FIFA U-20 World Cup

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 (/wiki/1977FIFAWorldYouthChampionship) when it was hosted by Tunisia under the tournament name of FIFA World Youth Championship until (/wiki/2005FIFAWorldYouthChampionship). In (/wiki/2007FIFAU-20WorldCup) 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 Morocco, which won their first title at the 2025 tournament in Chile.

History

FIFA U-20 World Cup

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), Uruguay U20, and Morocco 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 2027 in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

Qualification

FIFA U-20 World Cup

24 national teams appear in the final tournament. 23 teams, including the defending champions, have to qualify in the youth championships of the six confederations. The team representing the host nation automatically qualifies.

<table><thead><tr><th>Confederation</th><th>Championship</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>AFC (Asia)</td><td>AFC U-20 Asian Cup</td></tr><tr><td>CAF (Africa)</td><td>U-20 Africa Cup of Nations</td></tr><tr><td>CONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean)</td><td>CONCACAF Under-20 Championship</td></tr><tr><td>CONMEBOL (South America)</td><td>CONMEBOL Sub 20</td></tr><tr><td>OFC (Oceania)</td><td>OFC U-19 Men's Championship</td></tr><tr><td>UEFA (Europe)</td><td>UEFA European Under-19 Championship</td></tr></tbody></table>

Results

FIFA U-20 World Cup

Ed.	Year	Hosts	Final	Third place game	Num. teams
Champions	Score	Runners-up	Third place	Score	Fourth place
1	1977	Tunisia	Soviet Union	2–2 (a.e.t.) (9–8 p)	Mexico	Brazil	4–0	Uruguay	16
2	1979	Japan	Argentina	3–1	Soviet Union	Uruguay	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p)	Poland	16
3	1981	Australia	West Germany	4–0	Qatar	Romania	1–0	England	16
4	1983	Mexico	Brazil	1–0	Argentina	Poland	2–1 (a.e.t.)	South Korea	16
5	1985	Soviet Union	Brazil	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Spain	Nigeria	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p)	Soviet Union	16
6	1987	Chile	Yugoslavia	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	West Germany	East Germany	1–1 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p)	Chile	16
7	1989	Saudi Arabia	Portugal	2–0	Nigeria	Brazil	2–0	United States	16
8	1991	Portugal	Portugal	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–2 p)	Brazil	Soviet Union	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p)	Australia	16
9	1993	Australia	Brazil	2–1	Ghana	England	2–1	Australia	16
10	1995	Qatar	Argentina	2–0	Brazil	Portugal	3–2	Spain	16
11	1997	Malaysia	Argentina	2–1	Uruguay	Republic of Ireland	2–1	Ghana	24
12	1999	Nigeria	Spain	4–0	Japan	Mali	1–0	Uruguay	24
13	2001	Argentina	Argentina	3–0	Ghana	Egypt	1–0	Paraguay	24
14	2003	United Arab Emirates	Brazil	1–0	Spain	Colombia	2–1	Argentina	24
15	2005	Netherlands	Argentina	2–1	Nigeria	Brazil	2–1	Morocco	24
16	2007	Canada	Argentina	2–1	Czech Republic	Chile	1–0	Austria	24
17	2009	Egypt	Ghana	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Brazil	Hungary	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–0 p)	Costa Rica	24
18	2011	Colombia	Brazil	3–2 (a.e.t.)	Portugal	Mexico	3–1	France	24
19	2013	Turkey	France	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–1 p)	Uruguay	Ghana	3–0	Iraq	24
20	2015	New Zealand	Serbia	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Brazil	Mali	3–1	Senegal	24
21	2017	South Korea	England	1–0	Venezuela	Italy	0–0 (a.e.t.) (4–1 p)	Uruguay	24
22	2019	Poland	Ukraine	3–1	South Korea	Ecuador	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Italy	24
23	2023	Argentina	Uruguay	1–0	Italy	Israel	3–1	South Korea	24
24	2025	Chile	Morocco	2–0	Argentina	Colombia	1–0	France	24
25	2027	Azerbaijan Uzbekistan							24

