Argentina have replaced Indonesia as the host of the 2023 FIFA U20 World Cup.
The South American country submitted a formal bid to stage the tournament after FIFA stripped Indonesia of its hosting rights. The decision to hand Argentina the hosting rights was made by the FIFA Bureau with the tournament scheduled to start on May 20.
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles, two-time finalists at the World Cup, are among the 24 teams scheduled to participate in the tournament in Argentina.
The Nigerian side finished third in the recently concluded CAF U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, and the team is expected to make a strong showing at the 2023 World Cup.
The FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, praised Argentina’s courage to host the tournament, saying that the country’s footballing tradition made it a natural choice to stage the competition. “We all know Argentine football, and surely it can host a competition of this level,” Infantino said at a news conference in Paraguay.
The most successful team in the history of the competition is Argentina, having won six times. Argentina last won the 2007 tournament in Canada, capping a stretch of five titles across seven tournaments.
The 24 nations that qualify to the 2023 tournament will be drawn into six groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group advance to the knockout stage, together with the four third-place teams with the most points. The Round of 16 kicks off a single-elimination bracket through to the final, much like the senior men’s World Cup format.
