The draw for the U20 World Cup was scheduled for Friday, March 31 but has reported but delayed, with no further information at this time. FIFA will probably have some update this week: https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/indonesias-issues-israel-delay-fifa-u20-world-cup-98136197 Reportedly Argentina is offering to host as an alternative option. These are the current pots: Pot 1: Indonesia (Hosts/A1), Uruguay, United States, France, Senegal, Italy Pot 2: England, South Korea, New Zealand, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador Pot 3: Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Japan, Iraq, Honduras, Fiji Pot 4: Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Gambia, Israel, Slovakia, Tunisia Brazil being in pot 2 means avoiding a strong England, and of course we also avoid the other CONMEBOL teams, but beyond that, the strength of the groups can vary quite a bit.
FIFA has removed Indonesia as host of the U20 World Cup. New host not decided yet. As noted above Argentina has volunteered.
U20 team called up for friendlies includes players that were not released for the South American championship: There will be 3 friendlies in Spain between April 15 and 27. Convocados anunciados! ✅🤩Nesta sexta (31), o treinador Ramon Menezes anunciou os atletas que integrarão a Seleção Brasileira Sub-20.Serão três amistosos entre os dias 15 e 27 de abril, na Espanha. Os adversários serão República Dominicana, Iraque e Uzbequistão ou Senegal. pic.twitter.com/EmWlHweyTU— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) March 31, 2023
Ramon has called up 4 more players for the friendlies. No one has been removed yet, but Palmeiras, Vasco and others have indicated they won't release players for these friendlies. https://ge.globo.com/futebol/seleca...n-menezes-convoca-mais-quatro-jogadores.ghtml Friendlies are April 19 (Senegal or Uzbekistan) April 22 x Dominican Republic April 25 x Iraq
About the host: Argentina expressed interest but FIFA has not yet decided who will replace Indonesia as hosts and automatically qualified team in Group A. On a separate note, Peru was scheduled to host the U17 World Cup in November, but they have been removed, so I don't think they'll be getting the U20 tournament. Qatar has been speculated and would seem like an easy bet but Argentina came in strong early and I haven't really heard much noise otherwise.
After confirmation of who won't be released, 13 changes to the team: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/seleca...-troca-13-nomes-de-lista-para-amistosos.ghtml GOLEIRO: Sai: Mycael (Athletico-PR) Entra: Kauê (Corinthians) ZAGUEIROS: Saem: Robert Renan (Zenit) Kaiky Fernandes (Almería) Entram: Ruan Santos (Cruzeiro) Jean (Coritiba) LATERAIS: Saem: Vinícius Tobias (Real Madrid) Kaiki Bruno (Cruzeiro) Entram: André Dhominique (Bahia) Rikelme (Cuiabá) MEIO-CAMPISTAS: Saem: Marlon Gomes (Vasco) Aleksander (Fluminense) Luis Guilherme (Palmeiras) Endrick (Palmeiras) Andrey (Vasco) Entram: Kauê Pessanha (Botafogo) Matheus Martins (Watford) Ian Luccas (Cruzeiro) Bruninho (RB Bragantino) Pedro Lima (Palmeiras) ATACANTES: Saem: Giovani (Palmeiras) Vitor Roque (Athletico - PR) Pedrinho (Corinthians) Entram: Kevin (Palmeiras) Savinho (PSV) Matheus Nascimento (Botafogo)
3 more changes to the team: Zagueiro: Sai: Lucas Beraldo (São Paulo) Entra: João Pedro (Corinthians) Lateral-esquerdo: Sai: Patrick Lanza (São Paulo) Entra: Vinicius Kauê (Athletico-PR) Atacante: Sai: Marcos Leonardo (Santos) Entra: Eguinaldo (Vasco)
FIFA confirms Argentina as host of the U20 World Cup, replacing Indonesia. Now that the host has been decided, the draw has been scheduled for later this week, Friday, April 21 https://www.fifa.com/media-releases...s-host-nation-for-fifa-u-20-world-cup-2023-tm
Brazil beat the Dominican Republic 1x0 in a friendly today. Next friendly is Saturday, and the draw is Friday.
Draw will be at 11am Brazil time: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/mundia...pos-do-mundial-sub-20-nesta-sexta-feira.ghtml Brazil cannot face England, South Korea, New Zealand, Ecuador or Colombia, who are all in the same pot, but could face France, Italy, USA, or Senegal, for example, from pot 1 and any team from pots 3 and 4. A reminder that the squad playing friendlies this week had to replace 17 players that clubs would not release, so the full squad in May is likely to be very different.
