The U17 World Cup is set to attract record overall attendances
Thursday 26 October 2017 15:35, UK
The U17 World Cup final between England and Spain on Saturday is expected to attract a sell-out crowd of 67,000 to Kolkata.
The tournament has been a huge success and has already attracted 1.22m, spectators, meaning only a few thousand more are needed to beat the tournament record of 1.23m, who attended the precursor U16 World Cup in China in 1985.
The third-place play-off will also take place on Saturday and two full houses at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday could see India overtake the 1.3m who went to the U20 World Cup in Colombia in 2011.
The tournament has been marked by big attendances despite the the hosts losing all three of their group games and India have therefore decided to step up their bid for the U20 World Cup in 2019.
All India Football Federation president Praful Patel told reporters he was "extremely delighted" at the public turnout and added: "We have bid for the Under 20 World Cup to be held in 2019."
He is to raise the bid at a meeting of FIFA's executive council in Kolkata on Friday.
A decision on the 2019 tournament is expected to be made in early 2018 and FIFA has not yet announced whether there are other contenders.
