FIFA U-20 World Cup facts for kids
The trophy awarded since 2013
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| Organising body | FIFA |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1977 |
| Region | Worldwide |
| Number of teams | 24 (finals) |
| Related competitions | FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup FIFA World Cup FIFA U-17 World Cup |
| Current champions |  Uruguay (1st title) |
| Most successful team(s) |  Argentina (6 titles) |
The FIFA U-20 World Cup is a big international football tournament. It's for national teams of young men under 20 years old. FIFA organizes this championship every two years.
The tournament started in 1977 in Tunisia. Back then, it was called the FIFA World Youth Championship. In 2007, its name changed to the FIFA U-20 World Cup. FIFA calls it "the tournament of tomorrow's superstars." Many famous players have played in it. These include Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, and Paul Pogba. They even won awards for being the best players. Erling Haaland was the top scorer in 2019. The team that won most recently is Uruguay. They won their first title in 2023 in Argentina.
Contents
History of the Tournament
This tournament has been held 23 times so far. Twelve different countries have won the championship. Argentina U20 is the most successful team. They have won six titles. Brazil U20 is second with five titles.
Other teams have also won the cup. Portugal U20 and Serbia U20 each have two titles. Serbia won one of these as Yugoslavia. Teams like Ghana U20 and England U20 have won once. Ukraine U20 and Uruguay U20 also have one title each.
There is also a similar tournament for women's teams. It's called the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. It started in 2002 for players under 19. In 2006, the age limit changed to 20. The tournament name also changed to "World Cup" in 2007. The next women's tournament is planned for 2025 in Chile.
How Teams Qualify
A total of 24 national teams play in the final tournament. One spot is always for the host country. The other 23 teams must earn their place. They do this by playing in youth championships. These championships are held by the six football confederations around the world.
| Confederation | Championship |
|---|---|
| AFC (Asia) | AFC U-20 Asian Cup |
| CAF (Africa) | U-20 Africa Cup of Nations |
| CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) | CONCACAF Under-20 Championship |
| CONMEBOL (South America) | CONMEBOL Sub 20 |
| UEFA (Europe) | UEFA European Under-19 Championship |
| OFC (Oceania) | OFC U-19 Men's Championship |
Tournament Results
Here are some of the past winners and finalists of the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
- 1977–2005: "FIFA World Youth Championship"
- 2007–present: "FIFA U-20 World Cup"
- a.e.t.: after extra time (extra playing time)
- p: match won on penalties (a tie-breaker)
| Ed. | Year | Host | Final Match | Third Place Match | N° teams |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Champions |
Score |  Runners-up |
 Third place |
Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 1 | 1977 |  Tunisia |
 Soviet Union |
2–2 (aet) (9–8 p) |
 Mexico |
 Brazil |
4–0 |  Uruguay |
16 |
| 2 | 1979 |  Japan |
 Argentina |
3–1 | Soviet Union |
Uruguay |
1–1 (aet) (5–3 p) |
 Poland |
16 |
| 13 | 2001 |  Argentina |
Argentina |
3–0 |  Ghana |
 Egypt |
1–0 |  Paraguay |
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 |
| 21 | 2017 |  South Korea |
 England |
1–0 |  Venezuela |
 Italy |
0–0 (aet) (4–1 p) |
Uruguay |
24 |
| 22 | 2019 |  Poland |
 Ukraine |
3–1 |  South Korea |
 Ecuador |
1–0 (aet) | Italy |
24 |
| 23 | 2023 | Argentina |
Uruguay |
1–0 | Italy |
 Israel |
3–1 | South Korea |
24 |
| 24 | 2025 |  Chile |
24 | ||||||
Top Teams in the Tournament
This table shows which teams have done best in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. It lists how many times they have won, been runners-up, or finished third or fourth.
| Team | Titles | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina |
6 (1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2007) | 1 (1983) | 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) | |
 Russia2 |
1 (1977) | 1 (1979) | 1 (1991) | 1 (1985) |
 Germany3 |
1 (1981) | 1 (1987) | ||
 England |
1 (2017) | 1 (1993) | 1 (1981) | |
 France |
1 (2013) | 1 (2011) | ||
 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) | |||
 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) | |||
 Colombia |
1 (2003) | |||
 Hungary |
1 (2009) | |||
 Ecuador |
1 (2019) | |||
 Israel |
1 (2023) | |||
 Australia |
2 (1991, 1993) | |||
 United States |
1 (1989) | |||
 Paraguay |
1 (2001) | |||
 Morocco |
1 (2005) | |||
 Austria |
1 (2007) | |||
 Costa Rica |
1 (2009) | |||
 Iraq |
1 (2013) | |||
 Senegal |
1 (2015) |
-
1 = includes results representing Yugoslavia
-
2 = includes results representing USSR
-
3 = includes results representing West Germany
How Continents Have Performed
Teams from all continents except Oceania have reached the final match. South American teams (CONMEBOL) have won the most titles, with twelve wins. European teams (UEFA) are next with ten titles. African teams (CAF) have won one title.
