2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup
2015 FIFA I Raro I Te 20 Marama O Te Ao
Tournament details
Host countryNew Zealand
Dates30 May – 20 June
Teams24 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)7 (in 7 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Serbia (2nd title)
Runners-up Brazil
Third place Mali
Fourth place Senegal
Tournament statistics
Matches played52
Goals scored154 (2.96 per match)
Attendance396,668 (7,628 per match)
Top scorer(s)Hungary Bence Mervó
Ukraine Viktor Kovalenko
(5 goals each)
Best player(s)Mali Adama Traoré
Best goalkeeperSerbia Predrag Rajković
Fair play award Ukraine
2013
2017

The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand,[1] the third time on Oceanian soil after Australia staged the 1981 and 1993 editions. A total of 52 matches were played in seven host cities.[2]

During the first meeting of the local organising committee in January 2013, provisional dates of 19 June to 11 July were given towards hosting of games, with a final decision on stadiums and cities originally meant to be taken in February 2013.[3] Two more postponements then followed.[4][5]

France, the 2013 champions, were unable to defend their title as they failed to reach the final round of the UEFA qualifying tournament.[6] In doing so, they became the fourth consecutive incumbent title holder to fail to qualify for the subsequent tournament.

Serbia won the final against Brazil 2–1, becoming the first team representing the country to win a FIFA competition title since their independence from Yugoslavia and the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro. Yugoslavia previously won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Host selection

[edit]

Four FIFA member associations officially submitted their bids to host the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup by the deadline of 11 February 2011.[7] On 3 March 2011, FIFA announced that the tournament would be held for the first time in New Zealand.[8][9] This is the third FIFA competition staged in this country, after the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship and the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[8]

Bidding member associations

Venues

[edit]

Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington and Whangārei were the 7 cities chosen to host the competition.[2]

Before the stadium announcements were made, Dunedin City council suggested in January 2013,[10] that it would not bid to host matches at Forsyth Barr Stadium (also known as Otago Stadium) unless the costs (an estimated $1m) could be lowered.[11] The stadium hosted seven matches there, the last of which being a Round of 16 game.[12]

Wellington Auckland New Plymouth
Wellington Regional Stadium North Harbour Stadium Stadium Taranaki
41°16′23″S 174°47′9″E / 41.27306°S 174.78583°E / -41.27306; 174.78583 (Wellington Regional Stadium) 36°43′37″S 174°42′6″E / 36.72694°S 174.70167°E / -36.72694; 174.70167 (North Harbour Stadium) 39°4′13″S 174°3′54″E / 39.07028°S 174.06500°E / -39.07028; 174.06500 (Stadium Taranaki)
Capacity: 35,187 Capacity: 25,317 Capacity: 25,000[13]
Dunedin
Otago Stadium
45°52′9″S 170°31′28″E / 45.86917°S 170.52444°E / -45.86917; 170.52444 (Otago Stadium)
Capacity: 23,095
Hamilton Christchurch Whangārei
Waikato Stadium Christchurch Stadium Northland Events Centre
37°46′52″S 175°16′6″E / 37.78111°S 175.26833°E / -37.78111; 175.26833 (Waikato Stadium) 43°32′37.32″S 172°36′14.76″E / 43.5437000°S 172.6041000°E / -43.5437000; 172.6041000 (Christchurch Stadium) 35°44′3″S 174°19′46″E / 35.73417°S 174.32944°E / -35.73417; 174.32944 (Northland Events Centre)
Capacity: 19,237 Capacity: 17,308 Capacity: 8,016

Qualified teams

[edit]

In addition to host nation New Zealand, 23 nations qualified from six separate continental competitions.

Confederation Qualifying Tournament Qualifier(s)
AFC (Asia) 2014 AFC U-19 Championship  Myanmar1
 North Korea
 Qatar
 Uzbekistan
CAF (Africa) 2015 African U-20 Championship  Ghana
 Mali
 Nigeria
 Senegal1
CONCACAF (North, Central America & Caribbean) 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship  Honduras
 Mexico
 Panama
 United States
CONMEBOL (South America) 2015 South American Youth Championship  Argentina
 Brazil
 Colombia
 Uruguay
OFC (Oceania) Host nation  New Zealand
2014 OFC U-20 Championship  Fiji1
UEFA (Europe) 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship  Austria
 Germany
 Hungary
 Portugal
 Serbia2
 Ukraine
1. ^ Teams that made their debut.
2. ^ Serbia made their first U-20 World Cup appearance as an independent nation. They were chosen as the descendant of the now-defunct Yugoslavia, which qualified in 1979 and 1987.

