India will be hosting its first ever FIFA tournament in the form of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017 to be played over six Indian cities in the second half of 2017. It will be the first time that India by virtue of being the host nation will be featuring in a FIFA World Cup.

With the aim of putting together a strong competitive side to compete at the event, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) formally flagged off its preparations for the upcoming tournament in November 2015.

The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup bound India U-17 national team has had extensive preparation with camps in Germany, Spain & the UAE and also played the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers performing admirably against teams such as Bahrain, Lebanon and Iran.

India U-17 coach Nicolai Adam wants to further strengthen the squad and hence begun a second round of scouting across India. Keeping in mind some new additions the India U-17 team will now play a select North East U-17 team, being organised and fielded by Shillong Lajong FC with the support and cooperation of all the state football associations of the North East including Sikkim.

A 22 member squad consisting of boys from the seven North Eastern states of Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura are currently training with Shillong Lajong FC in Shillong. Lajong’s Head of Youth Development Gumpe Rime and AIFF coach Francisco Bruto Da Costa are overlooking the preparation for this squad.

Shillong Lajong will be organising a game for this select North East XI to face the India U-17 squad on January 29 in Guwahati. The effort will be supported on ground by the Assam Football Association (AFA).

National team scouts will be present at the game and select the most outstanding players who will be part of India’s U-17 World Cup probable squad.