroon
Juaim 90+2'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Mawaye 74'

Ratina Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 6,855

Referee: Eddy Maillet (Seychelles)

20 August 2003

17:30

Brazil	3–0	Yemen
Evandro 28', 32' Arouca 86'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}

Ratina Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 5,896

Referee: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)

20 August 2003

20:00

Portugal	5–5	Cameroon
Vieirinha 21' Curto 36', 43', 44' Gama 52'	Report	T. Costa 70' (o.g.) N'Gal 74', 76' N'Guémo 88' Mbia 90+4'

Ratina Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 4,723

Referee: Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Spain	3	2	1	0	8	5	+3	7
United States	3	2	0	1	8	4	+4	6
South Korea	3	1	0	2	6	11	–5	3
Sierra Leone	3	0	1	2	6	8	–2	1

14 August 2003

17:30

South Korea	1–6	United States
Owens 11' (o.g.)	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Adu 16', 89', 90+2' (pen.) Owens 26' Watson 54' Curfman 75'

Lahti Stadium, Lahti

Attendance: 3,240

Referee: Eddy Maillet (Seychelles)

14 August 2003

20:00

Spain	3–3	Sierra Leone
Rodríguez 8' Sisi 15' Nadal 90+6'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Barlay 34', 73' Ruz 36' (o.g.)

Lahti Stadium, Lahti

Attendance: 3,150

Referee: Khalil Al-Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

17 August 2003

15:00

United States	2–1	Sierra Leone
González 45' (pen.) Adu 89'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Sesay 32'

Lahti Stadium, Lahti

Attendance: 4,950

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

17 August 2003

17:30

South Korea	2–3	Spain
Yang Dong-hyun 45' Sánchez 59' (o.g.)	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Silva 65', 73', 76'

Lahti Stadium, Lahti

Attendance: 3,470

Referee: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)

20 August 2003

17:30

Sierra Leone	2–3	South Korea
Metzger 36', 51'	Report	Han Dong-won 28' Yang Dong-hyun 74' Lee Yong-rae 78'

Lahti Stadium, Lahti

Attendance: 2,475

Referee: Leone Rakaroi (Fiji)

20 August 2003

20:00

United States	0–2	Spain
	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Jurado 11' Fàbregas 70'

Lahti Stadium, Lahti

Attendance: 3,825

Referee: Heber Lopes (Brazil)

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final

	23 August – Helsinki

	Colombia	2
					27 August – Tampere
	Costa Rica	0
					Colombia	0
	24 August – Turku
					Brazil	2
	Brazil	3
									30 August – Helsinki
	United States	0
									Brazil	1
	23 August – Lahti
									Spain	0
	Argentina	2
					27 August – Helsinki
	Mexico	0
					Argentina	2
	24 August – Tampere
					Spain (a.e.t.)	3			Third place
	Spain	5
									30 August – Helsinki
	Portugal	2
									Colombia	1 (4)

									Argentina (p)	1 (5)

Quarter-finals

23 August 2003

14:00

Colombia	2–0	Costa Rica
Otalvaro 25', 43'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 2,340

Referee: Eddy Maillet (Seychelles)

23 August 2003

18:00

Argentina	2–0	Mexico
Cardozo 34' Peirone 45'	Report

Lahti Stadium, Lahti

Attendance: 5,030

Referee: Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)

24 August 2003

14:00

Brazil	3–0	United States
Leonardo 18' Ederson 61' Evandro 64'	Report

Turku Stadium, Turku

Attendance: 6,150

Referee: Martin Hansson (Sweden)

24 August 2003

18:00

Spain	5–2	Portugal
Sánchez 28' Fàbregas 42', 78' Nadal 50' Jurado 90+4' (pen.)	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Curto 3' Vieirinha 87'

Ratina Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 5,387

Referee: Gabriel Brazenas (Argentina)

Semi-finals

27 August 2003

17:00

Colombia	0–2	Brazil
	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Abuda 16', 72'

Ratina Stadium, Tampere

Attendance: 7,675

Referee: Marco Rodríguez (Mexico)

27 August 2003

20:00

Argentina	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Spain
Biglia 11' Garay 31'	Report ^{[ dead link ]}	Fàbregas 48', 119' Jurado 53'

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 5,030

Referee: Martin Hansson (Sweden)

Playoff for third place

30 August 2003

13:00

Colombia	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Argentina
Hidalgo 53' (pen.)	Report	Lagos 4'
Penalties
Hidalgo Otalvaro Guarín Núñez Movil Vargas	4–5	Garay Formica Faurlín Cólzera Díaz Hassell

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 6,400

Referee: Eddy Maillet (Seychelles)

Final

30 August 2003

16:00

Brazil	1–0	Spain
Leonardo 7'	Report

Töölö Stadium, Helsinki

Attendance: 10,452

Referee: Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)

2003 FIFA Under-17 World champions
Brazil Third title

Goalscorers

There were 117 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 3.66 goals per match.

5 goals

4 goals

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

1 own goal

Márcio Sousa (against Yemen)
Tiago Costa (against Cameroon)
Ruz (against Sierra Leone)
Sergio Sánchez (against South Korea)
Dwight Owens (against South Korea)
Abdullah Al-Safi (against Portugal)

Final ranking

Rank	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Brazil	6	5	1	0	15	1	+14	16
2	Spain	6	4	1	1	16	10	+6	13
3	Argentina	6	4	1	1	10	4	+6	13
4	Colombia	6	3	2	1	14	5	+9	11
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5	United States	4	2	0	2	8	7	+1	6
6	Mexico	4	1	2	1	5	5	0	5
7	Costa Rica	4	1	1	2	3	5	–2	4
8	Portugal	4	1	1	2	11	18	–7	4
Eliminated at the group stage
9	Nigeria	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
10	Cameroon	3	0	3	0	7	7	0	3
11	South Korea	3	1	0	2	6	11	–5	3
12	Finland	3	1	0	2	3	12	–9	3
13	Sierra Leone	3	0	1	2	6	8	–2	1
14	China	3	0	1	2	5	7	–2	1
15	Yemen	3	0	1	2	4	8	–4	1
16	Australia	3	0	0	3	1	6	–5	0

References

↑ UEFA World Cup U-17, at Uefa.com
↑ "Sierra Leone players disappear". BBC Sport . 22 August 2003.

External links

FIFA U-17 World Championship Finland 2003, FIFA.com
FIFA Technical Report (Part 1) and (Part 2)

v t e FIFA U-16 and U-17 World Cup
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Records and statistics

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