Teams from Asia (AFC) and North/Central America (CONCACAF) have reached the final four times. However, they were defeated by strong European teams. No team from Oceania (OFC) has ever reached the semifinals. Australia reached the semifinals twice when it was part of OFC. It finished fourth both times before joining the AFC in 2006.
| Confederation (continent) | Performances | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winners | Runners-up | Third | Fourth | |
| CONMEBOL (South America) | 12 titles: Argentina (6), Brazil (5), Uruguay (1) | 8 times: Brazil (4), Uruguay (2), Argentina (1), Venezuela (1) | 7 times: Brazil (3), Chile (1), Colombia (1), Ecuador (1), Uruguay (1) | 6 times: Uruguay (3), Argentina (1), Chile (1), Paraguay (1) |
| UEFA (Europe) | 10 titles: Portugal (2), Serbia1 (2), England (1), France (1), West Germany (1), Spain (1), Ukraine (1), USSR (1) | 7 times: Spain (2), Czech Republic (1), West Germany (1), Italy (1), Portugal (1), USSR (1) | 10 times: England (1), East Germany (1), Hungary (1), Rep. of Ireland (1), Israel (1), Italy (1), Poland (1), Portugal (1), Romania (1), USSR (1) | 7 times: Austria (1), England (1), France (1), Italy (1), Poland (1), Spain (1), USSR (1) |
| CAF (Africa) | 1 title: Ghana (1) | 4 times: Ghana (2), Nigeria (2) | 5 times: Mali (2), Egypt (1), Ghana (1), Nigeria (1) | 3 times: Ghana (1), Morocco (1), Senegal (1) |
| AFC (Asia) | None | 3 times: Japan (1), Qatar (1), South Korea (1) | None | 3 times: South Korea (2), Iraq (1) |
| CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) | None | 1 time: Mexico (1) | 1 time: Mexico (1) | 2 times: Costa Rica (1), United States (1) |
| OFC (Oceania) | None | None | None | 2 times: Australia2 (2) |
Awards for Players and Teams
Several special awards are given out at the end of each tournament:
- The Golden Ball goes to the best player in the whole tournament.
- The Golden Boot is for the player who scores the most goals.
- The Golden Glove is given to the best goalkeeper.
- The FIFA Fair Play Trophy is awarded to the team that shows the best sportsmanship.
| Tournament | Golden Ball | Golden Boot | Goals | Golden Glove | FIFA Fair Play Trophy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1977 Tunisia |
 Vladimir Bessonov |
 Guina |
4 | Not Awarded | Brazil |
| 1979 Japan |
Diego Maradona |
Ramón Díaz |
8 |  Poland |
|
| 2001 Argentina |
Javier Saviola |
Javier Saviola |
11 | Argentina |
|
 2005 Netherlands |
Lionel Messi |
Lionel Messi |
6 | Colombia |
|
 2007 Canada |
Sergio Agüero |
Sergio Agüero |
6 | Japan |
|
| 2009 Egypt |
Dominic Adiyiah |
Dominic Adiyiah |
8 | Esteban Alvarado |
Brazil |
| 2011 Colombia |
Henrique Almeida |
Henrique Almeida |
5 | Mika |
Nigeria |
 2013 Turkey |
Paul Pogba |
Ebenezer Assifuah |
6 | Guillermo de Amores |
Spain |
 2015 New Zealand |
Adama Traoré |
Viktor Kovalenko |
5 | Predrag Rajković |
Ukraine |
| 2017 South Korea |
Dominic Solanke |
Riccardo Orsolini |
5 | Freddie Woodman |
Mexico |
| 2019 Poland |
Lee Kang-in |
 Erling Haaland |
9 | Andriy Lunin |
Japan |
| 2023 Argentina |
Cesare Casadei |
Cesare Casadei |
7 | Sebastiano Desplanches |
United States |
| 2025 Chile |
See also
In Spanish: Copa Mundial de Fútbol Sub-20 para niños
- FIFA World Cup
- FIFA U-17 World Cup
- FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup
