The U17 World Cup draw was made this morning. These were the pots:
Pot 1: India, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Mali, France
Pot 2: Spain, Japan, New Zealand, England, Iran, USA
Pot 3: Costa Rica, Korea DPR, Honduras, Iraq, Turkey, Colombia
Pot 4: Chile, Paraguay, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, New Caledonia
The US lucked out with the seeds, drawing India. On paper, the rest of the group is as tough as it could be - Colombia and Ghana.
At the U17 level, you never know who is actually good in any given year. Big name countries can suck and random countries can have a strong cycle. 17 year olds aren't known for the consistency of their performances, either. At the 2007 U17 WC, the US lost to Tajikistan, but beat a Belgium team that featured Eden Hazard and Christian Benteke. Belgium finished last in the group. The US finished second in the group with a squad that turned out to be one of the least talented U17 groups we've had in the modern era.