Brazil (D2) is in Group D, with Italy (D1). The first match for us will be against the cabeça-de-chave.
The last team is Dominican Republic (D4), who we beat earlier this week in a friendly and who will be our second opponent.
https://ge.globo.com/futebol/mundia...o-em-2023-as-vesperas-do-mundial-sub-20.ghtml Brazil 4x1 Uzbekistan. Our neighbors will be happy to hear that scoreline as they meet in their group. We rotated our team, already mostly a back-up team and still won handily. Tuesday is vs. Iraq, who are in Group E in the World Cup and are a possible second round opponent if we win our group.
Good article about Brazil's approach to youth teams right now (under Branco) and how they select players based on three criteria (not dissimilar to Tite's criteria for the senior side): "desempenho no momento, projeção para evolução e histórico (de personalidade, relacionamentos e capacidade de superação)" https://ge.globo.com/futebol/sul-am...sil-ve-captacao-devolver-o-protagonismo.ghtml
The World Cup call-up will be Friday, 3 days after the friendly vs. Iraq. Although we will have to wait and see who is or isn't released and probably wait for some replacements before the list is final.
1x1 tie with Iraq today: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/mundia...ultimo-amistoso-antes-do-mundial-sub-20.ghtml In other news, Athletico-PR announced they will not release Victor Roque for the World Cup. Call-up by Ramon Menezes is this Friday.
Rumo ao Mundial! ✈️🇧🇷A Seleção Brasileira foi convocada para a Copa do Mundo FIFA Sub-20.Os 21 atletas convocados por Ramon Menezes se apresentam no dia 8 de maio, quando começa o período preparatório na Granja Comary.A competição inicia no dia 20. O Brasil está no Grupo D,… pic.twitter.com/OMHaFdgVRb— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) April 28, 2023 Goalkeepers Mycael (Athletico Paranaense), Kaique (Palmeiras), Kauã Santos (Flamengo) Full-backs Arthur (América Mineiro), André Dhominique (Bahia), Kaiki Bruno (Cruzeiro) Defenders Robert Renan (Zenit), Kaiky Fernandes (Almeria), Michel (Palmeiras) Midfielders Marlon Gomes (Vasco da Gama), Andrey Santos (Vasco da Gama), Ronald (Grêmio), Guilherme Biro (Corinthians) Attackers Marcos Leonardo (Santos), Giovani (Palmeiras), Matheus Martins (Watford), Matheus Nascimento (Botafogo), Sávio (PSV), Kevin (Palmeiras), Giovane (Corinthians), Pedrinho (Corinthians)
Kaiky, the central defender from Almería (not Kaiki, the full-back from Cruzeiro, nor Kaique, the goalkeeper from Palmeiras) has been cut due to injury. Jean Pedroso from Coritiba has been called up to replace him.
The team is at Granja Comary now, getting ready for the tournament: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/mundia...ia-preparacao-sem-ramon-e-andrey-santos.ghtml Ramon Menezes, however, is at a FIFA conference, representing the national team. Andrey will play for Vasco this week before joining and a couple other players will report late (see article). Also, Pedro has been called back by Corinthians, because Luxemburgo wants him available. Marquinhos (Arsenal) has been called in his place.
Early training indicates a 4-3-3 line-up with Guilherme Biro (Corinthians), Marcos Leonardo (Santos), Giovani (Palmeiras) up front. Andrey is not with the team, so I think it's safe to assume he'll be added to the midfield, probably in place of Matheus Martins? More on the training here: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/seleca...-campea-e-tres-caras-novas-para-estreia.ghtml
Another defender out due to injury: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/seleca...mendes-para-completar-a-lista-do-brasil.ghtml Michel is out, but in his place the U20 team was able to call-up Douglas, who was part of the South American championship winning group and started a few matches. I guess his new team didn't want to release him at first but after the injuries CBF went back to negotiate with them and got the release. Despite 2 injuries, it means the 3 defenders who started during the South American tournament are the ones going to the WC.
Tournament opens tomorrow with Argentina's group A and the USA's group B. Here's a preview from Tim Vickery on South American's to watch: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...razil-andrey-santos-top-south-american-talent And one of the many articles in ge's coverage of the team: https://ge.globo.com/futebol/mundia...e-paga-prenda-em-roda-de-bobo-com-ramon.ghtml