2026 CONCACAF U-20 Championship
International association football tournament
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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.
| Campeonato Sub-20 de la Concacaf 2026 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Mexico |
| Dates | 25 July – 9 August |
| Teams | 12 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venues | 3 (in 2 host cities) |
← 2024 2028 → | |
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
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]
| Received bye to final tournament | Entered through qualifying |
|---|---|
|
- CONCACAF U-20 ranking is in parentheses
Venues
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]
- The four highest-placed teams affiliated with FIFA will qualify for the 2027 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[A]
- The tournament champion and the highest-placed teams from the Caribbean, Central American, and North American regions will qualify for the 2027 Pan American Games.
- The highest-placed team affiliated with the IOC will qualify for the 2028 Olympics. If that team is the United States, which has qualified as the host nation, then the second-highest placed team will qualify.[B]
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.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
- 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]
- Greater number of points obtained in all matches
- Greater overall goal difference
- Greater overall number of goals scored
If two or more teams are tied, the following criteria will be applied:
- Greater number of points scored in matches between the tied teams
- Greater goal difference in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams are tied)
- Greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams are tied)
- 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
- 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 | — | — |
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 | — | — |
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Group C
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 |
Knockout stage
The eight teams advancing from the group stage will play a single-elimination tournament.
All match times are UTC-6
Bracket
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 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-up | Match 19 | Second group runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| First group winner | Match 20 | Second group 3rd place |
|---|---|---|
| Third group winner | Match 21 | Third group runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| Second group winner | Match 22 | First group 3rd place |
|---|---|---|
Semi-finals
| Winner Match 19 | Match 23 | Winner Match 20 |
|---|---|---|
| Winner Match 21 | Match 24 | Winner Match 22 |
|---|---|---|
Final
The winner will qualify for the 2027 Pan American Games and the 2028 Summer Olympics.
| Winner Match 23 | Match 25 | Winner 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 |
- 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 |
- 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.
- Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
- The United States qualified for the 1980 Olympics, but led a boycott of the Games and were replaced by Cuba.
Notes
- As all teams taking part are IOC-affiliated, the tournament champion or, if the winner is the United States, the runner-up will qualify.