2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship

2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship
Tournament details
Dates25 July – 9 August
Teams12 (from 1 confederation)
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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. The tournament will be held from 25 July through 9 August, though CONCACAF has not announced the host as of March 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

Format

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

  • Group stage: Twelve teams will be drawn into three groups of four teams to play single round-robin matches. Group winners, runners-up, 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 semifinals, 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]

Group stage

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 A1 A2 A3 A4
1 A1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage —
2 A2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 A3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage —
4 A4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played: July 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
v
v
v
v
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Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification B1 B2 B3 B4
1 B1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage —
2 B2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 B3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage —
4 B4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played: July 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
v
v
v
v
v
v

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification C1 C2 C3 C4
1 C1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage —
2 C2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
3 C3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Possible knockout stage —
4 C4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 —
First match(es) will be played: July 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
v
v
v
v
v
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Overall ranking of teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 A A1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage
2 B B1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 C C1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 A A2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage
5 B B2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 C C2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 A A3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Knockout stage
8 B B3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 C C3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 A A4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 B B4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 C C4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: July 2026. Source: CONCACAF
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Knockout stage

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

Bracket

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 August 2026 (2026-08)
 
 
 First group winner
 
 August 2026 (2026-08)
 
 Second group 3rd place
 
 Winner quarter-final #1
 
 August 2026 (2026-08)
 
 Winner quarter-final #4
 
 First group runner-up
 
 August 2026 (2026-08)
 
 Second group runner-up
 
 Winner Semi-final #1
 
 August 2026 (2026-08)
 
 Winner Semi-final #2
 
 Second group winner
 
 August 2026 (2026-08)
 
 First group 3rd place
 
 Winner quarter-final #2
 
 August 2026 (2026-08)
 
 Winner quarter-final #3
 
 Third group winner
 
 
 Third group runner-up
 

Quarter-finals

First group winnervSecond group 3rd place
Second group winnervFirst group 3rd place
Third group winnervThird group runner-up
First group runner-upvSecond group runner-up

Semi-finals

Winner QF #1vWinner QF #4
Winner QF #2vWinner QF #3

Final

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

Winner SF #1vWinner SF #2

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 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.

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.
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