The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 in Malaysia. It was the first FIFA tournament hosted by a Southeast Asian country.
The following 24 teams qualified for the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. Host Malaysia did not have to qualify for the tournament.
For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship squads
The 24 teams were split into six groups of four teams. Six group winners, six-second-place finishers and the four best third-place finishers qualify for the knockout round.
AdaÃÂlton of Brazil won the Golden Boot award for scoring ten goals. In total, 165 goals were scored by 101 different players, with seven of them credited as own goals.