Draw and schedule

[edit]

The final draw was held on 10 February 2015, 17:30 local time, at the SkyCity Grand, Auckland.[14][15] For the draw, the 24 teams were divided into four seeding pots:[16]

  • Pot 1: Hosts and continental champions of five confederations (except OFC)
  • Pot 2: Remaining teams from AFC and CAF
  • Pot 3: Remaining teams from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL
  • Pot 4: Remaining teams from OFC and UEFA

As a basic principle, teams from the same confederation could not be drawn against each other at the group stage. As the CAF U-20 Championship was not completed at the time of the draw, a separate draw took place on 23 March 2015 in Dakar, Senegal, at the tournament's conclusion to determine the groups where the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed CAF teams would play in, to ensure there was no manipulation of games in the qualifying tournament ensuring fairness to all qualified teams.[17][18]

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

 New Zealand (Group A)
 Argentina (Group B)
 Qatar (Group C)
 Mexico (Group D)
 Nigeria (Group E)
 Germany (Group F)

 North Korea
 Myanmar
 Uzbekistan
 Mali
 Ghana
 Senegal

 Honduras
 Panama
 United States
 Brazil
 Colombia
 Uruguay

 Fiji
 Austria
 Hungary
 Portugal
 Serbia
 Ukraine

The schedule of the tournament was unveiled on 20 November 2013.[19]

Match officials

[edit]

A total of 21 referees, 6 support referees, and 42 assistant referees were selected for the tournament.[20][21]

Confederation Referee Assistant referees Support referee
AFC Japan Ryuji Sato Japan Akane Yagi
Japan Hiroshi Yamauchi
Singapore Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari
Saudi Arabia Fahad Al-Mirdasi Oman Abu Bakar Al-Amri
Saudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Shalawi
South Korea Kim Jong-hyeok South Korea Yoon Kwang-yeol
South Korea Yang Byoung-eun
CAF Egypt Gehad Grisha Eritrea Berhe Tesfagiorghis
Sudan Waleed Ahmed
Ghana Joseph Lamptey
Gabon Eric Otogo-Castane Cameroon Elvis Noupue
Niger Yahaya Mahamadou
Seychelles Bernard Camille Ivory Coast Marius Tan
South Africa Zakhele Siwela
CONCACAF Costa Rica Henry Bejarano Costa Rica Carlos Fernández
Costa Rica Octavio Jara
Honduras Armando Castro
Mexico César Ramos Mexico Alberto Morín
Mexico Miguel Hernández
Panama John Pitti Panama Gabriel Victoria
Panama Juan Baynes
CONMEBOL Argentina Mauro Vigliano Argentina Ezequiel Brailovsky
Argentina Iván Núñez
Venezuela Jesús Valenzuela
Brazil Ricardo Marques Brazil Bruno Boschilia
Brazil Kléber Gil
Ecuador Roddy Zambrano Ecuador Juan Macias
Ecuador Luis Vera
Uruguay Daniel Fedorczuk Uruguay Nicolás Taran
Uruguay Richard Trinidad
OFC New Zealand Matt Conger New Zealand Simon Lount
Tonga Tevita Makasini
New Zealand Nick Waldron
UEFA Croatia Ivan Bebek Croatia Miro Grgić
Croatia Tomislav Petrović
Israel Liran Liany
Germany Felix Zwayer Germany Marco Achmüller
Germany Thorsten Schiffner
Hungary István Vad Hungary István Albert
Hungary Vencel Tóth
Italy Daniele Orsato Italy Lorenzo Manganelli
Italy Mauro Tonolini
Portugal Artur Soares Dias Portugal Álvaro Carvalho
Portugal Rui Tavares
Romania Ovidiu Hațegan Romania Octavian Șovre
Romania Sebastian Gheorghe
Spain Antonio Mateu Lahoz Spain Pau Cebrián Devis
Spain Roberto Díaz Pérez

Squads

[edit]

