2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup

2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup
Mistrzostwa Świata U-20 w Piłce Nożnej 2019
Tournament details
Host country	Poland
Dates	23 May – 15 June
Teams	24 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	6 (in 6 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Ukraine (1st title)
Runners-up	South Korea
Third place	Ecuador
Fourth place	Italy
Tournament statistics
Matches played	52
Goals scored	153 (2.94 per match)
Attendance	377,338 (7,257 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Erling Haaland; (9 goals)
Best player(s)	Lee Kang-in
Best goalkeeper	Andriy Lunin
Fair play award	Japan
	← 2017 2021; 2023 →

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.

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 a former Soviet republic other than Russia to win a FIFA competition title since its dissolution in 1991. The Soviet Union, whose record is now inherited by Russia, previously won the inaugural U-20 World Cup in 1977.

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 9 goals in the same match made him the only player to score a triple hat-trick^[4] at any significant intercontinental tournament for national teams for any gender.

Host selection[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.

Confederation	Qualifying tournament	Team	Appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance
AFC (Asia)	2018 AFC U-19 Championship	Qatar	4th	2015	Runners-up (1981)
		Japan	10th	2017	Runners-up (1999)
		South Korea	15th	2017	Fourth place (1983)
		Saudi Arabia	9th	2017	Round of 16 (2011, 2017)
CAF (Africa)	2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations	Senegal	3rd	2017	Fourth place (2015)
		Nigeria	12th	2015	Runners-up (1989, 2005)
		South Africa	4th	2017	Round of 16 (2009)
		Mali	7th	2015	Third place (1999, 2015)
CONCACAF (Central, North America and Caribbean)	2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship	Mexico	16th	2017	Runners-up (1977)
		Panama	6th	2015	Group stage (2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2015)
		United States	16th	2017	Fourth place (1989)
		Honduras	8th	2017	Group stage (1977, 1995, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2015, 2017)
CONMEBOL (South America)	2019 South American U-20 Championship	Argentina	16th	2017	Champions (1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2007)
		Uruguay	15th	2017	Runners-up (1997, 2013)
		Ecuador	4th	2017	Round of 16 (2001, 2011)
		Colombia	10th	2015	Third place (2003)
OFC (Oceania)	2018 OFC U-19 Championship	New Zealand	6th	2017	Round of 16 (2015, 2017)
OFC (Oceania)	2018 OFC U-19 Championship	Tahiti	2nd	2009	Group stage (2009)
UEFA (Europe)	Host nation	Poland	5th	2007	Third place (1983)
	2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship	Italy	7th	2017	Third place (2017)
		Portugal	12th	2017	Champions (1989, 1991)
		Ukraine	4th	2015	Round of 16 (2001, 2005, 2015)
		France	7th	2017	Champions (2013)
		Norway	3rd	1993	Group stage (1989, 1993)

Venues[edit]

Bielsko-Biała, Bydgoszcz, Gdynia, Łódź, Lublin and Tychy were the six cities hosting the competition. Lubin (not to confuse with Lublin) ended up withdrawn from the list due to hotel capacity troubles and was replaced by Bielsko-Biała.

Bielsko-Biała	Bydgoszcz	Gdynia
Stadion Miejski (Bielsko-Biała Stadium)	Stadion im. Zdzisława Krzyszkowiaka (Bydgoszcz Stadium)	Stadion Miejski (Gdynia Stadium)
Capacity: 15,076	Capacity: 20,247	Capacity: 15,139

Bielsko-Biała Bydgoszcz Gdynia Łódź Lublin Tychy 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup (Poland)
Łódź	Lublin	Tychy
Stadion Widzewa (Łódź Stadium)	Arena Lublin (Lublin Stadium)	Stadion Miejski (Tychy Stadium)
Capacity: 18,008	Capacity: 15,500	Capacity: 15,600

Organization[edit]

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[edit]

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) as follows:^[14]

2009 FIFA U-20 WC: 20% value of total points;
2011 FIFA U-20 WC: 40% value of total points;
2013 FIFA U-20 WC: 60% value of total points;
2015 FIFA U-20 WC: 80% value of total points;
2017 FIFA U-20 WC: 100% value of total points.

Furthermore, five bonus points were added to each of the 6 continental champions from the qualifying tournaments.

Pot	Team	Confederation	2009		2011		2013		2015		2017	BP	Total points
Pot	Team	Confederation	Pts	20%	Pts	40%	Pts	60%	Pts	80%	Pts 100%	BP	Total points
1	Poland (H)	UEFA	Host nation, automatically asigned to Pot 1
	Portugal	UEFA	DNQ		14	5.6	7	4.2	13	10.4	8	+5	33.2
	Uruguay	CONMEBOL	7	1.4	2	0.8	14	8.4	5	4	13		27.6
	France	UEFA	DNQ		12	4.8	14	8.4	DNQ		9		22.2
	United States	CONCACAF	3	0.6	DNQ		1	0.6	10	8	8	+5	22.2
	Mexico	CONCACAF	DNQ		11	4.4	3	1.8	3	2.4	7		15.6

