The 2024 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is scheduled to be 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 will be held in Mexico, in the cities of Celaya and Irapuato, from 18 July to 4 August 2024.[1]
The tournament features a reduction in the number of participating teams following the format changes adopted by CONCACAF in February 2023. It will be contested by 12 teams instead of the 20 that participated in previous editions.[2]
Same as previous editions, the tournament will act as the CONCACAF qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The top four teams of the tournament (the four semi-finalists) will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as the CONCACAF representatives.
The United States are 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.
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.
The draw for the groups composition was held on 11 April 2024, 12:00 EDT (UTC−4), at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami, Florida.[5] 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),[6] with the six teams that entered directly into the group stage beeing placed into pots 1 and 2 and the six teams coming from the qualifying process being placed into pots 3 and 4.[5]
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.[5]
The groups formed as a result of the draw were as follows:[7]
If two or more teams are still tied after applying the above criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows:
Points obtained in matches played between the tied teams.
Goal difference in matches played between the tied teams.
Number of goals scored in matches played between the tied teams.
Lower number of disciplinary points based on the number of yellow and red cards in all group matches, according the following additions:
Yellow card: 1 point
Indirect red card (second yellow card): 3 points
Direct red card: 4 points
Yellow card and direct red card: 5 points
Drawing of lots.
The fixture list was confirmed by CONCACAF on 11 April 2024, after the draw.[8] All kick-off times are local times, CST (UTC−6), as listed by CONCACAF.
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]
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United States (title holders)
Honduras
Mexico (hosts)
Panama
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Cuba
El Salvador
Guatemala
Canada
Haiti
Jamaica