2026 South American U-17 Championship

2026 South American U-17 Championship
CONMEBOL Sudamericano Sub-17 Paraguay 2026
Tournament details
Host countryParaguay
Dates3–19 April
Teams10 (from 1 confederation)
Venue2 (in 2 host cities)
← 2025
2027 →

The 2026 South American U-17 Championship will be the 21st edition of the South American U-17 Championship (Spanish: CONMEBOL Sudamericano Sub-17, Portuguese: CONMEBOL Sul-Americano Sub-17), the annual international youth football championship organised by CONMEBOL for the men's under-17 national teams of South America. It will be held in Paraguay from 3 to 19 April 2025.[1][2]

As in the previous edition, the tournament served as the CONMEBOL qualifiers for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The top 7 teams qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar as the CONMEBOL representatives.

Brazil are the defending champions.

Host and venues

Paraguay was chosen as the host country for the tournament during the CONMEBOL Council meeting held on 26 February 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[3][4] Previously, reports indicated that Chile had also requested to host the event, a proposal that ultimately did not succeed.[5]

This will be the fourth time that Paraguay hosts the tournament having previously done so in 1991, 1997 and 2015.

Teams

All ten CONMEBOL member national teams are eligible to enter the tournament.

Team Appearance Previous best performance
 Argentina 21st Champions (4 times, most recent 2019)
 Bolivia 21st Champions (1 time, 1986)
 Brazil (holders) 21st Champions (14 times, most recent 2025)
 Chile 21st Runners-up (3 times, most recent 2019)
 Colombia 21st Champions (1 time, 1993)
 Ecuador 20th Third place (4 times, most recent 2015)
 Paraguay (hosts) 20th Runners-up (1 time, 1999)
 Peru 21st Fourth place (1 time, 2007)
 Uruguay 21st Runners-up (3 times, most recent 2011)
 Venezuela 21st Runners-up (1 time, 2013)

Squads

Each team could register a squad of a minimum of 19 and a maximum of 23 players, including at least 3 goalkeepers. Players born between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2011 (ages 15 to 17) were eligible to compete in the tournament (Regulations Articles 47 and 50).

Draw

The draw of the tournament was held on 10 March 2026, 12:00 PYT (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL headquarters in Luque, Paraguay with the ten teams being drawn into two groups of five.[6] The hosts Colombia and defending champions Brazil were seeded into Group A and Group B respectively and assigned to position 1 in their group, while the remaining teams were placed into four "pairing pots" according to their results in the 2025 South American U-17 Championship (shown in brackets).[6]

Seeded Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  •  Paraguay (6) (Hosts, assigned to A1)
  •  Brazil (1) (Title holders, assigned to B1)

From each pot, the first team drawn was placed into Group A and the second team drawn was placed into Group B. In both groups, teams from pot 1 were allocated in position 2, teams from pot 2 in position 3, teams from pot 3 in position 4 and teams from pot 4 in position 5.[7]

The draw resulted in the following groups:[8]

Group A
Pos Team
A1  Paraguay
A2  Colombia
A3  Chile
A4  Ecuador
A5  Uruguay
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Brazil
B2  Venezuela
B3  Argentina
B4  Bolivia
B5  Peru

Match officials

On 17 March 2026, the CONMEBOL Referee Commission announced a total of 10 referees and 20 assistant referees appointed for the tournament.[9][10]

Group stage

The top two teams in each group advanced to the final four, the next two teams advanced to the 5th–8th places play-offs and the two bottom teams were eliminated.

Tiebreakers

In the group stage, teams were ranked according to points earned (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 20):

  1. Head-to-head result between tied teams;
    • Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
    • Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
    • Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in all group matches;
  3. Goals scored in all group matches;
  4. Fewest red cards received;
  5. Fewest yellow cards received;
  6. Drawing of lots.