The 24 squads were officially announced by FIFA on 21 May 2015.[22][23] Each participating national association had to submit a final list of 21 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) at least 10 days before the tournament started. These players were shortlisted from a provisional list of 35 players, including a minimum of four goalkeepers.[24] All players must have been born on or after 1 January 1995.[24] If a player listed in the final squad suffered a serious injury up until 24 hours before the kick-off of his team's first match, he could be replaced by a player from the provisional list with the approval of FIFA's medical and organising committees.[24]

In July 2015, it was reported that the New Zealand squad had included an ineligible player, South African Deklan Wynne not having completed the requisite period of residence in New Zealand.[25]

Group stage

[edit]
Stages reached by each team

The winners and runners-up of each group and the best four third-placed teams advanced to the round of 16.[24] The rankings of teams in each group were determined as follows:

  1. points obtained in all group matches;
  2. goal difference in all group matches;
  3. number of goals scored in all group matches;

If two or more teams were equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings were determined as follows:

  1. points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  2. goal difference in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  3. number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  4. drawing of lots by the FIFA Organising Committee.

All times are local, New Zealand Standard Time (UTC+12).[26]

Group A

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Group stage result
1  Ukraine 3 2 1 0 9 0 +9 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  United States 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
3  New Zealand (H) 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4
4  Myanmar 3 0 0 3 2 13 −11 0
Source: FIFA
(H) Hosts
New Zealand 0–0 Ukraine
Report
United States 2–1 Myanmar
Tall 17'
Hyndman 56'
Report Yan Naing Oo 9'

Myanmar 0–6 Ukraine
Report Yaremchuk 51'
Luchkevych 54'
Kovalenko 57', 77'
Sobol 68'
Besyedin 71'
New Zealand 0–4 United States
Report Jamieson 6'
Hyndman 33'
Arriola 57'
Rubin 83'

Myanmar 1–5 New Zealand
Aung Thu 27' Report Billingsley 40'
Patterson 47'
Stevens 78'
Brotherton 81'
Lewis 89'
Ukraine 3–0 United States
Kovalenko 56', 74', 79' Report

Group B

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Group stage result
1  Ghana 3 2 1 0 5 3 +2 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Austria 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 5
3  Argentina 3 0 2 1 4 5 −1 2
4  Panama 3 0 1 2 3 5 −2 1
Source: FIFA
Argentina 2–2 Panama
Correa 14', 79' Report Rodríguez 19'
Escobar 84'
Ghana 1–1 Austria
Y. Yeboah 90+1' (pen.) Report Gschweidl 50'

Austria 2–1 Panama
Hormechea 45+1' (o.g.)
Grubeck 51'
Report Escobar 38'
Argentina 2–3 Ghana
Simeone 80'
Buendía 90'
Report B. Tetteh 44'
Aboagye 59'
Y. Yeboah 69' (pen.)

Austria 0–0 Argentina
Report
Panama 0–1 Ghana
Report Boateng 82'

Group C

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Group stage result
1  Portugal 3 3 0 0 10 1 +9 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Colombia 3 1 1 1 3 4 −1 4
3  Senegal 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4
4  Qatar 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0
Source: FIFA
Qatar 0–1 Colombia
Report Rodríguez 24'
Attendance: 7,461
Portugal 3–0 Senegal
Martins 1'
Silva 90'
Santos 90+3'
Report
Attendance: 10,362
Referee: César Ramos (Mexico)

Qatar 0–4 Portugal
Report Silva 34'
Rodrigues 42', 66'
Vigário 74'
Attendance: 1,864
Senegal 1–1 Colombia
Thiam 23' Report Zapata 43' (pen.)
Attendance: 3,981
Referee: István Vad (Hungary)

Senegal 2–1 Qatar
Sylla 76'
Wagué 81'
Report Afif 17' (pen.)
Attendance: 3,791
Colombia 1–3 Portugal
Borré 74' Report Santos 3'
Silva 55' (pen.), 67'
Attendance: 6,950

