2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship

2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship
Campeonato Sub-20 de la Concacaf 2026
Tournament details
Host countryMexico
Dates25 July – 9 August
Teams12 (from 1 confederation)
Venue3 (in 2 host cities)
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2028 →

The 2026 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will be the ninth edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, the biennial men's international under-20 association football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It will be held in Mexico from 25 July to 9 August 2026.

As with the 2024 edition, 12 teams will compete in three groups of four teams each followed by an eight-team knockout round. The tournament results will determine CONCACAF's representatives at the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, and 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.[1]

Qualification

Main article: 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying

CONCACAF announced the qualification format in November 2025. As the six highest-ranked Under-20 teams in CONCACAF, the United States, Mexico, Honduras, Panama, Cuba, and Guatemala received byes to the final tournament.[2] Thirty-two teams were drawn into six groups to play single round-robin matches with the six group winners qualifying.[3]

Qualified teams[a]
Received bye to final tournament Entered through qualifying
  1. ^ CONCACAF U-20 ranking is in parentheses

Venues

500km
311miles
Location of the host cities of the 2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship.

On 7 May 2026, CONCACAF released the match schedule and list of venues after the group draw.

Puebla Mexico City
Estadio Universitario BUAP Estadio Cuauhtémoc Estadio Banorte
Capacity: 19,283[4] Capacity: 51,726[5] Capacity: 87,523[6]

Format

CONCACAF announced the tournament format in November 2026 (Sections 12.5–12.10):[1]

  • Group stage: Twelve teams were drawn into three groups of four teams to play single round-robin matches. The winners and runners-up from each group and the two highest-ranked third-place teams will advance to the knockout stage.
  • Knockout stage: The eight teams advancing from the group stage will be seeded with group winners ranked 1–3, runners-up 4–6, and third-place teams 7 and 8. The first- and eighth-seeded teams, the second- and seventh-seeded teams, the third- and sixth-seeded teams, and the fourth- and fifth-seeded teams will face off in quarter-finals 1–4, respectively. The winners of quarter-finals 1 and 4, and the winners of quarter-finals 2 and 3 will meet in the semi-finals, with the winners of those matches contesting the final.

The tournament will determine the CONCACAF participants in the following tournaments (Sections 5.2–5.3):[1]

Draw

On 7 May 2026, CONCACAF held the group stage draw. The 12 qualified teams were divided into four pots of three teams each based on the CONCACAF ranking prior to qualification. Teams were drawn from Pot 1 into Groups A, B and C, in order, followed by teams from Pots 2, 3 and 4.

Draw pots[a]
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  1. ^ Numbers in parentheses indicate the CONCACAF ranking prior to qualification

Group stage

Group stage matches will be held from 24 July to 1 August. All match times are UTC-6.

Tiebreakers

Teams will be ranked on the following criteria (Section 12.7):[1]

  1. Greater number of points obtained in all matches
  2. Greater overall goal difference
  3. Greater overall number of goals scored

If two or more teams are tied, the following criteria will be applied:

  1. Greater number of points scored in matches between the tied teams
  2. Greater goal difference in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams are tied)
  3. Greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams are tied)
  4. Lower number of disciplinary points:
    • First yellow card: 1 point
    • Second yellow card/indirect red card: 3 points
    • Direct red card: 4 points
    • Yellow card and direct red card: 5 points
  5. Higher ranking in the CONCACAF Under-20 ranking published most recently before qualification started

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage — 31 Jul — 25 Jul
2  Cuba 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — 25 Jul —
3  El Salvador 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage 28 Jul — — 31 Jul
4  Haiti 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 28 Jul — —
First match(es) will be played: 25 July 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Cuba v El Salvador
United States v Haiti
Haiti v Cuba
El Salvador v United States
El Salvador v Haiti
United States v Cuba

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Mexico (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage — 30 Jul — 24 Jul
2  Guatemala 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — 24 Jul —
3  Costa Rica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage 27 Jul — — 30 Jul
4  Antigua and Barbuda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 27 Jul — —
First match(es) will be played: 24 July 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Guatemala v Costa Rica
Mexico v Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda v Guatemala
Costa Rica v Mexico
Costa Rica v Antigua and Barbuda
Mexico v Guatemala

