<P> The matches were played in six stadiums in six host cities around the country, with the final taking place at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, West Bengal . Twenty - three teams, besides the host India, managed to qualify for the tournament via participating in their various continental under - 17 tournaments . In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round - robin groups of four for points, where the top two teams in each group along with the top four third placed teams would advance to the next round . These 16 teams will advance to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play will decide which teams would participate in the final . </P> <P> The reigning FIFA U-17 World Cup champions, Nigeria, did not have the opportunity to defend their title after failing to qualify for this edition . In failing to qualify, Nigeria became the first incumbent title holder since Switzerland in 2009 to fail to qualify for the subsequent edition . </P> <P> England won the U-17 World Cup for the first time after coming back from a two - goal deficit and beating Spain 5--2 in the final . This meant England became the second nation, after Brazil in 2003, to win both of FIFA's under - age (U-20 and U-17) World Cup tournaments in the same calendar year . England has also become the third country, after Brazil and North Korea, to win both U-17 and U-20 World Cup in their respective gender tournaments on the same year, as North Korea had also won both U-17 and U-20 Women's World Cup last year. The Official Match Ball of the Tournament is Adidas Krasava . </P> <P> The bids for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup had to be submitted by 15 November 2013 . On 28 May 2013 it was announced by FIFA that Azerbaijan, India, Republic of Ireland, and Uzbekistan would bid for the hosting rights . </P>

Who won the fifa u17 world cup 2017