The transition from the ‘sleeping giant’ to the ‘passionate giant’ was all too visible in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup where fans flocked to the stadium from every part of the nation. Let alone matches of the Indian U-17 World Cup Team, matches of Brazil and other teams also witnessed a jam packed stadium.
The attendance for the matches of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup India breached the one million mark in the final match of the round of 16. The 2017 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in India set the record for maximum attendance at any Fifa age-group meet for boys. With 66,684 people attending the final match between England and Spain, the cumulative attendance of this edition of the U-17 World Cup went up to a staggering figure of 13,47,131 which is 1,16,131 more than the previous record of U-17 World Cup which was set in the inaugural edition of the U-17 World Cup, played in China.
Meanwhile, the previous all-time highest attendance record in all age-group meets was 13,09,929 which was attained at the 2011 U-20 World Cup in Colombia which has also been bettered at the VYBK Stadium in the FIFA U-17 World Cup Final on October 28, 2017.
Gianni Infantino acknowledged that the edition of FIFA U-17 World Cup in India truly ratified the fact that India has become a football country now, rather a football continent because of its geographical magnitude.
“India is not a country but a football country now, rather it can be called a continent. Thank you very much, it’s a great pleasure to be back here”, Gianni Infantino expressed.