FIFA U-20 World Cup

The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when it was hosted by Tunisia under the tournament name of FIFA World Youth Championship until 2005. In 2007 the name was changed to its present form. FIFA bills the men's Under-20 World Cup as "the tournament of tomorrow's superstars." Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba are previous winners of the official player of the tournament award, and Erling Haaland was the top scorer at the 2019 edition. The reigning champions are Uruguay, which won their first title at the 2023 tournament in Argentina.

History

In the twenty-three editions of the tournament held, twelve nations have won the title. Argentina U20 is the most successful team with six titles, followed by Brazil U20 with five titles. Portugal U20 and Serbia U20 have both won two titles (with the latter winning once as Yugoslavia U20), while Ghana U20, Germany U20, Spain U20, France U20, England U20, Ukraine U20, Russia U20 (as the USSR U20) and Uruguay U20 have won the title once each.

A corresponding event for women's teams, the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, began in 2002 with the name "FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship" and an age limit of 19. The age limit for the women's competition was changed to 20 beginning with the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship, and the competition was renamed as a "World Cup" in 2007 in preparation for the 2008 event. The next edition is planned to be held in 2025 in Chile.

Qualification

24 national teams appear in the final tournament. 23 countries, including the defending champion, have to qualify in the youth championships of the six confederations. The host country automatically qualifies.

Results

Teams reaching the top four

:

1 = ''includes results representing Yugoslavia''

:

2 = ''includes results representing USSR''

:

3 = ''includes results representing West Germany''

Performances by continental zones (as of 2023)

All continental confederations except for the OFC (Oceania) have made an appearance in the final match of the tournament. To date, CONMEBOL (South America) leads with twelve titles, followed by UEFA (Europe) with ten titles and CAF (Africa) with one title. Teams from the AFC (Asia) and CONCACAF (North America, Central America, Caribbean) have made the tournament final four times, but were defeated by strong UEFA sides. No current OFC member has ever made the semifinals; Australia reached the semifinals as an OFC member in 1991 and 1993, finishing fourth on both occasions, before the country joined the AFC in 2006.

:1 = ''as Yugoslavia (1987).''
:2 = ''as part of OFC (currently in AFC since 2006).''

Awards

The following awards are now presented:
* The Golden Ball is awarded to the most valuable player of the tournament;
* The Golden Boot is awarded to the top goalscorer of the tournament;
* The Golden Glove is awarded to the most valuable goalkeeper of the tournament;
* The FIFA Fair Play Trophy is presented to the team with the best disciplinary record in the tournament.

Records and statistics

See also

*List of association football competitions
*FIFA World Cup
* FIFA U-17 World Cup
* FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
* FIFA U-20 World Cup records and statistics
* Toulon Tournament
* Granatkin Memorial

References

External links

*

Tournament archive
at Fifa.com

World Youth Cup (U-20) Overview
at the RSSSF

{{World football championships

Under-20 association football competitions
World youth sports competitions
U-20 World Cup
Recurring sporting events established in 1977
U20