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Honduras 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage — 1 Aug — 26 Jul
2  Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — 26 Jul —
3  Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage 29 Jul — — 1 Aug
4  Jamaica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 29 Jul — —
First match(es) will be played: 26 July 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Panama v Canada
Honduras v Jamaica
Jamaica v Panama
Canada v Honduras
Canada v Jamaica
Honduras v Panama

Overall ranking of teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 A  United States 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage
2 B  Mexico 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 C  Honduras 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 A  Cuba 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage
5 B  Guatemala 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 C  Panama 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 A  El Salvador 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage
8 B  Costa Rica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 C  Canada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 A  Haiti 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 B  Antigua and Barbuda 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 C  Jamaica 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 24 July 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Knockout stage

The eight teams advancing from the group stage will play a single-elimination tournament.

All match times are UTC-6

Bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 4 August – Puebla (Cuauhtémoc)
 
 
 First group runner-up
 
 7 August – Mexico City
 
 Second group runner-up
 
 Winner Match 19
 
 4 August – Puebla (Cuauhtémoc)
 
 Winner Match 20
 
 First group winner
 
 9 August – Mexico City
 
 Second group 3rd place
 
 Winner Match 23
 
 5 August – Puebla (Cuauhtémoc)
 
 Winner Match 24
 
 Second group winner
 
 7 August – Mexico City
 
 First group 3rd place
 
 Winner Match 21
 
 5 August – Puebla (Cuauhtémoc)
 
 Winner Match 22
 
 Third group winner
 
 
 Third group runner-up
 

Quarter-finals

Winners qualify for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

First group runner-upMatch 19Second group runner-up
First group winnerMatch 20Second group 3rd place
Third group winnerMatch 21Third group runner-up
Second group winnerMatch 22First group 3rd place

Semi-finals

Winner Match 19Match 23Winner Match 20
Winner Match 21Match 24Winner Match 22

Final

The winner will qualify for the 2027 Pan American Games and the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Winner Match 23Match 25Winner Match 24

Qualification for international tournaments

Qualified teams for FIFA U-20 World Cup

The following four teams will qualify for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA U-20 World Cup[a]
TBD 2026
TBD 2026
TBD 2026
TBD 2026
  1. ^ Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Qualified teams for Pan American Games

The following four teams will qualify for the 2027 Pan American Games.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in Pan American Games[a]
TBD 2026
TBD 2026
TBD 2026
TBD 2026
  1. ^ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

Qualified teams for 2028 Summer Olympics

The following two teams will qualify for the 2028 Summer Olympics, including the United States, who qualified as hosts.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in Summer Olympics[a]
 United States 13 September 2017 15 (1904, 1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1972, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2024)[b]
TBD August 2026
  1. ^ Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
  2. ^ The United States qualified for the 1980 Olympics, but led a boycott of the Games and were replaced by Cuba.

Notes

  1. ^ As all teams taking part are FIFA-affiliated, the four semi-finalists will qualify.
  2. ^ As all teams taking part are IOC-affiliated, the tournament champion or, if the winner is the United States, the runner-up will qualify.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "CONCACAF Under-20 Championship Regulations 2026" (PDF). CONCACAF. 26 November 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  2. ^ "Key Details Announced for 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers". concacaf.com. CONCACAF. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Draw Reveals Groups for 2026 Concacaf U-20 Qualifiers". concacaf.com. CONCACAF. 6 November 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
  4. ^ Aguilar, César (26 May 2017). "De panzazo cumple Lobos el requisito por Estadio BUAP" (in Spanish). Diario Cambio. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
  5. ^ Guzmán Uribe, Edgar (13 November 2015). "Con remodelación, Estadio Cuauhtémoc es cuarto con mayor capacidad" (in Spanish). Ángulo 7. Archived from the original on 16 November 2015.
  6. ^ "2026 FIFA World Cup Bid Book" (PDF). p. 161. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
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