The 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 24th 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. It was held in Chile from 27 September to 19 October 2025.
Reigning champions Uruguay could not defend their title as they finished fifth in the 2025 South American U-20 Championship. In doing so, they became the eighth consecutive title holders to fail to qualify for the subsequent tournament.
Morocco defeated Argentina to win their first FIFA tournament title. This was the fourth consecutive U-20 World Cup to produce a new winning team, dating back to 2017.
Host selection Chile were announced as the 2025 U-20 World Cup hosts following the FIFA Council meeting on 17 December 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is believed the decision was made as a compensation for Chile losing hosting rights for the 2030 FIFA World Cup to Morocco, Portugal and Spain, as Chile was the only nation in the four-nation bid of Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay not included in the eventual outcome for the opening matches.
This was the second time that Chile hosted the tournament, after doing so in 1987. Only Australia (1981, 1993) and Argentina (2001, 2023) had also hosted the tournament multiple times.
Venues On 18 December 2023, Pablo Milad, president of the Football Federation of Chile, revealed a preliminary list with 12 stadia in 10 cities. Milad also announced that between four and six stadia would be chosen by FIFA for the final tournament.
On 26 May 2025, four Central cities of Santiago, Rancagua, Valparaíso and Talca were announced chosen to host the competition.
SantiagoEstadio Nacional Julio Martínez PrádanosCapacity: 46,190 ValparaísoEstadio Elías Figueroa BranderCapacity: 20,575 TalcaEstadio FiscalCapacity: 16,070 RancaguaEstadio El TenienteCapacity: 12,476
Teams Qualification
A total of 24 teams qualified for the final tournament. In addition to Chile, who qualified automatically as the hosts, 23 other teams qualified through six separate continental competitions. The slot allocation remained unchanged from the previous editions and was confirmed by the FIFA Council on the same day the host country was announced.
AFC (Asia): 4 CAF (Africa): 4 CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean): 4 CONMEBOL (South America): 5 (including the hosts Chile) OFC (Oceania): 2 UEFA (Europe): 5
New Caledonia made their debut in the tournament. Of the returnees, Morocco made a return after last qualifying in 2005. Australia, Chile, Cuba, Egypt, Paraguay and Spain made a return after last qualifying in 2013. Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Panama, Norway, South Africa and Ukraine made a return from 2019.
Reigning champions Uruguay failed to qualify for the first time since 2005, while Honduras and Senegal failed to qualify after appearing in the previous four consecutive editions. Israel failed to qualify after finishing third in 2023. Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, Fiji, the Gambia, Guatemala, Iraq, Slovakia, Tunisia, and Uzbekistan failed to qualify after appearing in 2023. Qualifying tournamentTeamQualification dateAppearance(s)Previous best performance2025 AFC U-20 22 February 202516th198120131 (1991, 1993)10th198520191 (2011, 2017)23 February 202512th197920234 (1999)17th197920234 (2019)2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations12 May 20259th198120131 (2001)4th197720051 (2005)14th198320233 (1989, 2005)5th199720191 (2009)2024 CONCACAF U-20 Championship30 July 20247th200320191 (2019)18th198120236 (1989)31 July 20242nd20131 (2013)17th197720191 (1977)Host nation17 December 20237th198720131 (2007) 10 February 202518th197920235 (six times)20th197720232 (five times)13 February 202512th198520233 (2003)10th197720131 (2001)2024 OFC U-19 Men's Championship15 July 20241stDebut8th200720237 18 July 20249th197720234 (2023)19 July 20249th197720234 (2013)21 July 20245th200120191 (2019)22 July 202416th197720131 (1999)25 July 20244th198920191 (1989, 1993, 2019) Notes
Squads
Players born between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2009 (inclusive) were eligible to compete in the tournament.
Draw The draw took place at Chilevisión's Machasa studios in Santiago on 29 May 2025.
