Record attendance forecast for U17 World Cup

Patrick Power 7 years ago 841
England will feature in the final on Saturday. AFP

The tournament in India is proving to be quite a success, with Saturday's final between Spain and England set to attract a sell-out crowd of 67,000 to Kolkata, breaking all previous registers.

Despite the hosts crashing out after losing all three of their group games, the Under 17 World Cup in India has been marked by huge attendances.

Having already attracted 1.22 million spectators overall, only a few thousand more are needed to beat the tournament record of 1.23 million, who attended the precursor Under 16 World Cup in China in 1985.

The 1.3 million who went to the Under 20 World Cup in Colombia in 2011 could also be surpassed with the third-place play-off also taking place on Saturday at the Salt Lake Stadium.

All India Football Federation president Praful Patel said he was "extremely delighted" at the public turnout and added: "We have bid for the Under 20 World Cup to be held in 2019."

Mentioned in the news story

Inglaterra U17
España U17
World Cup U17