FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger has hailed the success of the inaugural 48-team FIFA U-17 World Cup™, held in Qatar, saying it would have a global impact on the development of the game. Mr Wenger, speaking to journalists as the Technical Study Group reported on their findings and observations from the tournament, said it had been a joy to watch teams from all six confederations compete in Qatar.

“It is, of course, the tournament with 48 teams for the first time. That means 25% of the world, basically, was here,” said the former manager. “For all of us it was football paradise to see how much of the world's youth is here together and able to compete. “We are convinced that this tournament will change football in the world. Why did we do it? First of all, we want every federation to make an effort to develop their youth. And at the moment, this is not the case. We believe that this tournament will push everybody to make more effort to develop their youth system and education. The second thing we wanted, as well, is to give every generation a chance to play at world level,” he said.

"Why? Because we realised when we analysed football in the world, that the international experience at 17 years of age is very important in the development of players, and that in Europe, they have an advantage: they have more international games than all the other countries in the world. In South America they are playing more as well. So we want the whole world to have a chance to play.” TSG member and former Brazil international Simone Jatobá said she had been impressed by how close the standard was between teams from different parts of the world. “Today, I think the levels are very similar… Investing in youth divisions can truly make a difference in the development of the sport and help even out the characteristics and the quality. Investment is crucial for growing the sport in every country. Now I think football has been evolving at a more even rate around the world, and we can see that at this (FIFA U-17 World Cup), which was a very positive thing.”

The tournament will conclude on Thursday when Portugal and Austria compete in the final at Khalifa International Stadium. Regarding specific trends, the TSG noted that a high number of goals across the competition had come from counter-attacks and transitions. “First of all, we have seen that the trend today is that all the teams turn quickly from offense to defence and try as well to be very quick from defence to offence,” continued Mr Wenger. “It’s a world trend that you have seen here and that we see at senior level and it filters down, of course.”

Former Chelsea and Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff, a TSG member, said he had noted that wide players had a crucial role in the outcome of games with the increased use of crosses. “The eyes don't lie – I think it's backed up by the stats. It's always interesting to see where the crosses come from and how they come in the box. Obviously one-on-one wing play is something close to my heart, and there has been some top, top class wingers in this tournament. But there have also been rotations and movements on the side of the pitch to help get the crosses in. Lastly, the movement in the box, I have to say, I've been really impressed with the strikers’ movement, always out of the eyeline, which is something that you'd see at the top, top level,” he said.

Mr Wenger noted that explosive play down the flanks has been an approach adopted by many teams. “We have seen here at the tournament all the players who play on the sides are super quick, and you have no team anymore that is successful which doesn’t have explosive players on the sides, especially in transitions they go very quickly wide then very much behind the defenders. So, this is a world trend that we have seen here at this tournament.” The TSG observers also noted that the trend of long throw-ins, into the penalty area – increasingly popular in top professional leagues – was also evident among the U-17 national teams in action. The percentage of throw-ins in high areas, direct to the penalty area, increased from 7% to 22%.

Former Netherlands, AFC Ajax, SS Lazio and FC Internazionale Milano midfielder Aron Winter noted the successful teams maintained a compact and narrow structure, particularly in the mid-block, to force the opposition out wide. The TSG’s goalkeeping expert, former Swiss international, Pascal Zuberbühler noted the goalkeeper’s evolving role in build-up play, acting as a “numerical superior player” but was also glad to see the return of some variety in distribution - including long passes. “I have to say, in the last 10 years, it was almost forbidden for a goalkeeper to play a long ball. But this is something very important and efficient,” he said.