Teams reaching the top four

FIFA U-20 World Cup

Team	Title(s)	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place
Argentina	6 (1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2007)	2 (1983, 2025)		1 (2003)
Brazil	5 (1983, 1985, 1993, 2003, 2011)	4 (1991, 1995, 2009, 2015)	3 (1977, 1989, 2005)
Portugal	2 (1989, 1991)	1 (2011)	1 (1995)
Serbia1	2 (1987, 2015)
Uruguay	1 (2023)	2 (1997, 2013)	1 (1979)	3 (1977, 1999, 2017)
Ghana	1 (2009)	2 (1993, 2001)	1 (2013)	1 (1997)
Spain	1 (1999)	2 (1985, 2003)		1 (1995)
Soviet Union2	1 (1977)	1 (1979)	1 (1991)	1 (1985)
West Germany3	1 (1981)	1 (1987)
England	1 (2017)		1 (1993)	1 (1981)
France	1 (2013)			2 (2011, 2025)
Morocco	1 (2025)			1 (2005)
Ukraine	1 (2019)
Nigeria		2 (1989, 2005)	1 (1985)
Italy		1 (2023)	1 (2017)	1 (2019)
Mexico		1 (1977)	1 (2011)
South Korea		1 (2019)		2 (1983, 2023)
Qatar		1 (1981)
Japan		1 (1999)
Czech Republic		1 (2007)
Venezuela		1 (2017)
Mali			2 (1999, 2015)
Colombia			2 (2003, 2025)
Poland			1 (1983)	1 (1979)
Chile			1 (2007)	1 (1987)
Romania			1 (1981)
East Germany			1 (1987)
Republic of Ireland			1 (1997)
Egypt			1 (2001)
Hungary			1 (2009)
Ecuador			1 (2019)
Israel			1 (2023)
Australia				2 (1991, 1993)
United States				1 (1989)
Paraguay				1 (2001)
Austria				1 (2007)
Costa Rica				1 (2009)
Iraq				1 (2013)
Senegal				1 (2015)

1 = includes results representing Yugoslavia 2 = Russia inherited the records and history of the Soviet Union national football teams after the dissolution of the Soviet Union 3 = Germany inherited the records and history of the West Germany national football teams after the reunification of Germany

Performances by continental zones

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 the CAF (Africa) with two titles. Teams reprensenting the AFC (Asia) have made the final three times, but were defeated by strong UEFA teams. Mexico is the only team from CONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean) which has made the final. Mexico lost to the Soviet Union in the final of the inaugural tournament in 1977, which is also their only appearance in a final. No current OFC member has ever made the semi-finals; Australia reached the last four as an OFC member in 1991 and 1993, finishing fourth on both occasions, before the country joined the AFC in 2006.

Confederation (continent)	Performances
Winners	Runners-up	Third place	Fourth place
CONMEBOL (South America)	12 titles: Argentina (6), Brazil (5), Uruguay (1)	9 times: Brazil (4), Uruguay (2), Argentina (2), Venezuela (1)	8 times: Brazil (3), Colombia (2), Uruguay (1), Chile (1), Ecuador (1)	6 times: Uruguay (3), Chile (1), Paraguay (1), Argentina (1)
UEFA (Europe)	10 titles: Portugal (2), Serbia1 (2), Soviet Union (1), West Germany (1), Spain (1), France (1), England (1), Ukraine (1)	7 times: Spain (2), Soviet Union (1), West Germany (1), Czech Republic (1), Portugal (1), Italy (1)	10 times: Romania (1), Poland (1), East Germany (1), Soviet Union (1), England (1), Portugal (1), Republic of Ireland (1), Hungary (1), Italy (1), Israel (1)	8 times: France (2), Poland (1), England (1), Soviet Union (1), Spain (1), Austria (1), Italy (1)
CAF (Africa)	2 titles: Ghana (1), Morocco (1)	4 times: Ghana (2), Nigeria (2)	5 times: Mali (2), Nigeria (1), Egypt (1), Ghana (1)	3 times: Ghana (1), Morocco (1), Senegal (1)
AFC (Asia)	None	3 times: Qatar (1), Japan (1), South Korea (1)	None	3 times: South Korea (2), Iraq (1)
CONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean)	None	1 time: Mexico (1)	1 time: Mexico (1)	2 times: United States (1), Costa Rica (1)
OFC (Oceania)	None	None	None	2 times: Australia2 (2)

1 = won one title as Yugoslavia (1987) 2 = as a member of the OFC (became a member of the AFC since 2006)

Awards

FIFA U-20 World Cup

• 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.

