The draw for the U-20 FIFA World Cup will take place on Sunday at the Luxor Temple in Egypt. Inas Mazhar will be there Delegates from 24 countries are eagerly looking forward to the draw of the U-20 FIFA World Cup which is scheduled to take place in six Egyptian cities from 24 September to 16 October. Luxor was chosen to host the event as it is the world's greatest open-air museum, filled with the awe-inspiring monuments of ancient civilisation. It contains nearly one-third of the world's antiquities. There is hardly a place in Luxor which has not a relic that reflects the greatness of the ancient Egyptians and their civilisation that dates back 7,000 years ago. The Luxor temple, venue of the event, is dedicated to the principal of Thebes Amon and was built by the New Kingdom Pharaoh Amenophis III, and expanded over centuries by famous pharaohs including Ramses II, Tit, and Alexander the Great. The grandeur of the edifice represents that of Thebes at its zenith. It was known to the ancient Egyptians as "lpet Reseyet", the harem of the South. The number of teams taking part in the 2009 final competition has been fixed at 24, to be apportioned among the confederations as follows: AFC four teams, CAF four teams, CONCACAF four teams, CONMEBOL four teams OFC one team, UEFA six teams and host Egypt. Between October 2008 and March 2009 there were six months of qualifications around the world for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 and in each of the six confederations there was a shock. In Asia, Japan did not make the grade. Côte d'Ivoire will not be one of Africa's representatives. France and Mexico failed to get through their qualifiers in Europe and the CONCACAF region respectively. New Zealand missed out for the first time since Australia's departure to the AFC, but perhaps the biggest surprise of them all was that Argentina, the current holders of the U-20 trophy and Olympic champions will not be taking part. As a result, it promises to be the most open tournament in years. The first team to book its place in the competition was obviously Egypt, as hosts who will be joined by a strong African contingent. Arguably the pick of the bunch are Ghana, the continent's champions, who finished in fourth place at the FIFA U- 17 World Cup Korea 2007. Cameroon and South Africa are the regions other two qualifiers.Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and newcomers Venezuela will be looking to take the laurels back to their continent. There are also some familiar faces from Europe with England, Germany Italy and Spain all in attendance, with the Czech Republic and Hungary also making it through. Tahiti became the first nation from Oceania outside Australia and New Zealand to qualify for an 11-a-side FIFA competition. There was also a sense of pride in Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA as they booked their passage, but perhaps the keenest sense of achievement was felt in Costa Rica, as they won their regional tournament, defeating the US by three goals to nil. Australia, Korea Republic, Uzbekistan and United Arab Emirates emerged at the top of the pile in Asia, with the latter two teams contesting the final in Saudi Arabia. UAE emerged victorious making it the first time a west Asian team won an AFC youth tournament since 2000, when Iraq won the U-19 title and Oman captured what was then the U-17 crown.
