2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup
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. 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 fourth 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.
Ukraine won their first FIFA U-20 World Cup title after beating South Korea 3–1 in the final. They did it in their first appearance further than the round of 16, becoming the first team from the former Soviet republic to win a FIFA competition title since its dissolution in 1991. Soviet Union, whose record is now inherited by Russia, previously won the inaugural U-20 World Cup in 1977.
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. A member association may bid for both tournaments, but they would be awarded to different hosts.Candidate countries
Two countries submitted formal bids to host the tournament.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.| Confederation | Qualifying tournament | Team | Appearance | Last appearance | Previous best performance |
| AFC | 2018 AFC U-19 Championship | 4th | 2015 | ||
| AFC | 2018 AFC U-19 Championship | 10th | 2017 | ||
| AFC | 2018 AFC U-19 Championship | 15th | 2017 | ||
| AFC | 2018 AFC U-19 Championship | 9th | 2017 | ||
| CAF | 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations | 3rd | 2017 | ||
| CAF | 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations | 12th | 2015 | ||
| CAF | 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations | 4th | 2017 | ||
| CAF | 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations | 7th | 2015 | ||
| CONCACAF | 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship | 16th | 2017 | ||
| CONCACAF | 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship | 6th | 2015 | ||
| CONCACAF | 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship | 16th | 2017 | ||
| CONCACAF | 2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship | 8th | 2017 | ||
| CONMEBOL | 2019 South American U-20 Championship | 16th | 2017 | ||
| CONMEBOL | 2019 South American U-20 Championship | 15th | 2017 | ||
| CONMEBOL | 2019 South American U-20 Championship | 4th | 2017 | ||
| CONMEBOL | 2019 South American U-20 Championship | 10th | 2015 | ||
| OFC | 2018 OFC U-19 Championship | 6th | 2017 | ||
| OFC | 2018 OFC U-19 Championship | 2nd | 2009 | ||
| UEFA | Host nation | 5th | 2007 | ||
| UEFA | 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship | 7th | 2017 | ||
| UEFA | 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship | 12th | 2017 | ||
| UEFA | 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship | 4th | 2015 | ||
| UEFA | 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship | 7th | 2017 | ||
| UEFA | 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship | 3rd | 1993 |
Venues
, Bydgoszcz, Gdynia, Łódź, Lublin and Tychy were the six cities hosting the competition. Lubin ended up withdrawn from the list due to hotel capacity troubles and was replaced by Bielsko-Biała.Organization
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.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.
Draw and schedule
The match schedule was unveiled on 14 December 2018, the same day as the official emblem.The final draw was held on 24 February 2019, 17:30 CET, at the Gdynia Sports Arena in Gdynia. 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, with bonus points awarded to confederation champions. Teams from Pot 1 were drawn first, followed by Pot 2, Pot 3, and finally 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.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
Match officials
A total of 21 refereeing trios, 6 support referees, and 20 video assistant referees were appointed for the tournament.| Confederation | Referee | Assistant referees | Support referee | Video assistant referees |
| AFC | Ahmed Al-Kaf | Abu Bakar Al-Amri Rashid Al-Ghaithi | Ilgiz Tantashev | Ammar Al-Jeneibi Khamis Al-Marri Fu Ming |
| AFC | Muhammad Taqi | Ronnie Koh Min Kiat Abdul Hannan bin Abdul Hasim | Ilgiz Tantashev | Ammar Al-Jeneibi Khamis Al-Marri Fu Ming |
| AFC | Adham Makhadmeh | Ahmad Al-Roalle Mohammad Al-Kalaf | Ilgiz Tantashev | Ammar Al-Jeneibi Khamis Al-Marri Fu Ming |
| CAF | Mustapha Ghorbal | Mahmoud Ahmed Kamel Mokrane Gourari | Pacifique Ndabihawenimana | Bakary Gassama Gehad Grisha Bamlak Tessema Weyesa |
| CAF | Maguette N'Diaye | Elvis Noupue Seydou Tiama | Pacifique Ndabihawenimana | Bakary Gassama Gehad Grisha Bamlak Tessema Weyesa |
| CAF | Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo | Olivier Safari Souleimane Amaldine | Pacifique Ndabihawenimana | Bakary Gassama Gehad Grisha Bamlak Tessema Weyesa |
| CONCACAF | Ismail Elfath | Kyle Atkins Corey Parker | Ivan Barton | Adonai Escobedo Alan Kelly |
| CONCACAF | Fernando Guerrero | Pablo Hernández José Martínez | Ivan Barton | Adonai Escobedo Alan Kelly |
| CONCACAF | Héctor Martínez | Walter López Helpys Feliz | Ivan Barton | Adonai Escobedo Alan Kelly |
| CONMEBOL | Raphael Claus | Danilo Manis Bruno Pires | Joel Alarcón | Julio Bascuñán Andrés Rojas Wilton Sampaio Jesús Valenzuela Gery Vargas |
| CONMEBOL | Leodán González | Richard Trinidad Martín Soppi | Joel Alarcón | Julio Bascuñán Andrés Rojas Wilton Sampaio Jesús Valenzuela Gery Vargas |
| CONMEBOL | Alexis Herrera | Jorge Urrego Tulio Moreno | Joel Alarcón | Julio Bascuñán Andrés Rojas Wilton Sampaio Jesús Valenzuela Gery Vargas |
| CONMEBOL | Fernando Rapallini | Diego Bonfá Gabriel Chade | Joel Alarcón | Julio Bascuñán Andrés Rojas Wilton Sampaio Jesús Valenzuela Gery Vargas |
| OFC | Abdelkader Zitouni | Folio Moeaki Bernard Mutukera | David Yareboinen | — |
| UEFA | Benoît Bastien | Hicham Zakrani Frédéric Haquette | Sandro Schärer | Artur Soares Dias Marco Guida Alejandro Hernández Hernández Juan Martínez Munuera Benoît Millot Paweł Raczkowski Pol van Boekel |
| UEFA | Jesús Gil Manzano | Ángel Nevado Rodríguez Diego Barbero Sevilla | Sandro Schärer | Artur Soares Dias Marco Guida Alejandro Hernández Hernández Juan Martínez Munuera Benoît Millot Paweł Raczkowski Pol van Boekel |
| UEFA | Ivan Kružliak | Tomaš Somoláni Branislav Hancko | Sandro Schärer | Artur Soares Dias Marco Guida Alejandro Hernández Hernández Juan Martínez Munuera Benoît Millot Paweł Raczkowski Pol van Boekel |
| UEFA | Davide Massa | Filippo Meli Fabiano Preti | Sandro Schärer | Artur Soares Dias Marco Guida Alejandro Hernández Hernández Juan Martínez Munuera Benoît Millot Paweł Raczkowski Pol van Boekel |
| UEFA | Michael Oliver | Simon Bennett Stuart Burt | Sandro Schärer | Artur Soares Dias Marco Guida Alejandro Hernández Hernández Juan Martínez Munuera Benoît Millot Paweł Raczkowski Pol van Boekel |
| UEFA | Daniel Siebert | Jan Seidel Rafael Foltyn | Sandro Schärer | Artur Soares Dias Marco Guida Alejandro Hernández Hernández Juan Martínez Munuera Benoît Millot Paweł Raczkowski Pol van Boekel |
| UEFA | Slavko Vinčić | Tomaž Klančnik Andraž Kovačič | Sandro Schärer | Artur Soares Dias Marco Guida Alejandro Hernández Hernández Juan Martínez Munuera Benoît Millot Paweł Raczkowski Pol van Boekel |
Squads
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 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.
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, CEST.
Tiebreakers
The ranking of teams in the group stage is determined as follows:- Points obtained in all group matches ;
- Goal difference in all group matches;
- Number of goals scored in all group matches;
- Points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Goal difference in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in question;
- Fair play points in all group matches :
- Drawing of lots.
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 is level at the end of 90 minutes of normal playing time, extra time will be played, where each team is allowed to make a fourth substitution. If still tied after extra time, the match will be decided by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner.In the round of 16, the four third-placed teams will be matched with the winners of groups A, B, C, and D. The specific match-ups involving the third-placed teams depend on which four third-placed teams qualified for the round of 16:
Bracket
Round of 16
--------
----
----
----
----
----
Quarter-finals
--------
----
Semi-finals
----Third place match
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 Award.Goalscorers
Sponsorship
- Adidas
- Coca-Cola
- Hyundai–Kia
- VISA
International broadcasters
- Coverage is not available in Andorra, France, and Spain
- Coverage is not available in Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Panama