FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017: Chile announce 21-man squad

What's the story?

One by one, teams qualified for the highly anticipated FIFA U-17 World Cup are landing in India for the biggest honour in youth football. And today, one of the underdogs of the competition, Chile announced their 21-man squad for the big event.

Chile are one of the teams from South America to qualify for the World Cup with La Roja qualifying for the U-17 World Cup for just the fourth time in the competition's history. This edition will be Chile's first appearance after 20 years albeit they appeared in the 2015 World Cup courtesy of hosting the event.

In case you didn't know...

Chile qualified for the 2017 U-17 World Cup by defying all odds and coming second in the South American U-17 competition, organized earlier this year. Courtesy of a strong defence, Chile reached the finals but lost the final hurdle against Brazil. La Roja reached the round of 16 stage in the last World Cup and will be hoping to replicate that feat in India.

The heart of the matter

Head coach of the Chile U-17 side, Hernan Caputto has summoned a 21-man squad for the World Cup which is more or less the same set of individuals which came second at the South American championship. Here is Chile's complete squad:

Goalkeepers:

Julio Bórquez - Sports Iquique

Rodrigo Cancino - University of Chile

Hugo Araya - Cobreloa

Defenders:

Gastón Zúñiga - O'Higgins

Matías Silva - Union San Felipe

Lucas Alarcón - University of Chile

Sebastián Valencia - Colo Colo

Yerco Oyanedel - Catholic University

Nicolás Aravena - Colo Colo

Midfielders:

Martin Lara - Catholic University

Mauricio Morales - University of Chile

Oliver Rojas - Audax Italiano

Branco Provoste - Colo Colo

Maximiliano Guerrero - Universidad de Chile

Forwards:

William Gama - Santiago Wanderers

Ignacio Contreras - Colo Colo

Ignacio Mesías - Unión San Felipe

Diego Valencia - Catholic University

Jairo Vásquez - Students of La Plata (ARG)

Pedro Campos - Catholic University

Antonio Díaz - O'Higgins

What's next?

Chile are in Group F which can also be said as the group of death. It features La Roja along with England, U-17 giants Mexico and Iraq. Chile are based in Kolkata and open their campaign against England on October 8 at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Author's take

Chile's best outing in the FIFA U-17 World Cup came in 1993 when they finished third in what was also their inaugural participation in the competition. Though a similar feat looks highly unlikely, Chile can cause problems in a group which features two of the favourites in the form of England and Mexico.