The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd 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 tournament was hosted by Poland between 23 May and 15 June 2019.[3][1] This was the first FIFA tournament hosted by Poland; the country had hosted UEFA international football events in the past including the UEFA Euro 2012 with Ukraine and the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
England won the previous tournament in South Korea, but did not qualify for the tournament after finishing sixth at the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Finland. In doing so, they became the sixth consecutive incumbent title holders to fail to qualify for the subsequent tournament. The official match ball used in the tournament was Adidas Conext19.
In the group stages, Norway's 12-0 win against Honduras was the biggest winning margin in the main stages of any major men's FIFA tournament, while Erling Haaland's nine goals in the same match made him the only player to score a triple hat-trick at any significant intercontinental tournament for national teams for any gender.[4]
Host selection
The bidding process to host the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was launched by FIFA in June 2017.[5] A member association may bid for both tournaments, but they would be awarded to different hosts.[6]
Candidate countries
Two countries submitted formal bids to host the tournament.
FIFA announced Poland as the hosts after the FIFA Council meeting on 16 March 2018 in Bogotá, Colombia.[3] Poland won the bid over India in a 9–5 vote.
Qualified teams
A total of 24 teams qualified for the final tournament. In addition to Poland, who qualified automatically as hosts, 23 other teams qualified from six separate continental competitions. The slot allocation was approved by the FIFA Council on 10 June 2018.[9] All 24 teams qualified had played in the tournament prior to this edition, making this the first U-20 World Cup in which none of the teams that earned a spot were making their debut.
The emblem was unveiled on 14 December 2018. The emblem features a crocus, a flower that blooms every spring in Poland combined with the colors of the Polish flag, symbolising the new faces that will emerge to shape the tournament's trophy.[10]
Grzywek, the official mascot was unveiled on 23 February 2019 one day before the final draw. Grzywek is inspired by a Polish bison distinctive name comes from the Polish word for "mane" – the long and coarse hair that adorns the neck of this striking animal – and also symbolises the country's pride at hosting its first ever FIFA competition.[11]
Draw and schedule
The match schedule was unveiled on 14 December 2018, the same day as the official emblem.[10]
The final draw was held on 24 February 2019, 17:30 CET (UTC+1), at the Gdynia Sports Arena in Gdynia.[12][13] The 24 teams were drawn into six groups of four teams. The hosts Poland were automatically seeded into Pot 1 and assigned to position A1, 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), and with five bonus points added to each of the 6 continental champions from the qualifying tournaments, as follows:[14]
Teams from Pot 1 were drawn first, followed by Pot 2, Pot 3, and finally Pot 4, with each team (apart from Poland) also drawn to one of the positions within their group. No group could contain more than one team from each confederation.[14]
Players born on or after 1 January 1999 and on or before 31 December 2003 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.[18]
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.
Knockout stage
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of 90 minutes of normal playing time, extra time would be played (two periods of 15 minutes each), where each team was allowed to make a fourth substitution. If still tied after extra time, the match would be decided by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.[18]
In the round of 16, the four third-placed teams would be 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:[18]
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