The draw for the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 has taken place in Auckland, mapping out the group-stage challenge for each of the 24 teams involved.
Arguably the pick of the sections drawn at the impressive SKYCITY Convention Centre was Group D, which pits Mexico against 2013 runners-up Uruguay, Serbia and an as-yet undecided African opponent.
Host nation and OFC representatives New Zealand, meanwhile, will take on Ukraine in the opening match on 30 May, this in a section that also includes USA and debutants Myanmar.
As for the tournament’s OFC first-timers Fiji they face a demanding debut in the U-20 showpiece, with their first match a baptism of fire against European champions Germany.
Fiji FA’s Technical Director Ravinesh Kumar relished the prospect of a dream opener against Germany.
“I would say it’s an honour for Fiji to play a nation that is the current world champions – we’re in a pool with Germany who are world’s number one now. Looking at the world rankings, Fiji is 191 so we’re very lucky to be playing the Germans.
“We were quite pleased with the draw as officials as this is one of the lifetime achievements for Fiji football to play Germany. We know that Uzbekistan and Honduras are good teams as well and we will try to prepare ourselves well to compete at this tournament. We will prepare as best we can for what lies ahead.
“We have brought in a professional coach, Frank Farina, and he is helping us and now we’re going in for tours to Myanmar where we’ll be playing Uzbekistan. And we have some more tours and games lined up against teams that have also qualified for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
“Of course warm-up matches with Uzbekistan and Myanmar will be a good testing ground for us in terms of where we stand because we know Uzbekistan has played quite a few FIFA U-20 World Cups and in the last FIFA U-20 World Cup they defeated New Zealand 5-0,” he said.
New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley relished being part of the draw and the role he and his team will play in boosting the profile of football in New Zealand.
“I think it’s been a great occasion of an evening, I mean all the countries now know who they’re playing, where they’re playing,” he enthuses.
“For us, we missed the South American teams which is what we were really looking for but I mean every team that’s qualified for this tournament is going to be a very strong, a very good team, so on paper it may appear relatively favourable but they are going to be a massive challenge for us. We now need to find out as much as we can about the Ukraine, about Myanmar; who they are and how we can beat them.
“Ukraine qualified through Europe and knocked out England so any teams that qualify through Europe we know is going to be very strong.”
New Zealand 2015 will be the 20th edition of the U-20 World Cup, a tournament already famous for helping launch the careers of Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and many more of the game’s all-time greats. It will be held between 30 May and 20 June in seven cities across the country’s North and South islands.
Full draw
Group A
New Zealand
Ukraine
USA
Myanmar
Group B
Argentina
Panama
CAF 3
Austria
Group C
Qatar
Colombia
Portugal
CAF 4
Group D
Mexico
CAF 2
Uruguay
Serbia
Group E
CAF Champion
Brazil
Korea DPR
Hungary
Group F
Germany
Fiji
Uzbekistan
Honduras
The four CAF representatives will be determined at the upcoming African U-20 Championship 2015, which will take place in Senegal between 8 and 22 March.

Ends