Romania's Draw for FIFA U-17 World Cup: The Final Urn

Romania's national U17 team, composed of juniors born on or after January 1, 2009 and coached by Mircea Diaconescu, will participate in the draw for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup scheduled for Thursday, May 21, at 17:00 in Zurich, according to the Football Association of Romania (FRF).

The final tournament, hosted by Qatar from November 19 to December 13, 2026, will see 48 teams divided into 12 groups of four.

Urna 1:

Qatar (automatically placed in A1), Brazil, France, Mali, Argentina, Italy, Japan, Spain, USA, Mexico, Senegal, South Korea

Urna 2:

Morocco, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Croatia, Ecuador, Belgium, Ireland, Colombia, Chile, Egypt, Australia, Saudi Arabia

Urna 3:

New Zealand, Costa Rica, Tajikistan, Panama, New Caledonia, Honduras, Haiti, Guinea, Fiji, Cameroon, Denmark, Montenegro

Urna 4:

Serbia, ROMANIA, Greece, Uruguay, Tanzania, Algeria, Vietnam, China, Jamaica, Cuba, CAF 1*, CAF 2*

* Two African teams will be finalized after the draw.

Nightmare Group: Brazil, Croatia, Cameroon, Romania

Easier Group: Qatar, Ecuador, New Caledonia, Romania

The Draw Process

The draw will start with the automatic placement of the host country, Qatar, in position A1. The remaining teams from Urna 1 will be automatically placed in the first position of groups B-L.

Subsequently, teams from urns 2, 3, and 4 will be allocated to positions in groups according to a predefined model. Additionally, the FIFA rule stipulates that teams from the same confederation should not be placed in the same group as much as possible, according to FRF.

Romania's Path to the World Cup

Romania secured its spot in the U17 World Cup by finishing as one of the best second-placed teams in the final phase of the qualifying tournament for the EURO 2026.

The tricolor team defeated Iceland 5-2 and Portugal 1-0, but lost the decisive match for qualification to Italy, the host of the mini-tournament, 1-2.

Following the draw, Romania will undergo a preparation stage in Serbia.