The 2024 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 8th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (29th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was held in Mexico from 18 July to 4 August 2024.[1]
The tournament featured a reduction in the number of participating teams following the format changes adopted by CONCACAF in February 2023. It was contested by 12 teams instead of the 20 that participated in previous editions.[2]
Same as previous editions, the tournament acted as the CONCACAF qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The top four teams of the tournament (the four semi-finalists) qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as the CONCACAF representatives.
The United States were the three-time defending champions.
In February 2023, CONCACAF announced format changes for its youth competitions approved by its council. The following changes were adopted for the U-17 and U-20 Championships compared to previous editions:[2]
The number of teams automatically qualified for the final tournament was reduced to 6 from the 16 that previously qualified. These were the six top-ranked teams according to the CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Ranking while the teams ranked between 7 and 41 had to participate in qualifying stage.
The Group stage will consist of three groups instead of the four groups that were previously played. This stage will include the six pre-seeded teams into this round and the six teams coming from the qualifying stage.
The Round of 16 was removed from the knockout stage which will start directly with the quarter-finals.
The tournament is divided into two stages: the Group stage and the Knockout stage.[3] The Group stage will feature twelve teams, including the six top-ranked teams that qualified directly and the six teams that qualified via the qualifying round. The twelve teams were split into three groups of four, and will compete in a single round-robin. Eight teams, the top two teams of each group and the two-best third-placed teams, will advance to the Knockout stage which will be played on a single-elimination format and will consist of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. The quarter-finals winners will advance to the semi-finals and will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The semi-finals winners will play the final to determine the champion.
Mexico was appointed as the host country for the tournament by CONCACAF on 26 February 2024,[1] with the Estadio Miguel Alemán Valdés in Celaya and the Estadio Sergio León Chávez in Irapuato, both located in the state of Guanajuato, as the two initial venues.[4] After a police officer was killed outside of the Cuban team hotel on 24 July 2024, all further matches scheduled to be played in Celaya were moved to the Estadio León in León, also located in Guanajuato, and no further matches took place in Celaya.[5][6]
The U-20 Championship qualifying features a new format approved by the CONCACAF Council in February 2023. The qualifying groups were increased to six instead the four qualifying groups from previous editions, with the six group winners qualifying for the final tournament.[2]
A total of 27 (out of 41) CONCACAF national teams entered the qualifying round which took place from 23 February to 2 March 2024.
The six teams from the qualifying round joined the six top-ranked teams (based on the CONCACAF men’s under-20 rankings as of 12 June 2023) in the group stage of the final tournament for a total of 12 qualified teams.
Each team was required to register a squad of up to 21 players, three of whom had to be goalkeepers. Players born between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2009 (ages 15 to 19) were eligible to compete in the tournament (Regulations Articles 9 and 10).[3]
The draw for the groups composition was held on 11 April 2024, 12:00 EDT (UTC−4), at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami, Florida, United States.[7] The 12 involved teams were drawn into three groups of four. Prior to the draw, the 12 teams had been seeded into four pots of three based on the CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Ranking updated after the completion of the qualifying stage (as of 3 March 2024),[8] with the six teams that entered directly into the group stage being placed into pots 1 and 2 and the six teams coming from the qualifying process being placed into pots 3 and 4.[7]
The draw started with pot 1 and teams were placed in the first position of Groups A, B, and C according to the order they are drawn. The same procedure was followed to draw pots 2, 3 and 4, with pot 2 teams being placed in second position within their group, pot 3 teams in third position and pot 4 teams in fourth position.[7]
The groups formed as a result of the draw were as follows:[9]
In the knockout stage, if a match is tied at the end of normal playing time, extra time will be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners (Regulations Article 12.11).[3]
Mexico (14th title)
United States
Santiago López
Olger Escobar
Anfronit Tatum
Gustavo Herrera
Yurdy Hodelin
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Haiti
Jamaica
52'