Group D

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Group stage result
1  Serbia 3 2 0 1 4 1 +3 6 Advance to knockout stage
2  Uruguay 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4[a]
3  Mali 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4[a]
4  Mexico 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3
Source: FIFA
Notes:
  1. ^ a b The final positions of Mali and Uruguay were decided by drawing of lots, conducted in Auckland and witnessed by both teams via a live video link, which placed Uruguay in second and Mali in third.[27] Both teams had advanced to the round of 16.
Mexico 0–2 Mali
Report A. Traoré 77'
Gbakle 79'
Attendance: 4,299
Uruguay 1–0 Serbia
Pereiro 56' Report
Attendance: 6,048
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Mexico 2–1 Uruguay
Lozano 71'
Gutiérrez 90+3'
Report Suárez 83'
Attendance: 2,038
Serbia 2–0 Mali
S. Milinković-Savić 27'
Mandić 74'
Report
Attendance: 4,012

Serbia 2–0 Mexico
Maksimović 2'
Živković 43'
Report
Attendance: 9,248
Mali 1–1 Uruguay
A. Traoré 44' Report Acosta 17'

Group E

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Group stage result
1  Brazil 3 3 0 0 9 3 +6 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Nigeria 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6
3  Hungary 3 1 0 2 6 5 +1 3
4  North Korea 3 0 0 3 1 12 −11 0
Source: FIFA
Nigeria 2–4 Brazil
Success 10'
Yahaya 28'
Report Gabriel Jesus 4'
Judivan 34', 82'
Boschilia 59'
North Korea 1–5 Hungary
Choe Ju-song 32' Report Mervó 17', 49', 82'
Kalmár 33'
Forgács 60'

Nigeria 4–0 North Korea
Saviour 48', 51'
Sokari 71'
Success 80'
Report
Hungary 1–2 Brazil
Mervó 8' Report Danilo 50'
A. Pereira 86' (pen.)

Hungary 0–2 Nigeria
Report Awoniyi 33', 54'
Brazil 3–0 North Korea
Min Hyo-song 60' (o.g.)
Jean Carlos 66'
L. Pereira 86'
Report

Group F

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Group stage result
1  Germany 3 3 0 0 16 2 +14 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Uzbekistan 3 1 0 2 6 7 −1 3
3  Honduras 3 1 0 2 5 11 −6 3
4  Fiji 3 1 0 2 4 11 −7 3
Source: FIFA
Germany 8–1 Fiji
Stark 18', 27'
Stendera 20' (pen.)
Prömel 23'
Mukhtar 34', 40', 89' (pen.)
Stefaniak 68'
Report Verevou 48'
Uzbekistan 3–4 Honduras
Khamdamov 31'
Shomurodov 79'
Urinboev 90+6'
Report Benavídez 4'
Róchez 20', 90+2'
Álvarez 49'

Honduras 0–3 Fiji
Report Verevou 14'
Waqa 19'
Álvarez 45' (o.g.)
Germany 3–0 Uzbekistan
Stendera 33', 85'
Akpoguma 59'
Report

Honduras 1–5 Germany
Schwäbe 19' (o.g.) Report Stendera 2' (pen.)
Brandt 30'
Mukhtar 50'
Prömel 62'
Stark 81'
Fiji 0–3 Uzbekistan
Report Shomurodov 62'
Urinboev 63'
Kosimov 90+3'

Ranking of third-placed teams

[edit]

The four best ranked third-placed teams also advanced to the round of 16. They were paired with the winners of groups A, B, C and D, according to a table published in Section 18 of the tournament regulations.[24]

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Result
1 A  New Zealand (H) 3 1 1 1 5 5 0 4 Advance to knockout stage
2 D  Mali 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
3 C  Senegal 3 1 1 1 3 5 −2 4
4 E  Hungary 3 1 0 2 6 5 +1 3
5 F  Honduras 3 1 0 2 5 11 −6 3
6 B  Argentina 3 0 2 1 4 5 −1 2
Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) lots drawn by FIFA.
(H) Hosts

Knockout stage

[edit]

In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of regular time (two periods of 45 minutes), extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. In the case of the third place match, as it was played just before the final, extra time was skipped and a penalty shoot-out took place if necessary.[24]

 
Round of 16Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
              
 
11 June — New Plymouth
 
 
 Brazil (pen.)0 (5)
 
14 June — Hamilton
 
 Uruguay0 (4)
 
 Brazil (pen.)0 (3)
 
11 June — Hamilton
 
 Portugal0 (1)
 
