The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The official match ball used in the tournament was Adidas Oceaunz.
The tournament was held in Argentina, who had previously hosted in 2001. Indonesia had originally been set to host the competition, having been hosts of the cancelled 2021 edition, but their hosting rights were stripped on 29 March 2023 due to their refusal to host Israel.
Reigning champions Ukraine could not defend their title as they failed to qualify. Hosts Argentina were knocked out in the round of 16 after three wins in the group stage following a two-nil loss to Nigeria. The final was held on 11 June 2023, and Uruguay defeated Italy to become champions for the first time. It was the country's first world title since the men's senior in the 1950 FIFA World Cup.
Five bids to host the original 2021 tournament were submitted in 2019,[3] and Indonesia was announced as the winning bidder on 24 October 2019.[4] In December 2020, the 2021 event was postponed until 2023, with Indonesia remaining as host.[5]
However, Indonesia was stripped of hosting rights on 29 March 2023 due to its refusal to bring the Israel U-20 national team in.[6] Peru, Argentina and Qatar confirmed their interest in hosting the tournament.[7] On 30 March, Argentina became the only country to submit an official bid.[8][9]
On 17 April 2023, at a press conference jointly held by economy minister Sergio Massa, tourism and sports minister Matías Lammens, and the president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Claudio Tapia, it was announced that Argentina would host the tournament,[10] followed shortly after by a statement from FIFA confirming Argentina as the new hosts.[11] Argentina will thus become the second nation to host the U-20 World Cup twice (having previously hosted it in 2001). Australia is the other nation that had hosted it twice (1981 and 1993).[citation needed]
Qualified teams
A total of 24 teams qualified for the final tournament. Teams qualified from six continental competitions.
The Dominican Republic and Israel made their debut in the competition; this was the Dominican Republic's first-ever qualification for a FIFA tournament. Having qualified for the 1970 FIFA World Cup via the Asian qualification, this was the first FIFA tournament for which Israel qualified as a European representative.
Argentina qualified for the tournament as the host country in place of Indonesia, even though they originally had failed to qualify through the 2023 South American U-20 Championship. Indonesia had also failed to qualify for the competition and lost its automatic spot in the WC when the tournament was moved to Argentina.
The draw took place at 16:00 CEST (11:00 ART host time) on 21 April 2023 at FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland.[12] The twenty-four teams were drawn into six groups of four teams, with the hosts, Argentina, automatically seeded to Pot 1 and placed into the first position of Group A, while the remaining teams were seeded into their respective pots based on their results in the last five FIFA U-20 World Cups (more recent tournaments weighted more heavily) as follows:[13][14][15]
The draw started with teams from pot one being drawn first and placed in the first position of their groups (hosts Argentina automatically assigned to A1). Then were drawn the teams from pot 2, followed by pot 3 and pot 4, with each team also drawn to one of the positions within their group, No group could contain more than one team from each confederation.[16] The ceremony was presented by Samantha Johnson and conducted by FIFA Director of Tournaments Jaime Yarza, with the former footballers Juan Pablo Sorín, from Argentina, and David Trezeguet, from France, acting as draw assistants.[17]
Players born between 1 January 2003 and 31 December 2007 (inclusive) were eligible to compete in the tournament.
Each team had to name a preliminary squad of between 22 and 50 players. From the preliminary squad, the team had to name a final squad of 21 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) by the FIFA deadline. Players in the final squad could be replaced by a player from the preliminary squad due to serious injury or illness up to 24 hours prior to kickoff of the team's first match.[21]
Group stage
The top two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams advanced to the round of 16.
Source: FIFA Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Fair play points; 5) Drawing of lots.
In the next stage, the four third-placed teams were matched with the winners of groups A, B, C, and D according to the tournament regulations.
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of 90 minutes of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each). If still tied after extra time, the match would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.[21]
In the round of 16, the four third-placed teams were matched with the winners of groups A, B, C, and D. The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depended on which four third-placed teams qualified for the round of 16:[21]
As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.
In early May 2023, FIFA announced that the official song of the tournament would be "Glorious", performed by the Indonesian EDM group Weird Genius and featuring three other Indonesian stars: Lyodra Ginting, Tiara Andini and Ziva Magnolya.[23]
Broadcasting rights
Live stream is available on FIFA+, while in Indonesia, available on Moji and Vidio, including replays.[24]
By finishing second in the 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, Israel qualified to the U-20 World Cup for the first time in history. However, Israel's participation is subject to political controversy due to Indonesia having the world's largest Muslim population and the two countries having no formal relations owing to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[27] Given this, Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports Zainudin Amali stated that FIFA required any country qualified for the U-20 World Cup shall play, and that the local security officers will provide security for the Israeli team.[28]
Despite attempts to confirm Israel's participation, Israel's involvement led to Indonesia coming under scrutiny by various pro-Palestinian organisations.[29] Various Islamist organisations in Indonesia have threatened Israeli players, stating that the Israeli team is not welcome in Indonesia.[citation needed][30] Meanwhile Nahdlatul Ulama figures such as its leader, Yahya Cholil Staquf and Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas voiced support for Israel's participation.[31] However, one of the six regional heads[note 1] who had signed the original agreement on willingness to be the host for the world cup,[32] Governor of Bali, I Wayan Koster as well as non-signatory Governor of Central Java (where Solo is located), Ganjar Pranowo, both members of the ruling party PDIP, stated their objection of hosting the Israeli team, citing 'anti-colonial' stances of Sukarno rather than religious ones.[33]
The Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Zuhair Al-Shun said that his country has no objections to Indonesia's hosting of the tournament, despite Israel's qualification.[34]
On 28 March 2023, Indonesian PresidentJoko Widodo, in a break with his party, voiced his own support to Israeli participation, and implored his people to not mix politics and sport.[35][36] The Mayor of Solo, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Joko Widodo's son, expressed disappointment with the governor's decision and willingness to hold match draw in Solo,[37] and Bandung.[38] A last minute effort was made to rescue Indonesia's role as host while still acknowledging the country's concerns, but on 29 March, FIFA officially stripped Indonesia as host for the tournament, stating "current circumstances" as the reasoning without specifying the details.[6]
Uruguay (1st title)
Italy
Israel
South Korea
United States[2]
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