India is privileged to host the U-17 World Cup this year in what promises the biggest footballing event to grace the subcontinent. India coach Nicolai Adam has been grooming the boys for the last year or so. Herein we have put together the results of the matches the India Under-17 side has played so far.
First up, the assembled India U-16 national team had a successful exposure trip to Germany where Team A played 14 practice matches and winning eight of those. The 14-1 victory over Rosenheim was the biggest margin win that the boys achieved.
| INDIA U-16 TEAM A PRACTICE MATCH RESULTS IN GERMANY | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 26/7/2015 | Jahn Regensburg | 2-3 | Lost |
| 2 | 30/7/2015 | DFI Bad Aiibling | 2-1 | Won |
| 3 | 1/8/2015 | JFG Mangfall-tall | 5-2 | Won |
| 4 | 6/8/2015 | Red Bulls Salzburg | 2-3 | Lost |
| 5 | 8/8/2015 | Rosenheim | 14-1 | Won |
| 6 | 12/8/2015 | FSV Frankfurt | 2-0 | Won |
| 7 | 14/8/2015 | Spvgg. Greuther Fuerth | 3-2 | Won |
| 8 | 17/8/2015 | Aka Tirol | 2-2 | Draw |
| 9 | 22/8/2015 | S.V Wacker Burghausen | 4-0 | Won |
| 10 | 26/8/2015 | Ingolstadt | 1-0 | Won |
| 11 | 29/8/2015 | Unterhaching | 3-5 | Lost |
| 12 | 1/9/2015 | Aka Tirol | 4-1 | Won |
| 13 | 5/9/2015 | Spvgg. Greuther Fuerth | 1-1 | Draw |
| 14 | 9/9/2015 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 1-3 | Lost |
The Team B boys participated in the Under-16 SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship at Sylhet, Bangladesh, where they lost to the host nation in the final.
| INDIA U-16 TEAM B FRIENDLIES AHEAD OF SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 29/7/2015 | U-18 Rosary College | 2-1 | Won |
| 2 | 1/8/2015 | U-19 Churchill Brothers SC | 0-1 | Lost |
| INDIA U-16 AT THE U-16 SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP | ||||
| Match | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| Group Stage | 9/8/2015 | Sri Lanka | 5-0 | Won |
| Group Stage | 13/8/2015 | Bangladesh | 1-2 | Lost |
| Semi-final | 16/8/2015 | Nepal | 1-0 | Won |
| Final | 18/8/2015 | Bangladesh | 2-4 (1-1 AET) | Lost (Penalties) |
Thereafter, Team B resumed their training in Goa for a week and played a few practice matches with local clubs.
| INDIA U-16 TEAM B FRIENDLIES IN GOA | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 29/8/2015 | Reliance Academy | 13-0 | Won |
| 2 | 30/8/2015 | Reliance Academy | 8-0 | Won |
| 3 | 11/9/2015 | SESA Academy | 1-1 | Draw |
Adam led India to the U-16 AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Championship Qualifiers at Tabriz, Iran, where they had Iran, Bahrain and Lebanon as group opponents. The India Colts would eventually qualify for the Under-16 Championship by winning their ties against Bahrain and Lebanon by 5-0 and 6-0 scorelines respectively. They would however, lose 3-0 to hosts Iran.
| INDIA U-16 AT THE U-16 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 16/9/2015 | Bahrain | 5-0 | Won |
| 2 | 18/9/2015 | Iran | 0-3 | Lost |
| 3 | 20/9/2015 | Lebanon | 6-0 | Won |
Adam then led the team to Spain wherein they faced the youth teams of La Liga clubs such as Villarreal, Levante and Elche. India would win two and lose three of the resultant games.
| INDIA U-16 PRACTICE MATCH RESULTS IN SPAIN | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 22/9/2015 | Bennydorm | 1-1 | Draw |
| 2 | 24/9/2015 | Elche FC | 2-0 | Won |
| 3 | 27/9/2015 | Herculas, Alicante | 2-1 | Won |
| 4 | 29/9/2015 | Villarreal | 0-5 | Lost |
| 5 | 1/10/2015 | Levante | 0-1 | Lost |
| 6 | 4/10/2015 | U-19 Levanta International | 2-3 | Lost |
After the conquest in Spain, the entire squad side were handed a short break. The team would later re-assemble themselves in Goa.
