The 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup was to be the 23rd edition of the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 whe ...

, the biennial international men's youth

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

, since its inception in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It was scheduled to be hosted by

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

between 20 May and 12 June 2021, which would be the first FIFA tournament hosted by the country. It would also be only the second U-20 World Cup to be held in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, first since

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, and the first FIFA tournament in the region since the

2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup The 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup was the seventh FIFA Futsal World Cup, the quadrennial international futsal championship contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It took place from 1 to 18 November 2012 in Thailand ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

were the defending champions, but did not qualify for the tournament after the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

decided to cancel

2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2020) was scheduled to be the 19th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (69th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual internation ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

due to

COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...

, and nominated five countries to participate in the U-20 World Cup based on the UEFA qualifying round coefficient ranking for the 2019–20 season. Thus, they became the seventh consecutive incumbent title holders to fail to qualify for the subsequent tournament. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

forced FIFA to cancel the 2021 tournament and award the

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 197 ...

hosting rights to Indonesia on 24 December 2020.

Host selection

The bidding procedure to hots the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup was launched by

on 23 April 2019, with the following timeline: *23 April 2019 – FIFA opens bidding process. *21 May 2019 – Deadline for national associations to declare interest of hosting to FIFA. *24 May 2019 – FIFA send bidding and hosting documents to those national associations that have declared an interest. *21 June 2019 – Deadline for national associations to confirm their interest submitting the signed terms and conditions. *30 August 2019 – Deadline for national associations to submit their definitive bids with all signed bidding and hosting documents. *24 October 2019 – Appointment of the host by the FIFA Council. Five bids to host the tournament were submitted per 23 May 2019, which were confirmed in July 2019. On 4 September 2019 there were three active bids under consideration. On 23 October 2019 it was reported that Brazil withdrew their bid due to low winning chances. The next day, Indonesia was announced as the winning bidder after the

FIFA Council The FIFA Council (formerly the FIFA Executive Committee) is an institution of FIFA (the governing body of association football, futsal and beach football). It is the main decision-making body of the organization in the intervals of FIFA Congress. ...

meeting in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. * (AFC) Indonesia had never hosted any FIFA tournament before, however had co-hosted the

2007 AFC Asian Cup The 2007 AFC Asian Cup was the 14th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held from 7 to 29 July 2007. For the first time in its h ...

, and solely hosted the

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

and

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

. * (CONMEBOL) Peru had hosted one FIFA tournament, the

2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eleventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Iquitos in Peru between 16 September and 2 October 2005. Players born after 1 January 1988 could participa ...

. They originally won the bid to host the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

but later withdrawn by FIFA. ;Withdrawn bids * / (AFC) Thailand had hosted the

2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship The 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship was held from 10 to 27 November 2004. It was the second edition of the youth tournament for women put together by FIFA, before being renamed FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship for the 2006 edition. ...

and the

while Myanmar had never hosted any FIFA tournament. The joint bid of Myanmar and Thailand was withdrawn in favor of the Indonesian bid on 27 August 2019. * / / (AFC) Bahrain had never hosted any FIFA tournament. Saudi Arabia had hosted four FIFA tournaments, the last three were the first three editions of the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

, originally King Fahd Cup, named after the then-Saudi king. United Arab Emirates had held seven FIFA tournaments, namely the

2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup The 2009 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, governed by FIFA. Overall, this was the 15th edition of a world cup in beach soccer since the establishment of the '' Beach Soccer World Championship ...

, the

2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fifteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup. The tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates between 17 October and 8 November. Nigeria won the tournament after defeating Mexico 3–0 in the final, cla ...

, and four FIFA Club World Cups (

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

, and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

). Saudi and UAE were also the only countries in the bidding process to had hosted the U-20 World Cup before, in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

respectively. The joint bid of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and UAE was left out from the list of FIFA U-20 World Cup bidders on 4 September 2019. * (CONMEBOL) Brazil had the most impressive record of hosting FIFA tournaments among the bidding countries individually; it had hosted two men's senior FIFA World Cups (

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

), the 2016 Olympic men's and women's football tournaments, the

2000 FIFA Club World Championship The 2000 FIFA Club World Championship was the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, the world club championship for men's club association football teams. It took place in Brazil from 5 January to 14 January 2000. FIFA as football's international gover ...

, the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...

, and was about to host the

during the bidding process. It also hosted the

2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup The 2008 FIFA Futsal World Cup was the sixth edition of the FIFA Futsal World Cup, the quadrennial international futsal championship contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was the first tournament to use th ...

and the first three editions of the FIFA-organized

Beach Soccer World Cup The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup is an international beach soccer competition contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA, the sport's global governing body. The tournament was preceded by the '' Beach Soccer World Champi ...

(

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

), to make a total of 11 FIFA tournaments hosted. Brazil withdrew on 23 October 2019 due to expectations of low winning chances according to Brazilian network

Rede Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Gr ...

. Had they won this bid, they would have become the first country to host all categories of FIFA-organized men's tournament (senior, U-20, U-17, Futsal, Club, and Beach Soccer).

Qualified teams

A total of 24 teams would have qualified for the final tournament. In addition to Indonesia which automatically qualified as hosts, 23 other teams would have qualified from six separate continental competitions. Only teams from UEFA had secured qualification to the tournament prior to its cancellation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fifa U-20 World Cup 2021

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

2021 in youth association football 2021 in Indonesian football 2021 Fifa U-20 World Cup May 2021 sports events in Indonesia June 2021 sports events in Indonesia Association football events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic