Europe's 4 spots (besides host Russia) will be occupied by Germany, France, Finland, and Switzerland.

These were decided in the 2005 UEFA U-19 tournament.

 

CONCACAF's 3 qualifiers will be determined in an 8-team tournament in Mexico, January 18-27, 2006.

Group A
MEXICO
CANADA
PANAMA
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Group B
EL SALVADOR
USA
SURINAM
JAMAICA

Top 2 in each group will progress to semifinals. Three of them will go to the FIFA event in Russia next summer.

Update: Canada v. Jamaica and USA v. Mexico in semifinals, January 25.

Update: Canada v. USA in Final January 27 (both have qualified for the finals in Russia); Mexico v. Jamaica will meet in the third-place match.

Update: Mexico beat Jamaica, so the three CONCACAF qualifiers are Canada, USA, and Mexico.

 

CONCACAF's 3 qualifiers will be determined in an 8-team tournament in Mexico, January 18-27, 2006.

Group A
MEXICO
CANADA
PANAMA
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Group B
UNCAF Triangular 2 winner (to be determined very soon)
USA
SURINAM
JAMAICA

Top 2 in each group will progress to semifinals. Three of them will go to the FIFA event in Russia next summer.

How do you get three teams qualifying from 4 semi-finalists??

 

The semifinal winners will qualify.

The semifinal losers will meet in the Third Place match; winner goes to Russia, loser stays home.

 

Oceania's qualifying tournament will take place in Samoa, April 1-15, 2006.

As of January 1, 2006, Australia moves to the Asian confederation (AFC), so New Zealand finally has a chance to qualify! :tongue:

Group A
Vanuatu
Tonga
New Zealand
New Caledonia
Solomon Islands

Group B
Fiji
Papua New Guinea
Tahiti
Samoa
Cook Islands

 

The AFC (Asian confederation) will hold a preliminary tournament March 1 to 9, 2006 with the final qualifying tournament to be held April 8 to 18, 2006, in Malaysia.

Update, March 12: The teams in the final qualifying tournament in Malaysia will be:

Group A
South Korea
North Korea
Japan
India

Group B
China
Malaysia
Jordan
Australia

Three teams will qualify to play in Russia.

Update April 18: The three qualifiers are China, Australia, and North Korea.

 

The preliminary rounds of the African qualifiers will take place from March 5 to May 14, 2006.

Semi-finals end on May 15, 2006
Nigeria v. Liberia
South Africa v. DR Congo

Final: June 11, 2006: Nigeria v. DR Congo

The two finalists Nigeria and DR Congo will advance to the U-20 World Cup in Russia.

 

The CONMEBOL tournament will be held in Chile in January, 2006.

Preliminary round January 4 to 13; playoffs (top 2 from each Group) Jan. 16 to 20.

Group A (at Viña del Mar)
Venezuela
Chile
Brazil
Peru
Uruguay

Group B (at Valparaíso)
Argentina
Colombia
Ecuador
Paraguay
Bolivia

Two countries will qualify.

UPDATE: Brazil and Argentina have qualified.

 

Poor Aussies... for the men's team it's probably an advantage they moved to Asia, but that can't be said for all Australia-teams, I wonder or they'll qualify now.

 

Updating the list of qualifiers so far:

Host: Russia
UEFA: Germany, France, Finland, Switzerland
CONCACAF: Canada, USA, Mexico
CONMEBOL: Brazil, Argentina

to come:
AFC: 3
CAF: 2
Oceania: 1

 

Russia the best!
We will win the cup!

 

To nobody's surprise, New Zealand will represent Oceania, having beaten Tonga 7-0 in the qualifying final.