2	Mali	CAF	DNQ		0	0	2	1.2	11	8.8	DNQ	+5	15.0
	Nigeria	CAF	3	0.6	12	4.8	6	3.6	6	4.8	DNQ		13.8
	New Zealand	OFC	DNQ		2	0.8	0	0	4	3.2	4	+5	13
	Colombia	CONMEBOL	DNQ		12	4.8	8	4.8	4	3.2	DNQ		12.8
	South Korea	AFC	7	1.4	4	1.6	6	3.6	DNQ		6		12.6
	Italy	UEFA	7	1.4	DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		11		12.4

3	Saudi Arabia	AFC	DNQ		6	2.4	DNQ		DNQ		4	+5	11.4
	Senegal	CAF	DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		8	6.4	4		10.4
	Argentina	CONMEBOL	DNQ		11	4.4	DNQ		2	1.6	3		9
	Ecuador	CONMEBOL	DNQ		4	1.6	DNQ		DNQ		2	+5	8.6
	Ukraine	UEFA	DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		8	6.4	DNQ		6.4
	Honduras	CONCACAF	3	0.6	DNQ		DNQ		3	2.4	3		6

4	Japan	AFC	DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		4		4
	South Africa	CAF	4	0.8	DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		1		1.8
	Panama	CONCACAF	DNQ		1	0.4	DNQ		1	0.8	DNQ		1.2
	Qatar	AFC	DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		0	0	DNQ		0
	Tahiti	OFC	0	0	DNQ		DNQ		0	0	DNQ		0
	Norway	UEFA	DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		DNQ		0

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]

The draw resulted in the following groups:^[15]

Group A
Pos	Team
A1	Poland
A2	Colombia
A3	Tahiti
A4	Senegal

Group B
Pos	Team
B1	Mexico
B2	Italy
B3	Japan
B4	Ecuador

Group C
Pos	Team
C1	Honduras
C2	New Zealand
C3	Uruguay
C4	Norway

Group D
Pos	Team
D1	Qatar
D2	Nigeria
D3	Ukraine
D4	United States

Group E
Pos	Team
E1	Panama
E2	Mali
E3	France
E4	Saudi Arabia

Group F
Pos	Team
F1	Portugal
F2	South Korea
F3	Argentina
F4	South Africa

Match officials[edit]

A total of 21 refereeing trios (a referee and two assistant referees), 6 support referees, and 20 video assistant referees were appointed for the tournament.^[16]^[17]

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
	Muhammad Taqi	Ronnie Koh Min Kiat Abdul Hannan bin Abdul Hasim
	Adham Makhadmeh	Ahmad Al-Roalle Mohammad Al-Kalaf
CAF	Mustapha Ghorbal	Mahmoud Ahmed Kamel Mokrane Gourari	Pacifique Ndabihawenimana	Bakary Gassama Gehad Grisha Bamlak Tessema Weyesa
	Maguette N'Diaye	Elvis Noupue Seydou Tiama
	Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo	Olivier Safari Souleimane Amaldine
CONCACAF	Ismail Elfath	Kyle Atkins Corey Parker	Iván Barton	Adonai Escobedo Alan Kelly
	Fernando Guerrero	Pablo Hernández José Martínez
	Saíd Martínez	Walter López Helpys Feliz
CONMEBOL	Raphael Claus	Danilo Manis Bruno Pires	Joel Alarcón	Julio Bascuñán Andrés Rojas Wilton Sampaio Jesús Valenzuela Gery Vargas
	Leodán González	Richard Trinidad Martín Soppi
	Alexis Herrera	Jorge Urrego Tulio Moreno
	Fernando Rapallini	Diego Bonfá Gabriel Chade
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
	Jesús Gil Manzano	Ángel Nevado Rodríguez Diego Barbero Sevilla
	Ivan Kružliak	Tomaš Somoláni Branislav Hancko
	Davide Massa	Filippo Meli Fabiano Preti
	Michael Oliver	Simon Bennett Stuart Burt
	Daniel Siebert	Jan Seidel Rafael Foltyn
	Slavko Vinčić	Tomaž Klančnik Andraž Kovačič

Squads[edit]

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[edit]

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 (UTC+2).^[19]

Tiebreakers[edit]

The ranking of teams in the group stage was determined as follows:^[18]

Points obtained in all group matches (three points for a win, one for a draw, none for a defeat);
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 (only one deduction could be applied to a player in a single match):
- Yellow card: −1 points;
- Indirect red card (second yellow card): −3 points;
- Direct red card: −4 points;
- Yellow card and direct red card: −5 points;
Drawing of lots.

Group A[edit]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Senegal	3	2	1	0	5	0	+5	7	Advance to knockout stage
2	Colombia	3	2	0	1	8	2	+6	6
3	Poland (H)	3	1	1	1	5	2	+3	4
4	Tahiti	3	0	0	3	0	14	−14	0

Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts

23 May 2019

18:00

Tahiti	0–3	Senegal
	Report	Sagna 1', 29', 50'

Lublin Stadium, Lublin

Attendance: 4,661^[20]

Referee: Muhammad Taqi (Singapore)

23 May 2019