The International Football Federation (FIFA) has closed the list of 24 teams to compete in the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup, to be hosted by the Republic of Korea (ROK), with Vietnam among Asia’s five representatives.

Coach Hoang Anh Tuan (centre) and his players have etched their names into Vietnam’s football history.

The Asian and European regions are allocated five World Cup places each, while each of the remaining four regions only gets four.

Asia will be represented by the ROK, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran, while European competitors will include England, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal.

The other teams are Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela (South America); Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and the United States (North and Central America and the Caribbean); Guinea, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia (Africa); and New Zealand and Vanuatu (Oceania).

The 24 participants will be divided into six groups and will compete in a group-stage round-robin tournament, with the top two teams from each group and the top four third-placed teams through to round 16.

In preparation for the World Cup mission, Vietnam’s U20 team, coached by Hoang Anh Tuan, will reconvene in Nha Trang in Khanh Hoa Province on March 21, before heading for Germany for training.

As planned, U20 Vietnam will play three friendly matches in Germany against U19/U23 Borussia Mönchengladbach, U23 Schalke 04 and U19 Fortuna Düsseldorf.

The 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup will be held in six ROK cities from May 20 to June 11.

Nhan Dan