| INDIA U-16 FRIENDLIES AHEAD OF DUBAI TOUR | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 6/11/2015 | U-16 Fr. Agnels, Pilar | 6-0 | Won |
| 2 | 22/11/2015 | U-18 Sporting Clube de Goa | 3-3 | Draw |
The team headed over for a successful exposure trip to Dubai where they won all five fixtures.
| INDIA U-16 PRACTICE MATCH RESULTS IN DUBAI | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 4/12/2015 | U-16 Al-Hamriyah Sports Club | 11-1 | Won |
| 2 | 10/12/2015 | U-16 Spanish Soccer Academy | 5-1 | Won |
| 3 | 16/12/2015 | U-16 Baniyas FC | 8-0 | Won |
| 4 | 18/12/2015 | FC Ajman (Mix of U-16, U-17 & U-18) | 9-4 | Won |
Post the return from Dubai, the team would go on to participate in an exhibition match against Maharashtra XI organized by WIFA (Western India Football Association) in Mumbai. This was the very first occasion wherein the India Under-17 squad were in action with fans allowed to flock in.
| INDIA U-16 FRIENDLIES AHEAD OF SOUTH AFRICA TOUR | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 21/12/2015 | U-16 Maharashtra XI | 8-0 | Won |
| 2 | 25/1/2016 | U-16 IFA XI | 2-0 | Won |
| 3 | 29/1/2016 | U-16 NorthEast XI | 1-1 | Draw |
| 4 | 2/2/2016 | U-16 Sports Authority of India (SAI) | 2-1 | Won |
The team went on an exposure trip to South Africa. They went on to win three of their matches played in the Rainbow Nation.
| INDIA U-16 PRACTICE MATCH RESULTS IN SOUTH AFRICA | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 14/2/2016 | U-19 Tuks Sports | 1-4 | Lost |
| 2 | 19/2/2016 | U-18 Super Sports | 5-2 | Won |
| 4 | 23/2/2016 | U-18 Black Aces | 1-1 | Draw |
| 5 | 28/2/2016 | U-16 Botswana | 10-1 | Won |
| 6 | 1/3/2016 | U-17 Wits | 3-3 | Draw |
| 7 | 4/3/2016 | U-17 Holy Star Academy | 2-0 | Won |
In what Adam dubbed as a 'Mini World Cup', the India U-16 team participated in the AIFF (All India Football Federation) Youth Cup in May but fell short of a win to make it to the play-offs. Ahead of the five nation tournament, the India U-16 team beat Odisha U-16 by a 6-0 scoreline and were denied a match as the Goa Football Federation (GFA) refused to field the state U-16 team citing 'under-preparedness'.
| INDIA U-16 AHEAD OF THE AIFF YOUTH CUP | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 27/4/2016 | Odisha U-16 | 6-0 | Won |
| INDIA U-16 AT THE AIFF YOUTH CUP | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 15/5/2016 | Malaysia | 2-2 | Draw |
| 2 | 17/5/2016 | Tanzania | 1-3 | Lost |
| 3 | 23/5/2016 | Korea Republic | 0-0 | Draw |
The U-17 World Cup squad for the 2017 World Cup U-17 would continue to prepare with more practice matches against junior international teams and clubs in Germany.
