Jim Brown, FIFA Director of Competitions, holds up Canada's name at the draw for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Toronto. ( Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)
Soccer
Canada welcomes the world
Canada opens against Chile at this summer's FIFA Under-20 World Cup
Last Updated Sat., March 3, 2007
By John F. Molinaro, CBC Sports
The eyes of the soccer world were focused on Canada when the draw for this summer's FIFA Under-20 World Cup took place Saturday in Toronto.
Canada was drawn into Group A (along with Chile, Congo and Austria) and will play its first game against Chile on July 1.
The Canadian men will play in Toronto's new BMO Field on the national holiday and then move to Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium for Group A games against Austria on July 5 and Congo on July 8.
"Chile are an outstanding technical team," said Canadian coach Dale Mitchell. "…They're traditionally the third-best of South America at this level."
Congo qualified as Africa's champs, while Austria finished fourth of the six European teams that made the cut.
"It was always going to be three tough games for us," said Mitchell. "It could always be a little bit worse, but it also could have been a little bit better."
All six groups (site of games in brackets)
Group A (Edmonton): Canada, Chile, Congo, Austria
Group B (Burnaby): Spain, Uruguay, Jordan, Zambia
Group C (Toronto): Portugal, New Zealand, Gambia,
Mexico
Group D (Montreal): Poland, Brazil, South Korea,
United States
Group E (Ottawa): Argentina, Czech Republic, North
Korea, Panama
Group F (Victoria): Nigeria, Japan, Costa Rica,
Scotland
Canadian Olympic greats Donovan Bailey, Marnie McBean and Curt Harnett
helped select the names Saturday to be assigned to the six opening
round groups for this year's tournament.
Argentina, which has won the tournament on five occasions, will face the Czech Republic, Panama and North Korea in Group E.
Four-time champ Brazil has a tough Group D with Poland, South Korea and the United States.
Mexico, the winner of the last Under-17 world tournament, is in Group C with Portugal, New Zealand and Gambia.
Formerly known as the FIFA World Youth Championship, the Under-20 is a biennial event second in scope in the sport only to the World Cup.
Canada reached the quarter-finals in the event in 2003, in the country's best finish. A disappointing first-round exit occurred two years later.
Some of soccer's modern greats got their start in the tournament, including Argentina's Diego Maradona, Portuguese star Luis Figo, English sensation Michael Owen and France's Thierry Henry to name but a few.
Craig Forrest and Atiba Hutchinson are among the Canadian pros who have played in the tournament.
The first round of the tournament is round-robin style with the top two teams in each group advancing to the round of 16. The four third-place teams with the highest point totals in the first round will also qualify for the second round.
The final will take place on July 22 in Toronto.
A Canadian victory could have lasting impact
As hosts, Canada automatically qualified for the FIFA Under-20 World
Cup, but the players are aiming high.
"If we do well, it can change the way people look at Canadian soccer for a lot of years to come," forward Andrea Lombardo told CBC Sports.
The last time a country from North America hosted the tournament was in 1983 in Mexico.
Canada previously hosted the FIFA Under-17 World Championship (1987) and the inaugural FIFA Under-19 Women's World Championship in 2002.
CBC is the exclusive Canadian broadcaster of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup and CBC's extensive coverage of the tournament will be available across numerous media platforms.
Full broadcast schedules and programming details for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage will be available closer to the start of the tournament.
QUICK FACTS
FIFA U-20 World Cup history
The FIFA Under-20 World Cup, formerly known as the FIFA World Youth Championship
(the new name for the competition will be used for the first time in the 2007),
is soccer's world championship for players under the age of 20. The competition
has been staged every two years since the first tournament in 1977.
Canadian participation
Canada first qualified for the FIFA World Youth Championship in 1979 in Japan,
the same tournament that Diego Maradona used to announce his presence to the
world. Canada upset Portugal 3-1 but did not advance beyond the opening round.
Canada qualified in 1985 in the Soviet Union and two years later in Chile,
and bowed out in the first round both times, before advancing to the second
round (where it lost to Spain) in 1997 in Malaysia. Canada followed that up
by losing all three of its opening-round games in 2001 in Argentina.
A major breakthrough came in 2003 in the United Arab Emirates when Canada
advanced to the second round where it defeated Burkina Faso 1-0. Canada put
in a brave effort in the quarter-finals, losing to Spain 2-1 in extra time.
Two years ago in the Netherlands, Canada went home after the first round.
Previous winners
(host country in brackets)
2005 – Argentina (the Netherlands)
2003 – Brazil (United Arab Emirates)
2001 – Argentina (Argentina)
1999 – Spain (Nigeria)
1997 – Argentina (Malaysia)
1995 – Argentina (Qatar)
1993 – Brazil (Australia)
1991 – Portugal (Portugal)
1989 – Portugal (Saudi Arabia)
1987 – Yugoslavia (Chile)
1985 – Brazil (Soviet Union)
1983 – Brazil (Mexico)
1981 – West Germany (Australia)
1979 – Argentina (Japan)
1977 – Soviet Union (Tunisia)
Launching pad to stardom
Players who first shot to fame playing at the Under-20 World Cup include:
- Diego Maradona (1979)
- Dunga (1983)
- Romario, Rene Higuita, Jose Luis Chilavert (1985)
- Davor Suker (1987)
- Luis Figo, Dwight Yorke (1991)
- Sammy Kuffour (1993)
- David Trezeguet, Thierry Henry, Juan Roman Riquelme, Michael Owen, Damien Duff (1997)
- Ronaldinho, Iker Casillas (1999)
- Arjen Robben, Adriano, Michael Essien, Javier Saviola (2001)
- Carlos Tevez (2003)
- John Mikel Obi, Lionel Messi (2005)
Related
- Under-20 World Cup: Group Analysis
- CBC FIFA Under-20 World Cup Broadcast Schedule
- Dale Mitchell: Trying to build a winner
- Luck of the draw: Canada's chances at the U-20s
- Tournament draw
- Canadian teen David Edgar kicks it up a notch for Newcastle
- Just For Kicks: Soccer in Canada
- CBC wins World Cup soccer rights
- 2006 World Cup
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