<table><thead><tr><th>Tournament</th><th>Golden Ball</th><th>Golden Boot</th><th>Goals</th><th>Golden Glove</th><th>FIFA Fair Play Trophy</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1977 Tunisia</td><td>Vladimir Bessonov</td><td>Guina</td><td>4</td><td>Not awarded</td><td> Brazil</td></tr><tr><td>1979 Japan</td><td>Diego Maradona</td><td>Ramón Díaz</td><td>8</td><td> Poland</td></tr><tr><td>1981 Australia</td><td>Romulus Gabor</td><td>Mark Koussas</td><td>4</td><td> Australia</td></tr><tr><td>1983 Mexico</td><td>Geovani</td><td>Geovani</td><td>6</td><td> South Korea</td></tr><tr><td>1985 Soviet Union</td><td>Paulo Silas</td><td>Sebastián Losada</td><td>3</td><td> Colombia</td></tr><tr><td>1987 Chile</td><td>Robert Prosinečki</td><td>Marcel Witeczek</td><td>7</td><td> West Germany</td></tr><tr><td>1989 Saudi Arabia</td><td>Bismarck</td><td>Oleg Salenko</td><td>5</td><td> United States</td></tr><tr><td>1991 Portugal</td><td>Emílio Peixe</td><td>Sergei Sherbakov</td><td>5</td><td> Soviet Union</td></tr><tr><td>1993 Australia</td><td>Adriano</td><td>Henry Zambrano</td><td>3</td><td> England</td></tr><tr><td>1995 Qatar</td><td>Caio</td><td>Joseba Etxeberria</td><td>7</td><td> Japan</td></tr><tr><td>1997 Malaysia</td><td>Nicolás Olivera</td><td>Adaílton</td><td>10</td><td> Argentina</td></tr><tr><td>1999 Nigeria</td><td>Seydou Keita</td><td>Pablo Couñago</td><td>5</td><td> Croatia</td></tr><tr><td>2001 Argentina</td><td>Javier Saviola</td><td>Javier Saviola</td><td>11</td><td> Argentina</td></tr><tr><td>2003 United Arab Emirates</td><td>Ismail Matar</td><td>Eddie Johnson</td><td>4</td><td> Colombia</td></tr><tr><td>2005 Netherlands</td><td>Lionel Messi</td><td>Lionel Messi</td><td>6</td><td> Colombia</td></tr><tr><td>2007 Canada</td><td>Sergio Agüero</td><td>Sergio Agüero</td><td>6</td><td> Japan</td></tr><tr><td>2009 Egypt</td><td>Dominic Adiyiah</td><td>Dominic Adiyiah</td><td>8</td><td>Esteban Alvarado</td><td> Brazil</td></tr><tr><td>2011 Colombia</td><td>Henrique Almeida</td><td>Henrique Almeida</td><td>5</td><td>Mika</td><td> Nigeria</td></tr><tr><td>2013 Turkey</td><td>Paul Pogba</td><td>Ebenezer Assifuah</td><td>6</td><td>Guillermo de Amores</td><td> Spain</td></tr><tr><td>2015 New Zealand</td><td>Adama Traoré</td><td>Viktor Kovalenko</td><td>5</td><td>Predrag Rajković</td><td> Ukraine</td></tr><tr><td>2017 South Korea</td><td>Dominic Solanke</td><td>Riccardo Orsolini</td><td>5</td><td>Freddie Woodman</td><td> Mexico</td></tr><tr><td>2019 Poland</td><td>Lee Kang-in</td><td>Erling Haaland</td><td>9</td><td>Andriy Lunin</td><td> Japan</td></tr><tr><td>2023 Argentina</td><td>Cesare Casadei</td><td>Cesare Casadei</td><td>7</td><td>Sebastiano Desplanches</td><td> United States</td></tr><tr><td>2025 Chile</td><td>Othmane Maamma</td><td>Benjamin Cremaschi</td><td>5</td><td>Santino Barbi</td><td> United States</td></tr><tr><td>2027 Azerbaijan & Uzbekistan</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>