 

Final list of qualifiers:

Host: Russia
UEFA: Germany, France, Finland, Switzerland
CONCACAF: Canada, USA, Mexico
CONMEBOL: Brazil, Argentina
AFC: China, Australia, North Korea
Oceania: New Zealand
CAF: Nigeria, DR Congo

 

The draw and schedule:

Group A
August 17
New Zealand v. Australia
Russia v. Brazil
August 20
Brazil v. Australia
Russia v. New Zealand
August 23
Brazil v. New Zealand
Australia v. Russia

Group B
August 17
China v. Finland
Nigeria v. Canada
August 20
Finland v. Canada
China v. Nigeria
August 23
Finland v. Nigeria
Canada v. China

Group C
August 18
Switzerland v. Mexico
North Korea v. Germany
August 21
Mexico v. Germany
Switzerland v. North Korea
August 24
Germany v. Switzerland
Mexico v. North Korea

Group D
August 18
DR Congo v. USA
France v. Argentina
August 21
USA v. Argentina
DR Congo v. France
August 24
Argentina v. DR Congo
USA v. France

Quarterfinals
August 26
1. Group A winner v. Group B runner-up
2. Group B winner v. Group A runner-up
August 27
3. Group C winner v. Group D runner-up
4. Group D winner v. Group C runner-up

Semifinals
August 31
QF1 winner v. QF3 winner
QF2 winner v. QF4 winner

Third Place match and Final
September 3

Reaction to the Draw

 

In Group B friendly action, Canada beat Finland 2-0 today in Finland.

The teams will meet again on June 8.

 

Who´s the big favourite for winning the title, Jeff?

USA as most of time, or does other countries
have superb U19 teams?

 

I don't know what the conventional wisdom is, but I would pick the USA if I were betting...

...but watch out for Germany and Canada.

 

In Group B friendly action, Canada beat Finland 2-0 today in Finland.

The teams will meet again on June 8.

The June 8 result was the same, 0-2 for Canada.

 

More Group B friendly action:

July 9 - Canada 0-2 China
July 11 - Canada 0-1 China

ouch.

 

July 18 and 21 friendlies

Group B's Canada hosted Group C's Mexico in Kamloops, a city of 85,000 people in central British Columbia, for two friendly matches on July 18 and 21.

The July 18 result was a 2-2 draw.

The July 21 result was a 3-1 win for Mexico.

So apparently Canada is not the under-20 powerhouse many suspected. They can beat Finland, but not Mexico or China, according to recent reasults.

 

I guess you guys forgot about this tournament.

North Korea will meet China in the final.

**crickets**

 

I saw both semi-finals today!
North Korea deserved to go through.. But China...
They were a disgrace.. Usa should have won, and probably would have.. if they had a little luck...

 

Brazil won the Bronze medal over the USA after penalties on a 0-0 draw.

I am watching the Final on TV, and at half time it's 3-0 for North Korea over China. Jo Yun Mi scored the first goal on a brilliant effort in the 29th minute, evading several defenders and an attacking goalkeeper before coolly slotting the ball home. She nearly scored again nine minutes later on a well-saved shot from a cross.

Kim Song Hui showed deadly finishing skills as she chipped a sprawling Chinese keeper in the 39th minute, and again as she blasted a shot from 25 yards out with the keeper off her line in first -half injury time.

The condition of the pitch is an absolute disgrace. Lokomotiv stadium in Moscow is supposed to be a professional, world-class facility, and it's a total embarrassment for Russia and FIFA. It's competely waterlogged, with standing pools of water all down the centre. No men's team would ever be expected to play a FIFA championship match in conditions like this. There ought to be an inquiry into why this was allowed to happen.

Addendum: Kim Song Hui and the confusingly similarly named Kil Son Hui added two goals in the second half to complete the DPRK's demolition of the Chinese team, 5-0, and win the World Cup.

The North Koreans only conceded one goal in the tournament.

[Edited to correct my confusion betwen Ms. Kim and Ms. Kil]

 

China's Ma Xiaoxu and DPRK's Kim Songhui both scored 5 goals in 6 games , but Ma had one more assist and won her the golden boot

 

adidas Golden Shoe Award

Player goals assists
adidas Golden Shoe MA Xiaoxu CHN #10 5 2
adidas Silver Shoe KIM Song Hui PRK # 7 5 1
adidas Bronze Shoe Anna BLAESSE GER #14 4 2

In keeping with tradition, adidas presents the Golden Shoe award to the tournament’s top goalscorer. Assists serve as a tie-breaker if two or more players finish equal on goals scored.

PREVIOUS WINNERS
2004: Brittany TIMKO (CAN) 7 goals
2002: Christine SINCLAIR (CAN), 10 goals