The 24 teams were organised into four pots of six teams based on a performance ranking system, in order to be subsequently drawn into six groups of four teams. The hosts Chile were automatically seeded to Pot 1 and assigned into the first position of Group A, while the remaining teams were seeded into pots based on their results in the last five FIFA U-20 World Cups (with more recent tournaments weighted more heavily), and with five bonus points added to each of the six continental champions from the qualifying tournaments, as follows:
PotTeamConfederation20132015201720192023TotalpointsPoints(20%)Points(40%)Points(60%)Points(80%)Points(100%)1 (H)CONMEBOLHost nation, automatically assigned to Pot 1UEFA6.610.415 32CONCACAF0.244.87.21228.2AFC1.23.610.41126.2CONMEBOL5.69+519.6CONMEBOL1.61.65.610 18.82OFC01.62.45.64+518.6UEFA2.85.47.23 18.4UEFA3.215.218.4CONMEBOL0.81.85.6917.6CAF1.22.43.2915.8CONCACAF0.61.24.20+5113AFC2.443 9.4UEFA2.4+57.4CAF0.60.8+5 6.4AFC0.2+55.2CONCACAF0.43.2 3.6UEFA2.42.44AFC2.40 2.4CONMEBOL1 1CAF0.60.6CONCACAF00CAF0OFC0
Match officials On 23 July 2025, FIFA announced a total of 54 match officials (18 referee and 36 assistant referees) from 22 member associations appointed for the tournament. Football video support (FVS), a simplified alternative to the video assistant referee (VAR), is implemented for the first time at the U-20 World Cup following its success at the 2024 FIFA U-20 and U-17 Women's World Cups.
ConfederationRefereesAssistant refereesAFC Khalid Al-Turais Mohammed Al-Bakry Abdulrahim Al-Shammari Nazmi Nasaruddin Zairul Khalil Tan Mohamad Muazi Zainal Abidin Ahmed Al-Kaf Abu Bakr Al-Amri Rashid Al-GhaitiCAF Youcef Gamouh Khalil Hassani Eric Ayimavo Jalal Jayed Lahsan Azgaou Mostafa Akarkad Omar Artan Gilbert Cheruiyot Abelmiro MontenegroCONCACAF Joe Dickerson Cameron Blanchard Logan Brown Katia Itzel García Sandra Ramírez Karen Díaz Keylor Herrera William Chow Víctor RamírezCONMEBOL Augusto Aragón Edison Vásquez Danny Ávila Darío Herrera Cristian Navarro José Savorani Andrés Rojas Alexander Guzmán John León Kevin Ortega Michael Orué Jesús Sánchez Gustavo Tejera Carlos Barreiro Agustín BerissoUEFA Maurizio Mariani Daniele Bindoni Alberto Tegoni Irfan Peljto Senad Ibrisimbegovic Davor Beljo João Pinheiro Bruno Jesus Luciano Maia José María Sánchez Martínez Raúl Cabañero Íñigo López de Cerain Sandro Schärer Stéphane De Almeida Jonas Erni
Group stage The top two teams of each group and the four best third-placed teams advanced to the round of 16.
All times are local, Chile Summer Time (UTC–3).
Tiebreakers The rankings of teams in each group were determined as follows (regulations Article 13.1):
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Ranking of third-placed teams The four best third-placed teams from the six groups advanced to the knockout stage along with the six group winners and six runners-up.
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 the score was still tied after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
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:
Third-placed teamsqualified from groups 1Avs 1Bvs 1Cvs 1Dvs A B C D 3C 3D 3A 3B A B C E 3C 3A 3B 3E A B C F 3C 3A 3B 3F A B D E 3D 3A 3B 3E A B D F 3D 3A 3B 3F A B E F 3E 3A 3B 3F A C D E 3C 3D 3A 3E A C D F 3C 3D 3A 3F A C E F 3C 3A 3F 3E A D E F 3D 3A 3F 3E B C D E 3C 3D 3B 3E B C D F 3C 3D 3B 3F B C E F 3E 3C 3B 3F B D E F 3E 3D 3B 3F C D E F 3C 3D 3F 3E Bracket
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Third place play-off
Final
Awards The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament. They were all sponsored by Adidas, except for the FIFA Fair Play Trophy. Golden BallSilver BallBronze Ball Othmane Maamma Yassir Zabiri Milton DelgadoGolden BootSilver BootBronze Boot Benjamin Cremaschi(5 goals, 2 assists) Néiser Villarreal(5 goals, 1 assist) Lucas Michal(5 goals, 0 assists,511 minutes played)Golden GloveFIFA Fair Play Trophy
Goalscorers
Marketing Emblem The Emblem was revealed on 5 February 2025. It drew inspiration from Chile's unique geography and heritage. The design prominently featured elements such as the Andes Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the vibrant colors of Chilean culture, reflecting the nation's deep love for football. The emblem was expected to resonate with both local fans and the global football community.
Theme song One day before the tournament began, FIFA revealed the official song titled "El Alma en la Cancha (Olé Olé Olé)" (Spanish for "The Soul on the Pitch") sung by Shirel and produced by Taffy Dönicke.
Mascot The mascot was revealed on 22 May 2025. His name was Vito, a viscacha characteristic of the region. Considered sociable, charming, and energetic, this animal resembled a rabbit or chinchilla.
See also 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup 2025 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup
References
External links
Regulations (Archive 1, , Archive 3)
Attendance of all matches