Germany U-17 claimed their first-ever FIFA U-17 World Cup title after they had beaten France U-17 on penalties in Saturday night’s final at the Manahan Stadium in Solo. The fiery duel saw the two teams drawing 2-2 after 90 minutes, before the Germans braved through a tense shootout and edged their opponents 4-3 – adding the World Cup title to the 2023 European U-17 Championship that they’ve won six months earlier.
In an interesting twist of fate, Saturday’s U-17 World Cup final was a repeat of this year’s Euro U-17s final in Budapest, Hungary, which Germany also won on penalties.
Paris Brunner, the latest in line from Borussia Dortmund’s factory of talent, further stamped his credentials as one of the stars of the tournament after he had given Germany the lead in the 28th minute, blasting home a penalty after a foul within the area on Bilal Yalcinkaya by French defender Aymen Sadi.
A dominant Germany side made it 2-0 after 50 minutes. Max Moerstadt swung in a cross which was struck first-time by Noah Darvich. France goalkeeper Paul Argney got his gloves on the ball, however the shot was too strong and Germany have their second goal.
The Young Les Bleus struck back almost immediately though. Two minutes after Darvich’s goal, Saimon Bouabre managed to beat Konstantin Heide with a shot from within the area.
With the deficit now halved, Germany tried their best to see the game off, however they were forced to play with 10 men in the 69th minute after Winners Osawe received a second yellow card following a poor tackle on Ismail Bouneb.
France took advantage of the extra men on the pitch, pushing back the German pressure on them, before finally finding a breakthrough in the 85th minute through a Mathis Amougou volley following a Tidiam Gomis cross.
With no extra-time being played, the match went straight into penalties after the scoreline remained tied at 2-2 after 90 minutes. France’s Joachim Sanda went up first and he gave his side the lead, before Argney managed to deny Eric da Silva Moreira to prevent Germany from tying things up.
Bouneb then made it 2-0 after his spot kick had beaten Heide, before Ramsak Robert reduced France’s advantage.
Nhoa Sangui then went up next for France, only to see his penalty blazing wide despite sending Heide the wrong way. Seizing the opportunity, Moerstadt slammed home his spot kick past Argney to make it 2-2.
Advantage then shifted towards Germany after Heide expertly saved Bastien Meupiyou’s effort, thus allowing Fayssal Harchaoui to make it 3-2 for the Young Der Panzer.
Joan Tincres then gave France a glimmer of hope with his penalty, before Argney expertly saved Brunner’s penalty to prevent Germany from killing the game off there and there. However, with the shootout tied at 3-3, Gomis was unable to make good use of the momentum after his spot kick was denied by Heide.
This allowed substitute Almugera Kabar – another product of the renowned Dortmund academy – to fire home Germany’s winning penalty, much to the delight of their supporters, as the Young Der Panzer lifted the U-17 World Cup trophy to go with their Euro U-17s triumph earlier this year.