2018 CONCACAF U-20 Championship


The 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted at Bradenton, Florida, United States between 1–21 November 2018.
A new format was announced, removing the regional Central American and Caribbean qualifiers and guaranteeing each entrant a minimum of four competitive games.
The competition would determine the four CONCACAF representatives at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland, The United States, Mexico, Panama and Honduras qualified. It would also determine the CONCACAF teams playing at the 2019 Pan American Games men's football tournament in Lima, Peru.
The United States were the defending champions of the competition. They successfully defended their title as hosts, winning the final 2–0 against Mexico for their 2nd CONCACAF U-20 Championship title.

Teams

Unlike previous tournament, there was no qualification for this edition, and a total of 34 teams directly entered the final tournament. Among them are all three members of the North American Football Union, all seven members of the Central American Football Union, and 24 members of the Caribbean Football Union.
ZoneTeamAppearancePrevious best performancePrevious FIFA U-20 World Cup appearances
NAFU23rd 8
NAFU26th 15
NAFU 24th 15
UNCAF2nd 0
UNCAF20th 9
UNCAF17th [|1]
UNCAF19th 1
UNCAF19th 7
UNCAF9th 0
UNCAF11th 5
CFU4th 0
CFU2nd 0
CFU6th 0
CFU13th 0
CFU1st0
CFU13th 1
CFU13th 0
CFU1st0
CFU5th 0
CFU4th 0
CFU3rd 0
CFU3rd 0
CFU9th 0
CFU20th 1
CFU3rd 0
CFU8th 0
CFU3rd 0
CFU1st0
CFU1st0
CFU1st0
CFU1st0
CFU6th 0
CFU20th [|2]
CFU1st0

;Notes
;Did not enter
Matches were at played at four stadiums in the IMG Academy:
Bradenton, Florida
IMG Academy
Capacity: 5,000

Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 13 September 2018, 10:00 EDT, at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami. Based on the CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Ranking, the top six ranked teams were seeded into position one of each group, while the remaining 28 teams were distributed in five pots as follows:
Seeded teamsPot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Pot 5

The 34 teams were drawn into six groups: four groups of six teams and two groups of five teams. The winners from each group in the group stage advance to the qualification stage, where the six teams are divided into two groups of three teams. The top two teams from each group in the qualification stage qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, with the group winners also advancing to the final to decide the champions of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.

Squads

Players born on or after 1 January 1999 are eligible to compete. Each team must submit a provisional 35-player roster and a final 20-player roster. After the completion of the group stage, a team advancing to the qualification stage may replace up to six players with those from the provisional roster.

Group stage

The winners of each group in the group stage advance to the qualification stage. If the winners of a group is a non-FIFA member, the highest-ranked FIFA member in the group advances to the qualification stage.
;Tiebreakers
Teams are ranked according to points. The rankings of teams in each group are determined as follows :
If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings are determined as followed:
All times are local, EDT up to 3 November, EST starting 4 November.

Group A


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Group B


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Group C


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Group D


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Group E


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Group F


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Qualification stage

The top two teams of each group in the qualification stage qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, with the winners of each group also advancing to the final to decide the champions of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.

Group G


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Group H


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Final

In the final, if the match is level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time is played, and if still tied after extra time, the match is decided by a penalty shoot-out.

Awards

Winners

Individual awards

The following awards were given at the conclusion of the tournament.
AwardPlayer
Golden Ball Alex Méndez
Golden Boot José Macías
Golden Glove Brady Scott
Fair Play Award

GoalkeepersDefendersMidfieldersForwards
Brady Scott

Goalscorers

Qualification for international tournaments

Qualified teams for FIFA U-20 World Cup

The following four teams from CONCACAF qualify for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
TeamQualified onPrevious appearances in FIFA U-20 World Cup1
15
5
15
19.11.20187

Qualified teams for Pan American Games

The tournament was used to determine the four teams from CONCACAF which would qualify for the 2019 Pan American Games men's football tournament. The top team from each of the three zones, i.e., Caribbean, Central American, and North American, would qualify, with the fourth team to be determined by CONCACAF at a later date. However, United States declined to participate, so Mexico qualified for the North American berth.
TeamZoneQualified onPrevious appearances in Pan American Games2
CFU10.11.20184
UNCAF19.11.20181
NAFU 14
UNCAF 4

Controversy

Cuban defectors

Twelve of the Cuban players opted to stay in United States following the team's exit from the competition.

Visa issues

Octavio Rodríguez, the assistant coach of the Guatemalan staff team and four players; Carlos Orellana, Carlos Monterroso, Nelso Iván García and Luis Francisco Estrada were denied visas to participate in the tournament. A further seven players from Honduras were also denied visas.