The national under-17 team, the Cubs, will make their first appearance at the grandest of stages when they feature in the 2025 Fifa U17 World Cup next Monday. The tournament taking place in Qatar will run from November 3 to 27. This, the 20th edition of the tournament, will be the first of the five consecutive U-17 World Cups held in Qatar.
The 2026, 2027, 2028 and the 2029 tournaments will also be played in the gulf nation. This edition will be the opening of the annual cycle adopted by Fifa for the U-17 World Cup. It is the first to be played in the 48-team format instead of the previous biennial 24-team tournaments. El Salvador, Fiji, Republic of Ireland, Uganda and Zambia will make their debut in the tournament.
Uganda will make their first appearance in a Fifa tournament. For everyone involved or concerned, this must be seen as the most grand of stages this generation of players will ever find to showcase their talent. Over time, openings like this have dwindled for senior players as top clubs in the world prefer to sign teenagers because they come cheaper and provide immense potential for growth.
In the group stages, Uganda face Canada, Chile and France but you cannot quantify the benefit of being in Qatar in the results the team will pick on the pitch.
There are going to be so many lessons for players, coaches and administrators in terms of how we prepare for a World Cup and that should feed into a plan that forces us to want to return to the event.
For players, there will be no progress made in a sporting sense if playing at the World Cup does not motivate them to seek greener pastures. Why play at the World Cup only to return to local schools’ football? Can you imagine where some of the players in that French team will be in a few years? There is so much this country can get in Qatar.
Players can improve technical and tactical skills by playing against strong and diverse opponents in a competitive environment. Competing in a high-pressure setting, with the potential for both victory and defeat, builds emotional resilience, focus, and discipline. This brings mental resilience.
This is a chance for increased exposure. Success in high-profile tournaments can attract the attention of college recruiters, scouts, and media, opening doors to higher levels of competition. International tournaments also offer a chance to travel, experience new cultures, and compete against teams with different playing styles and philosophies.
A World Cup serves as a central hub where scouts can evaluate a large number of prospective players in one location. What if a few Ugandan players are picked up by scouts? Their lives and the game here would never be the same again.