The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players up to 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 Morocco, which won their first title at the 2025 tournament in Chile.

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), 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 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.

ConfederationChampionshipAFC (Asia)AFC U-20 Asian CupCAF (Africa)U-20 Africa Cup of NationsCONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean)CONCACAF Under-20 ChampionshipCONMEBOL (South America)CONMEBOL Sub 20OFC (Oceania)OFC U-19 Men's ChampionshipUEFA (Europe)UEFA European Under-19 Championship

Results

YearHostsFinalThird place game ChampionsScore Runners-up Third placeScoreFourth place11977 2–2 4–01621979 3–11–1 1631981 4–01–01641983 1–02–1 1651985 1–0 0–0 1661987 1–1 1–1 1671989 2–02–01681991 0–0 1–1 1691993 2–12–116101995 2–03–2 16111997 2–12–124121999 4–01–024132001 3–01–024142003 1–02–124152005 2–12–124162007 2–11–0241720090–0 1–1 241820113–2 3–1241920130–0 3–0242020152–1 3–1242120171–00–0 242220193–11–0 242320231–03–1242420252–01–0242520272426202924272031TBD24

Teams reaching the top four TeamTitle(s)Runners-upThird placeFourth place6 (1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2007)2 (1983, 2025)1 (2003)5 (1983, 1985, 1993, 2003, 2011)4 (1991, 1995, 2009, 2015)3 (1977, 1989, 2005)2 (1989, 1991)1 (2011)1 (1995)12 (1987, 2015)1 (2023)2 (1997, 2013)1 (1979)3 (1977, 1999, 2017)1 (2009)2 (1993, 2001)1 (2013)1 (1997)1 (1999)2 (1985, 2003)1 (1995)21 (1977)1 (1979)1 (1991)1 (1985)31 (1981)1 (1987)1 (2017)1 (1993)1 (1981)1 (2013)2 (2011, 2025)1 (2025)1 (2005) 1 (2019)2 (1989, 2005)1 (1985)1 (2023)1 (2017)1 (2019)1 (1977)1 (2011)1 (2019)2 (1983, 2023)1 (1981)1 (1999)1 (2007)1 (2017)2 (1999, 2015)2 (2003, 2025)1 (1983)1 (1979)1 (2007)1 (1987)1 (1981)1 (1987)1 (1997)1 (2001)1 (2009)1 (2019)1 (2023)2 (1991, 1993)1 (1989)1 (2001)1 (2007)1 (2009)1 (2013)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)PerformancesWinnersRunners-upThird placeFourth placeCONMEBOL (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)None3 times: Qatar (1), Japan (1), South Korea (1)None3 times: South Korea (2), Iraq (1)CONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean)None1 time: Mexico (1)1 time: Mexico (1)2 times: United States (1), Costa Rica (1)OFC (Oceania)NoneNoneNone2 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 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.

TournamentGolden BallGolden BootGoalsGolden GloveFIFA Fair Play Trophy 1977 Tunisia Vladimir Bessonov Guina4Not awarded 1979 Japan Diego Maradona Ramón Díaz 8 1981 Australia Romulus Gabor Mark Koussas 4 1983 Mexico Geovani Geovani6 1985 Soviet Union Paulo Silas Sebastián Losada3 1987 Chile Robert Prosinečki Marcel Witeczek7 1989 Saudi Arabia Bismarck Oleg Salenko5 1991 Portugal Emílio Peixe Sergei Sherbakov5 1993 Australia Adriano Henry Zambrano3 1995 Qatar Caio Joseba Etxeberria7 1997 Malaysia Nicolás Olivera Adaílton10 1999 Nigeria Seydou Keita Pablo Couñago5 2001 Argentina Javier Saviola Javier Saviola11 2003 United Arab Emirates Ismail Matar Eddie Johnson4 2005 Netherlands Lionel Messi Lionel Messi6 2007 Canada Sergio Agüero Sergio Agüero6 2009 Egypt Dominic Adiyiah Dominic Adiyiah8 Esteban Alvarado 2011 Colombia Henrique Almeida Henrique Almeida5 Mika 2013 Turkey Paul Pogba Ebenezer Assifuah6 Guillermo de Amores 2015 New Zealand Adama Traoré Viktor Kovalenko5 Predrag Rajković 2017 South Korea Dominic Solanke Riccardo Orsolini5 Freddie Woodman 2019 Poland Lee Kang-in Erling Haaland9 Andriy Lunin 2023 Argentina Cesare Casadei Cesare Casadei7 Sebastiano Desplanches 2025 Chile Othmane Maamma Benjamin Cremaschi5 Santino Barbi 2027 Azerbaijan & Uzbekistan

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