FIFA have awarded the 2026 U-20 tournament to Poland. “Poland is a country with a magnificent football tradition and hosted a memorable edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2019, in which emerging stars like Erling Haaland made a great impression. Hosting the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026 will be a new milestone in Poland’s football history, and one that will boost women’s football in the country and across the world.” The slot allocation for both the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2025 and the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2026 are the same as each other and remain unchanged from the previous editions of both competitions: AFC: 4 CAF: 4 Concacaf: 4 CONMEBOL: 4 OFC: 2 UEFA: 5 Host country: 1 UEFA will therefore have 6 teams at the tournament
CAF qualifiers: A total of 38 African teams are vying for the four coveted slots, with the qualifiers set to unfold over four knockout rounds of home-and-away fixtures. Qualifiers Format First Round: The 12 lowest-ranked teams, based on previous U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers performance, will contest in this round. The six winners will advance to join the 26 top-ranked teams exempted from the first round. Second Round: The six first-round winners and 26 exempted teams will form 32 teams. These will battle it out for 16 spots in the third round. Third Round: The remaining 16 teams will compete in a knockout format to determine the eight teams advancing to the fourth round. Fourth Round: The final eight teams will play knockout ties, with the winners earning qualification to the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
First Round M1, 2: Gabon vs Niger M3, 4: Togo vs Tunisia M5, 6: Gambia vs Côte d'Ivoire M7, 8: Rwanda vs Zimbabwe M9, 10: South Sudan vs Djibouti M11, 12: Malawi vs Central African Republic Second Round M13, 14: Gabon/Niger vs Cameroon M15, 16: Botswana vs Mozambique M17, 18: Ethiopia vs Kenya M19, 20: Tanzania vs Angola M21, 22: Togo/Tunisia vs Ghana M23, 24: Eswatini vs South Africa M25, 26: Uganda vs Namibia M27, 28: Burundi vs Zambia M29, 30: Gambia/Côte d'Ivoire vs Morocco M31, 32: Mali vs DR Congo M33, 34: Equatorial Guinea vs Egypt M35, 36: Benin vs Guinea M37, 38: Rwanda/Zimbabwe vs Nigeria M39, 40: Senegal vs Algeria M41, 42: Guinea-Bissau vs Congo M43, 44: South Sudan/Djibouti vs Malawi/Central African Republic Third Round Fixtures M45, 46: Winner M13, M14 vs Winner M15, M16 M47, 48: Winner M17, M18 vs Winner M19, M20 M49, 50: Winner M21, M22 vs Winner M23, M24 M51, 52: Winner M25, M26 vs Winner M27, M28 M53, 54: Winner M29, M30 vs Winner M31, M32 M55, 56: Winner M33, M34 vs Winner M35, M36 M57, 58: Winner M37, M38 vs Winner M39, M40 M59, 60: Winner M41, M42 vs Winner M43, M44 Fourth Round Fixtures M61, 62: Winner M45, M46 vs Winner M47, M48 M63, 64: Winner M49, M50 vs Winner M51, M52 M65, 66: Winner M53, M54 vs Winner M55, M56 M67, 68: Winner M57, M58 vs Winner M59, M60 Round-by-Round Timeline First Round Matches: First leg: 9–11 May 2025 | Second leg: 16–18 May 2025. Second Round Matches: First leg: 19–21 September 2025 | Second leg: 26–28 September 2025. Third Round Matches: First leg: 6–8 February 2026 | Second leg: 12–14 February 2026. Fourth Round Matches: First leg: 1–3 May 2026 | Second leg: 8–10 May 2026.
CONCACAF qualifiers: Action will kick off in February with a Group Stage between the participating Member Associations ranked three and below, according to the Concacaf U-20 Women’s Ranking as of September 23, 2024. These teams will be split into six groups, with the number of teams per group varying depending on the total number of participants. After round-robin play, from February 20 to 26, the six group winners will advance to the competition’s Championship Stage, joining the two top-ranked Concacaf Member Associations – the United States and Mexico. The Championship Stage will include eight Concacaf Member Associations and be played in a to-be-confirmed centralized venue in May. The eight teams will be split into two groups of four each. After round-robin play, the group winners and runners-up will advance to the Semifinals and qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Poland. The semifinal winners will advance to the Final, where the champion will be crowned.
UEFA qualifications: The four semi-finalists of Euro 24/25 qualify as well as the play-off winner between 3rd placed teams in the Group Stage "Depending on the number of spots available to European teams, as determined by FIFA, a play-off match may be necessary to identify the remaining team to qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. If such match is required, the UEFA administration will confirm to the teams concerned the relevant play-off system as well as the match date and venue in due time after the final draw and before the final tournament kicks off."
Draw OFC U-19 Championship in Tahiti (21.9 - 4.10.2025) Group A Fiji Samoa Cook Islands Qualifying winner* Group B New Zealand Tahiti New Caledonia Vanuatu *Qualifying tournament in Tonga: Solomon Islands, Tonga and American Samoa
Qualifying tournament: Solomon Islands - Tonga 0:1(0:0) Solomon Islands - American Samoa 7:0(1:0) Tonga - American Samoa 16:0(9:0)
Here is the Concacaf schedule and it is a disgrace for two reasons: 1. They will play 15 games on the same pitch in 11 days WTF. 2. M1 one day rest, M2 one day rest M3, two days rest SF one day rest Final. This is insane, the players body will not rest with only one day. You bet you will see injuries. Survival of the fittest not a football tournament. If you reach the final you play 5 games in 11 days.
Łukasz Wachowski (Polish FA) announced today at a meeting of the parliamentary Commission for Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism that the host cities for next year's u-20 Women's World Cup will be Łódź, Katowice, Sosnowiec and Tychy or Bielsko-Biała.
Gabon did withdraw. First Legs: Togo 1 - Tunisia 1 Ivory Coast 1 - Gambia 0 Rwanda 2 - Zimbabwe 1 South Sudan 5 - Djibouti 0 Malawi 3 - Central African Rep. 1
Qualified teams: AFC: 4 CAF: 4 Concacaf: 4 Canada, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica CONMEBOL: 4 OFC: 2 UEFA: 5 Host country: 1 Poland
Qualified teams: AFC: 4 CAF: 4 Concacaf: 4 Canada, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica CONMEBOL: 4 OFC: 2 UEFA: 5 France Host country: 1 Poland
]Qualified teams: AFC: 4 CAF: 4 Concacaf: 4 Canada, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica CONMEBOL: 4 OFC: 2 UEFA: 5 France, Italy Host country: 1 Poland
AFC: 4 CAF: 4 Concacaf: 4 Canada, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica CONMEBOL: 4 OFC: 2 UEFA: 5 France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, England Host country: 1 Poland