FIFA 2026 U-20 WWC: Poland

Tournament U20 in Spain with 3 other teams : England, Mexico and Netherland U19
Feb 28 Spain 3 -1 England
Feb 28 Mexico 1 - 3 Netherland U19

Mar 03 Spain - Mexico
Mar 03 Netherland U19 - England

Mar 06 England - Mexico
Mar 06 Spain - Netherland U19

Other U20 :
Feb 28 Turquie U19 1 - 2 Maroc
Mar 03 Maroc - Thailand

 

• AFC: 4
  
  
• CAF: 4
  
  
• Concacaf: 4 Canada, Mexico, USA, Costa Rica
  
  
• CONMEBOL: Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia
  
  
• OFC: 2 New Caledonia, New-Zealand
  
  
• UEFA: 5 France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, England
  
  
• Host country: 1 Poland

 

Spain U20 won 5-1 over Mexico's U20s

 

Spain U20 preparing for the World Cup:
Spain 3 - 1 England
Spain 5 - 1 Mexique
Spain 6 - 0 Netherland U19

 

Draw LIVE

 

Why was New Caledonia moved to the last group?

 

Toughest group: Group B England, Canada, Brazil, Tanzania; then Group D US, Japan, Italy, New Zealand

 

Not clear, but probably has to be with the fact that, at that point, Benin and Tanzania were still around and they couldn't be paired with Nigeria in the last group. Probably some of the other constraints would have forced two African teams in that group, if they hadn't moved New Caledonia there, but I didn't actually study all of the intricacies.

 

Italy was actually a "false" pot-4 team. They skipped too many youth tournament in the past, because of EURO high competitiveness, but they were much stronger than the other pot-4 teams, except maybe the other European one, Portugal.

 

@Allende72, as I was musing about this draw on the Italian thread, I wondered how strong this iteration of US U-20 NT is, since in the past we have seen vastly different US teams at these youth tournaments, some very strong, some not really competitive at all.

At which point of the spectrum the current group is?

 

In my book:
D -> E -> B -> C -> A -> F

 

Not @Allende72, but I think it's still up in the air how strong this U20 US team will be. A lot depends on which NWSL teams release their U20 players. Certainly, the US could put a team together that would include Hutton, Yohannes (would never happen), Bugg, Adames, Fuller, etc.

But I don't think that's likely. Still hoping the U20 US team in Sept includes some pros. That said, without a few of the top pros, I'm not sure this group is stronger than the last few U20WWC US rosters.

 

I was worried Benin would be drawn in a tough group and we'd see scores of 15-0/12-0/10-0. Hopefully they can manage a few goals of their own.

 

@blissett also, yeah I'm really high on the pool of eligible players for the US. It's unfortunate that the WC is taking place during the stretch-run of the NWSL season and players could miss 4-5 games, that could affect making the playoffs or rankings for the playoffs. It might also be a bad look for your fans, (those who would attend games, or watch on TV.) who might not want to watch their team play with depleted rosters. I think the teams would release the following players, if selected: Ascanio, Fuller, Adames, Barcenas, Pfeiffer, Armstrong (if she's back), Macayla Johnson, McCammon, Scott, Ulmark, Gamero . I think Bugg is borderline (though Hayes has name-checked her a few times as being a player who would benefit from the experience, even though she was a starter on the last U20 WC. Hayes is a good friend of Bugg's coach Laura Harvey and may take advantage of that relationship. But where do you draw the line? Bugg is established as a USWNT player (as of course are Hutton and Yohannes as well, both of whom were mentioned by Hayes in the same context as Bugg). Hutton is coached by Emma Coates another friend of Hayes. I can't imagine Lyon would release Yohannes, but would Michelle Kang see a benefit? But to what end? All three could be selected for the Concacaf WC Qualifiers in Nov. why this overkill? No I don't agree with Hayes on this.

So, with the first group of players mentioned, that core is a promising group, and there will be depth such that I do think this US U20 team will be hyped both by us and most likely the media in the coming months. Realistically, I'd like us to shoot for at least the semifinals and at some point find a way to beat DPRK and/or Spain. In the group, Japan should be a big test, and Italy an unknown quantity. Hope it isn't a let-down like the star-studded 2022 team was.

 

While it is fun too watch Uxx tournaments they are nearly totally meaningless. Countries that do well in Uxx almost never do well in older age groups and, even of they do well in the senior team events it is very rare for the players that did well in Uxx to also do well in senior events.
The exceptions are those few countries that actually prioritize the Uxx tournaments. In most countries if a player has played for the senior side they are not called up for any Uxx they are eligible for.
I am not saying those countries are doing wrong they just do not, as I do not, see any reason to send youngsters that are already proven to any but senior tournaments.

The purpose of Uxx tournaments is not to win them but rather to further evaluate lower level players. Or, to say it another way, most major countries in the soccer world do not really care about winning Uxx tournaments.

If countries really cared about winning in the Uxx levels they would not withhold players that have already played for the senior team but most countries do that on a regular basis. Also club teams do not have to release players for the Uxx events.

Again Uxx is fun to watch but is ultimately meaningless and I will watch ever minute I can even as young as U15.