| INDIA U-16 TEAM A PRACTICE MATCHES IN GERMANY | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 8/6/2016 | Luxembourg U-16 | 1-0 | Won |
| 2 | 12/6/2016 | FC Metz U-17 | 2-0 | Won |
| 3 | 14/6/2016 | SV Wehen | 3-3 | Draw |
| 4 | 21/6/2016 | Stabaek FC U-16 | 2-2 | Draw |
| 5 | 24/6/2016 | Ullensaker U-16 | 3-0 | Won |
| 6 | 27/6/2016 | Strommen U-16 | 7-0 | Won |
| 7 | 29/6/2016 | Norway U-16 | 0-2 | Lost |
| 8 | 7/72016 | Bayer 04 Leverkusen U-16 | 0-3 | Lost |
| 9 | 12/7/2016 | Saarlandauswahl U-18 | 5-0 | Won |
| 10 | 16/7/2016 | TSG 1899 Hoffenheim U-16 | 2-1 | Won |
| 11 | 23/7/2016 | Arminia Bielefeld U16 | 1-3 | Lost |
| 12 | 27/7/2016 | Rot-Weiss Essen U16 | 2-1 | Won |
| 13 | 30/7/2016 | Sportfuende Siegen U16 | 5-0 | Won |
| 14 | 3/8/2016 | FC Koln U-16 | 2-2 | Draw |
| 15 | 10/8/2016 | GFL Soccer Enterprises U-17 | 6-0 | Won |
| 16 | 14/8/2016 | Rot-Weiss Oberhausen U-16 | 4-1 | Won |
| 17 | 21/8/2016 | MSV Duisburg's U-17 | 3-0 | Won |
While the Team A continued their Germany sojourn, the Team B boys trained in Goa to participate in the AFC U-16 Championship and travelled to Russia for a friendly as part of the preparation.
| INDIA U-16 TEAM B PRACTICE MATCH IN RUSSIA | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 28/7/2016 | Ufa U-16 | 0-2 | Lost |
AIFF Media
Pitted in the group of death, in Group A of the AFC U-16 Championships, alongside the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and Iran, India kept their hope alive to progress to the semi-finals to earn a place in 2017 U-17 World Cup by merit.
| INDIA U-16 AT THE AFC U-16 CHAMPIONSHIPS | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 15/9/2016 | UAE U-16 | 2-3 | Lost |
| 2 | 18/9/2016 | Saudi Arabia | 3-3 | Draw |
| 3 | 21/9/2016 | Iran | 0-3 | Iran |
Adam's boys participated in the BRICS U-17 football tournament where they could not get past the group stage where they lost humbly to Russia and China but succumbed to a strong Brazilian side.
AIFF Media
| INDIA U-16 AT THE BRICS U-17 FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 5/10/2016 | Russia U-17 | 0- 1 | Lost |
| 2 | 11/10/2016 | China U-17 | 0-1 | Lost |
| 3 | 13/10/2016 | Brazil U-17 | 1-3 | Lost |
The Indian national U-17 team, scheduled to participate in the U-17 World Cup in India in 2017, continue to play more practice matches including finishing third in the Atletico Paranaense U-17 International Tournament in Brazil and 16th in the XXIX Valentin Granatkin Memorial Cup competition in Russia.
| INDIA U-16 PRACTICE MATCHES | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 12/12/2016 | Orlando City U-17 | 0-1 | Lost |
| 2 | 13/12/2016 | Atletico Paranaense U-17 | 0-4 | Lost |
| 3 | 14/12/2016 | Uruguay U-17 | 1-2 | Lost |
| 4 | 18/12/2016 | Orlando City U-17 | 2-1 | Won |
| 5 | 8/1/2017 | Russia U-18 | 0-8 | Lost |
The Granatkin Memorial Cup in Russia would be the last set of games for India's U17 World Cup squad under Nicolai Adam before the German gaffer was sacked by the Indian federation, with less than nine months to go for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup that is to be held in India.
Granatkin Memorial Cup 2016
| INDIA U-17 TEAM AT THE GRANATKIN MEMORIAL CUP IN RUSSIA | ||||
| Match No. | Date | Opponent | Score | Result |
| 1 | 10/1/2017 | Belarus U-18 | 1 -0 | Won |
| 2 | 12/1/2017 | Latvia U-17 | 1-4 | Lost |
| 3 | 14/1/2017 | Estonia U-18 | 1-2 | Lost |
| 4 | 17/1/2017 | Iran U-18 | 0 -1 | Lost |
| 5 | 20/1/2017 | Tajikistan U-18 | 0-1 | Lost |
With the appointment of Luís Norton de Matos to take over the reigns of the Indian side towards the build up of the U-17 World Cup in India, follow the results here.