Nickname(s) Joeys Captain John Roberts Appearances 4 (first in 2008) Location Australia | Sub-confederation AFF (South-East Asia) FIFA code AUS Head coach Tony Vidmar | |
Best result Semi-Finals: 2010, 2014 Association Football Federation Australia Confederation Asian Football Confederation | ||
The Australia national under-17 Football team represents Australia in men's international under-17 Football. The team is controlled by the governing body for Football in Australia, Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) since leaving the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2006. The team's official nickname is the Joeys.
Contents
Australia is a ten-time OFC champion and a one-time AFF champion. The team has represented Australia at the FIFA U-17 World Cup tournaments on eleven occasions.
History
The "Joeys" best result in international football came in the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship hosted by New Zealand. Australia finished second in the tournament after losing the final to Brazil. The match had finished nil all after extra time and Brazil won the penalty shoot-out 8-7.
To qualify for the tournament Australia had to first win the Oceania qualifiers. This was achieved with wins over Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and again Fiji in the final which finished 5-0.
Next up was a two leg play-off against Bahrain who had finished third in the 1998 AFC U-17 Championship. Australia won 3-1 on aggregate.
In the tournament proper, Australia lost their opening game 2-1 to Brazil although a come from behind 2-1 win over Germany and a 1-0 win over Mali saw Australia top the group ahead of Brazil. Australia despatched of Qatar 1-0 in the quarter final and needed penalties to get past USA after a 2-2 draw in the semi-final.
A number of the "Joeys" squad would go on to represent the Socceroos over the coming years including Adrian Madaschi, Jade North, Joshua Kennedy and Scott McDonald.
Coaching staff
Current squad
The following 23 players were named for the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship which was held in India from 15 September–2 October. Caps correct as of 22 September 2016
Recent call-ups
The following players have been called up within the last 12 months and remain eligible for selection.