It was confirmed by the 58th FIFA Congress in Sydney, Australia that Mexico would be the host, beating other bids from the Czech Republic and Iran.

[2] After having won the right to host the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Femexfut president, Justino Compéan, stated during an interview from Sydney, Australia, that the Estadio Corona, in Torreón, would be one of the venues, arguing that recently built or invested stadia would have a major preference.

The draw for the group stage took place on 17 May 2011 at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México's Sala Nezahualcóyotl concert Hall.

[5][6] The seeding was as follows: Mexico Germany England Brazil Argentina United States Congo Burkina Faso Ivory Coast Rwanda Jamaica New Zealand Canada Panama Japan North Korea Australia Uzbekistan Denmark Netherlands France Czech Republic Uruguay Ecuador The winners and runners-up from each group, as well as the best four third-placed teams, qualified for the first round of the knockout stage (round of 16).

Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:[7] Ranking of third place teams in each group are determined by the following criteria, top four advances to the round of 16:[7] All kick-off times are local (UTC−05:00).