Last Wednesday, the United States unexpectedly announced its withdrawal from the U17 World Cup to be held in Qatar, citing security concerns. The sudden withdrawal of the United States U17 team forced FIFA to urgently find a replacement to complete the 48 participating teams, a decision announced this Thursday, November 12.
The Dominican Republic will replace the Stars and Stripes. The team qualified based on its performance in the CONCACAF qualifiers: they finished second in Group E with 7 points, trailing the United States on goal difference. As the best-performing non-qualifying team in the region, they thus secured the replacement spot.
The Dominican Republic team was very pleased with the news, as this will be their first participation in a World Cup at this age level. Yelena Figuereo, Secretary General of the Dominican Football Federation, stated: "This achievement is the result of the efforts of an extraordinary team, and we mobilized all our forces at both the sporting and administrative levels to be worthy of this historic moment."
Therefore, the Central American team will participate in Group J of this tournament, alongside Algeria, Chile, and Montenegro. Their first match will be against Montenegro on November 21.