Colombia Under 20 World Cup

The Colombia Under 20 World Cup kicks off on 29 July and is the first FIFA World Cup to be staged in Colombia. The tournament will take place over three weeks with the final being played on 20 August.

Latest News and Results from the FIFA Under 20 World Cup.



The Under 20 World Cup is a tournament in which South American and African countries typically excel. Unfortunately the competition is not taken as seriously by the big European nations as it tends to overlap with the beginning of the new domestic season and comes just a month after the European Under 20 championships (which in 2011 were held in Denmark.)

See the official video for the 2011 FIFA Under 20 World Cup in Colombia:



24 teams will participate in the Colombia Under 20 World Cup with all six continents represented. Teams are divided into six groups with each team playing each other once:

Group A Colombia France Mali South Korea

Group B Portugal Uruguay Cameroun New Zealand

Group C Australia Ecuador Costa Rica Spain

Group D Croatia Saudi Arabia Nigeria Guatemala

Group E Brazil Egypt Austria Panama

Group F Argentina Mexico England North Korea

Games will be played at eight stadiums in eight cities throughout the country each of which has been renovated for the tournament.

The final will be played in the Capital city of Bogota. The city will also host all three of Colombia's Group A matches.

The mountain capital Medellin will stage one of the semi-finals as well as be the base for England and Argentina.

Colombia's salsa capital Cali will be the base for Uruguay and Portugal, as well as staging a quarter final.

The country's coffee region provides three more cities. Spain will be based in the city of Manizales, Nigeria and Croatia in Armenia, and the city of Pereira will stage a quarter final and semi final match.

The final two venues are situated on the Caribbean coast. The stunning colonial city of Cartagena will host a quarter final match, and Barranquilla will provide a base for Brazil in the group stages.

All 8 stadiums to be used during the Colombia Under 20 World Cup have been renovated ready for the tournament. Some, such as the Estadio Atanasio Giradot (Medellin) and Estadio Palogrande (Manizales) have undergone only minor works, whereas some stadiums have undergone complete makeovers such as the Estadio Hernan Ramirez Villegas (Pereira) and the Estadio Jaime Moron (Cartagena).

See my complete guide to Colombian Football Stadiums.

Argentina and Mexico in action on the first day of the Under 20 World Cup

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