TORONTO — As far as draws go, this one worked out pretty well for Canada's Under-20 World Cup men's soccer team.

As the host country for the 24-nation event this summer, Canada was assigned the top position of Group A at Saturday's draw at Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex. Chile, Republic of Congo and Austria rounded out the foursome, with Canada to open against Chile on Canada Day at BMO Field at Exhibition Place.

Canada will then head out to Edmonton for matches July 5 against Austria and July 8 against Republic of Congo at Commonwealth Stadium.

"I think (the draw) possibly could have been a little bit better, but it definitely could have been a lot worse for us too," Canadian head coach Dale Mitchell said. "We don't have traditional big boys if you like - Brazil, Argentina, Spain - obviously the seeded teams are not in our group. I think we have three difficult opponents though."

Victoria (Royal Athletic Park), Burnaby, B.C. (Swangard Stadium), Ottawa (Frank Clair Stadium) and Montreal (Olympic Stadium) also will be host cities for the June 30-July 22 event, FIFA's second-largest after the World Cup.

The toughest group appeared to be Group E with defending champion Argentina joined by the Czech Republic, Panama and North Korea. Ottawa will host five of the six Group E games, including the Argentina-Czech matchup on opening day, a contest that FIFA vice-president Jack Warner already has circled on his calendar.

"Noboby in Canada - just nobody - should miss that match," Warner said.

Argentina has won five U-20 titles, more than any other nation.

"That to me will be one of the top matches in the first round and we should all make every attempt to see it," Warner added.

Montreal will host a single Group E match and five of the six in Group D. Ottawa will also host the other Group D contest July 6, which should be a beauty between four-time champion Brazil and the United States. Poland and South Korea are also in the group.

Spain, Uruguay, Jordan and Zambia will play in Group B, while Japan, Scotland, Nigeria and Costa Rica are in Group F. Burnaby will host five of the six Group B matches, while Victoria is home to all but one match in Group F. Both cities will have a single match from the other's group. Portugal, New Zealand, Gambia and Mexico are in Group C (four matches in Tor, one in Mtl, one in Edm).

Some other notable matchups include Spain-Uruguay at Burnaby on July 1 and Portugal-Mexico in Toronto on July 5. The round of 16 will begin July 11 leading to the final in Toronto on July 22.

While the draw took about half an hour and was quite complicated, organizers had all the bells and whistles out for the few hundred officials, dignitaries and players who took in the proceedings.

Two Mounties stood beside the championship trophy near the side of the stage, which was complete with artificial grass. Video presentations were played on a large screen and there were enough flashing lights overhead to give the event a rock concert feel.

Former Canadian national team goalkeeper Craig Forrest was the master of ceremonies and FIFA director of competitions Jim Brown was the draw conductor. He was joined by four guest assistants - Canadian women's national team star Christine Sinclair, cyclist Curt Harnett, rower Marnie McBean and track star Donovan Bailey.

Helena Guergis, Canada's secretary of state for sport, announced before the draw that the federal government will provide $4.2 million toward the staging of the event.

Canada enjoyed its best-ever finish in the U-20 event in 2003, making it to the quarter-finals in the United Arab Emirates. Canada was knocked out in the first round in 2005. Advance ticket sales exceeding 500,000 should make the 2007 tournament the largest single-sport sporting event ever staged in Canada.

Canadian Soccer Association president Colin Linford said it's only the beginning.

"We're really aiming for something like 800,000 tickets," he said.

Canada named six ambassadors for its road to the tournament this week. They are goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, defender David Edgar, midfielders Jonathon Beaulieu-Bourgault and Jaime Peters, and forwards Will Johnson and Andrea Lombardo. All six players are returning members from the 2005 U-20 World Cup team.

Lombardo, who most recently played for Rieti in Italy and is trying out for MLS's Toronto FC, lives about 15 minutes from BMO Field. He said he and some of his Canadian teammates were already excited about playing in their home country - especially in Toronto on Canada Day.

"We can't even put it into words," Lombardo said.

Canada will continue preparations with matches against Scotland on March 24 in Burnaby and March 27 in Victoria. After one more training camp in April, the team will play a series of international matches in May and June leading up to the tournament.

Mitchell is confident his squad will be ready.

"The challenge for us, for our boys, is to try and keep their feet on the ground because this is a once-in-a-lifetime event for our players," Mitchell said. "This is a great opportunity for them."

Notes:-Organizers pre-assigned Canada and six other countries into groups before the draw. Canada was put into A, Spain into B, Portugal into C, Brazil into D, Argentina into E and Nigeria and Scotland into F. . . . Canada will be making its eighth appearance at the tournament.