The youth championship will be played in New Zealand from May 30 to June 20 and pools for the 24-team tournament were drawn at a ceremony at Auckland’s Sky City casino, africanFootball.com reports.
“No doubt we will see more World Cup stars discovered here in New Zealand,” FIFA vice-president, Jeffrey Webb, said.
Argentina avoided any big-name rivals when placed in Group B with Panama, Austria and the third-placed qualifier from Africa, which will be determined next month.
Hosts New Zealand face a potentially tricky group featuring Ukraine, United States and Myanmar, while Germany will be confident of progressing from a group including Fiji,
Uzbekistan and Honduras.
Teams were drawn into six groups of four, with first-round matches to be played in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton, Dunedin, New Plymouth and Christchurch.
The top two in each group will qualify for the last 16 along with the four best third-placed teams.
Asia’s top qualifier Qatar will battle it out with two-time champions Portugal, Colombia and the fourth-placed African nation, with ex-New Zealand defender Danny Hay tipping the Middle East side as a dark horse.
“From what I’ve heard Qatar haven’t left a stone unturned,” he said.
“The team obviously hosting the World Cup in 2022 and will hope that this squad would make up a large part of that side.”
Five-time champions Brazil line up against the top African qualifier in a group that also includes North Korea and Hungary.
Uruguay, a finalist at the last tournament in Turkey, faces Mexico, Serbia and the second-placed African qualifier.
The New Zealand event is the 20th edition of the tournament, which is held every two years.
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