 Portugal2
 
17 June — Christchurch
 
 New Zealand1
 
 Brazil5
 
11 June — Whangārei
 
 Senegal0
 
 Austria0
 
14 June — Wellington
 
 Uzbekistan2
 
 Uzbekistan0
 
10 June — Auckland
 
 Senegal1
 
 Ukraine1 (1)
 
20 June — Auckland
 
 Senegal (pen.)1 (3)
 
 Brazil1
 
10 June — Wellington
 
 Serbia (a.e.t.)2
 
 United States1
 
14 June — Auckland
 
 Colombia0
 
 United States0 (5)
 
10 June — Dunedin
 
 Serbia (pen.)0 (6)
 
 Serbia (a.e.t.)2
 
17 June — Auckland
 
 Hungary1
 
 Serbia (a.e.t.)2
 
10 June — Wellington
 
 Mali1 Third place
 
 Ghana0
 
14 June — Christchurch20 June — Auckland
 
 Mali3
 
 Mali (pen.)1 (4) Senegal1
 
11 June — Christchurch
 
 Germany1 (3)  Mali3
 
 Germany1
 
 
 Nigeria0
 
Combinations of matches in the Round of 16

The third-placed teams which advanced to the round of 16 were placed with the winners of groups A, B, C and D according to a table published in Section 18 of the tournament regulations.[24]

  Combination according to the four qualified teams
Third teams qualify from groups: 1A plays against: 1B plays against: 1C plays against: 1D plays against:
A B C D 3C 3D 3A 3B
A B C E 3C 3A 3B 3E
A B C F 3C 3A 3B 3F
A B D E 3D 3A 3B 3E
A B D F 3D 3A 3B 3F
A B E F 3E 3A 3B 3F
A C D E 3C 3D 3A 3E
A C D F 3C 3D 3A 3F
A C E F 3C 3A 3F 3E
A D E F 3D 3A 3F 3E
B C D E 3C 3D 3B 3E
B C D F 3C 3D 3B 3F
B C E F 3E 3C 3B 3F
B D E F 3E 3D 3B 3F
C D E F 3C 3D 3F 3E

Round of 16

[edit]
Ghana 0–3 Mali
Report Samassékou 20'
Gbakle 53'
Doumbia 81'

Serbia 2–1 (a.e.t.) Hungary
Šaponjić 90+1'
Talaber 118' (o.g.)
Report Mervó 57'
Attendance: 5,149

United States 1–0 Colombia
Rubin 58' Report


Austria 0–2 Uzbekistan
Report Khamdamov 47', 57'

Germany 1–0 Nigeria
Öztunalı 19' Report

Portugal 2–1 New Zealand
Guzzo 24'
Martins 87'
Report Holthusen 64'

Quarter-finals

[edit]



Uzbekistan 0–1 Senegal
Report Thiam 77'

Semi-finals

[edit]
Brazil 5–0 Senegal
Correa 5' (o.g.)
Marcos Guilherme 7', 78'
Boschilia 19'
Jorge 35'
Report

Serbia 2–1 (a.e.t.) Mali
Živković 4'
Šaponjić 101'
Report Koné 39'

Third place match

[edit]
Senegal 1–3 Mali
Wadji 64' Report A. Traoré 74', 83'
Samassékou 90+1'
Attendance: 12,421
Referee: Gehad Grisha (Egypt)

Final

[edit]
Brazil 1–2 (a.e.t.) Serbia
A. Pereira 73' Report Mandić 70'
Maksimović 118'

Awards

[edit]

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.[28] They were all sponsored by Adidas, except for the FIFA Fair Play Award.

Golden Ball Silver Ball Bronze Ball
Mali Adama Traoré Brazil Danilo Serbia Sergej Milinković-Savić
Golden Boot Silver Boot Bronze Boot
Ukraine Viktor Kovalenko Hungary Bence Mervó Germany Marc Stendera
5 goals, 2 assists 5 goals, 0 assists 4 goals, 4 assists
Golden Glove
Serbia Predrag Rajković
FIFA Fair Play Award
 Ukraine

Goalscorers

[edit]

With five goals, Viktor Kovalenko and Bence Mervó were the top scorers in the tournament. In total, 154 goals were scored by 100 different players, with six of them credited as own goals.

5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals