{"id":15467,"date":"2026-11-11T22:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T22:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/us-pulls-out-from-u-17-world-cup-in-qatar-reports\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T22:30:46","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T22:30:46","slug":"us-pulls-out-from-u-17-world-cup-in-qatar-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/11\/us-pulls-out-from-u-17-world-cup-in-qatar-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"US pulls out from U-17 World Cup in Qatar\u00a0 \u2014 Reports"},"content":{"rendered":"<div readability=\"72.934080137872\">\n<p>The United States has reportedly withdrawn its Under-17 men\u2019s national team from the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar over security concerns linked to the ongoing conflict involving Iran.\n<\/p>\n<p>The decision was communicated to the players and staff on Wednesday, after the US Soccer Federation consulted its internal security team and the US State Department.\n<\/p>\n<p>According to a report by The Guardian published on Wednesday, the federation cited safety concerns in a letter to players and pointed to a US State Department travel advisory urging Americans to reconsider travelling to Qatar because of the risk of armed conflict.\n<\/p>\n<p>A separate report by Yahoo Sports, also published on Wednesday, quoted a person familiar with the decision as saying, \u201cSending 16- and 17-year-olds [to the tournament] given that situation was not tenable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another report confirming the nation\u2019s position from AFP said the federation notified FIFA, its players and staff of the decision on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n<p>In the letter to the players, the federation said, \u201cUnfortunately, in light of current circumstances including the U.S. State Department\u2019s Level 3 Travel Advisory for Qatar and related directives for Embassy staff and families, we are no longer able to participate in the tournament. The well-being of our players and staff will always be our top priority.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"read-also\">\n<header>Related News<\/header>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The US had earlier relocated its pre-tournament training camp from Qatar to its national training centre near Atlanta as a precaution.<\/p>\n<p>The Americans were drawn in Group J alongside Montenegro, Chile and Algeria and were scheduled to begin their campaign against Montenegro on November 21.\n<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 tournament is scheduled to run from November 19 to December 13 in Qatar, with 48 countries participating.\n<\/p>\n<p>The withdrawal came just hours after FIFA announced on Wednesday that the official squad lists for all 48 participating teams had been confirmed.\n<\/p>\n<p>The US Soccer Federation had named its 21-man squad on November 6, with head coach Alex Aldaz selecting players from clubs in the United States and Europe.\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div readability=\"17.269565217391\">\n                                                                <b><a href=\"https:\/\/punchng.com\/author\/toyediran\">Tosin Oyediran<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Tosin Oyediran is a journalist with Punch Newspapers, bringing over eight years of newsroom experience to his coverage of politics, health, advocacy, sports, and entertainment. Known for sharp interviews and human-centered reporting, his work focuses on public accountability, civic issues, and the stories shaping everyday lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Source: <\/p>\n<div class=\"nSourse\">Punch Newspapers &#8211; Latest News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The United States has reportedly withdrawn its Under-17 men\u2019s national team from the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar over security concerns linked to the ongoing conflict involving Iran.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15467\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}