All match times are local times, PYT (UTC−3), as listed by CONMEBOL.[11]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Paraguay (H) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Final four and
2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2  Colombia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Chile 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th–8th places
4  Ecuador 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5  Uruguay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 3 April 2026. Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Uruguay Match 2 Chile
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Paraguay Match 1 Ecuador
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Ecuador Match 6 Colombia
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Uruguay Match 5 Paraguay
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Ecuador Match 10 Uruguay
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Colombia Match 9 Chile
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Colombia Match 14 Uruguay
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Chile Match 13 Paraguay
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Paraguay Match 17 Colombia
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Chile Match 18 Ecuador
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Brazil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Final four and
2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2  Venezuela 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3  Argentina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5th–8th places
4  Bolivia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5  Peru 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
First match(es) will be played: 4 April 2026. Source:
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Peru Match 4 Argentina
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Brazil Match 3 Bolivia
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Bolivia Match 8 Venezuela
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Peru Match 7 Brazil
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Bolivia Match 12 Peru
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Venezuela Match 11 Argentina
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Venezuela Match 16 Peru
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Argentina Match 15 Brazil
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Brazil Match 19 Venezuela
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Argentina Match 20 Bolivia
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané

Final stage

The final stage will be played on a single-elimination basis and consists of the 5th–8th play-offs matches, semi-finals, third place match and final. If a match was level at the end of normal playing time, the winner would be decided directly by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time will be played).

All match times are local times, PYT (UTC−3), as listed by CONMEBOL.

5th–8th places

The 5th–8th semi-finals matchups are:

  • Group A third place vs Group B fourth place
  • Group B third place vs Group A fourth place
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
15 April – Villeta
 
 
Group A third place
 
18 April – Villeta
 
Group B fourth place
 
Winner match 21
 
15 April – Villeta
 
Winner match 22
 
Group B third place
 
 
Group A fourth place
 
Third place
 
 
18 April – Villeta
 
 
Loser match 21
 
 
Loser match 22

5th–8th semi-finals

Winners qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Group A third placeMatch 21Group B fourth place
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta
Group B third placeMatch 22Group A fourth place
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta

Seventh place match

Winner qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Losers match 21Match 25Losers match 22
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta

Fifth place match

Winners match 21Match 26Winners match 22
Estadio Ameliano, Villeta

Final four

The semi-finals matchups are:

  • Semi-final 1 (SF1): Group A winners vs Group B runners-up
  • Semi-final 2 (SF2): Group B winners vs Group A runners-up
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
16 April – Ypané
 
 
Group A winners
 
19 April – Ypané
 
Group B runners-up
 
Winner SF1
 
16 April – Ypané
 
Winner SF2
 
Group B winners
 
 
Group A runners-up
 
Third place
 
 
19 April – Ypané
 
 
Loser SF1
 
 
Loser SF2

Semi-finals

Group A winnersMatch 23Group B runners-up
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané
Group B winnersMatch 24Group A runners-up
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané

Third place match

Losers match 23Match 27Losers match 24
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané

Final

Winners match 23Match 28Winners match 24
Estadio CARFEM, Ypané

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following seven teams from CONMEBOL will qualify for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1
April 2026
April 2026
April 2026
April 2026
15 April 2026
15 April 2026
18 April 2026
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

References

  1. ^ "Calendario de Competiciones: Torneos CONMEBOL 2026" [Competitions Schedule: 2026 CONMEBOL Tournaments] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 28 July 2025.
  2. ^ "Actualización del Calendario de Competiciones: Torneos CONMEBOL 2026" [Competition Schedule Update: CONMEBOL Tournaments 2026] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 26 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Torneos continentales en Paraguay" [Continental tournaments in Paraguay] (in Spanish). Paraguayan Football Association. 26 February 2026.
  4. ^ "Se llevó a cabo el Consejo de la Conmebol y quedaron definidas las sedes de los torneos para el 2026" [The CONMEBOL Council meeting was held and the venues for the 2026 tournaments were decided] (in Spanish). Doble Amarilla. 26 February 2026.
  5. ^ "Van por todo: Chile postula ante Conmebol para organizar dos Sudamericanos Sub 17" [They're going all out: Chile applies to Conmebol to host two South American Under-17 Championships] (in Spanish). RedGol. 30 January 2026.
  6. ^ a b "Sorteo de grupos para la CONMEBOL Sub17 2026" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 6 March 2026.
  7. ^ "EN VIVO | SORTEO | CONMEBOL SUB 17 2026" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 10 March 2026 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ "Grupos definidos para la CONMEBOL Sub17 2026" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 10 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Árbitros convocados para la CONMEBOL Sub17 2026" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 17 March 2026.
  10. ^ "Convocatoria de Árbitros Sub17 2026" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 17 March 2026.
  11. ^ "CONMEBOL SUB17 2026 Calendario de partidos" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 13 March 2026.
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