The 2022 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was the 7th edition of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship (28th edition if all eras included), the men's under-20 international football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was held in Honduras, in the cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa.[1]
On 16 September 2021, a new format was announced: the sixteen member associations ranked 1st to 16th would qualify for the group stage while the remaining nineteen member associations (all ranked 17th and below in the CONCACAF men’s under-20 rankings) would have to play in the 2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying tournament to qualify for the knockout stage. The qualifying tournament took place from 5 to 13 November 2021 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.[2]
The United States were the defending champions of the competition, since they were the champions in the 2018 edition and the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4] The United States once again successfully defended the title, defeating the biggest surprise of the tournament Dominican Republic 6–0 in the final for their third CONCACAF U-20 Championship title.
Qualified teams
Twenty national teams participated in the tournament: the sixteen best ranked national teams (based on the CONCACAF men’s under-20 rankings), that qualified directly to the tournament, plus four national teams qualified through the 2021 CONCACAF U-20 Championship qualifying.[2]
On 24 February 2022, CONCACAF confirmed three stadiums for the tournament.
During the competition Estadio Yankel Rosenthal was used as a provisional venue due to problems with the playing pitch at Estadio Morazán caused by very heavy rainfall in San Pedro Sula. Some matches were relocated to the Estadio Olímpico and Estadio Yankel Rosenthal.[5]
Players born on or after 1 January 2003 were eligible to compete. Each team had to register a squad of 20 players, two of whom had to be goalkeepers.[6]
Draw
The draw for the tournament was held on 3 March 2022, 12:00 AST (UTC−4), at the CONCACAF Headquarters in Miami, Florida. The 16 teams which entered the group stage were drawn into four groups of four teams. Based on the CONCACAF Men's Under-20 Ranking, the 16 teams were distributed into four pots, with teams in Pot 1 assigned to each group prior to the draw, as follows:[7]
In the knockout stage, if a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time was played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.[6]
The champion team and the top team from each of the three CONCACAF zones, i.e., Caribbean (CFU), Central American (UNCAF), and North American (NAFU), qualified for the 2023 Pan American Games men's football tournament.[3]
The following four teams from CONCACAF qualified for the 2023 Pan American Games men's football tournament in Chile.[14]
2Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
Notes
At the end of the match between the United States and Costa Rica, violent and unsportsmanlike actions were reported. The Costa Rican Football Federation has been sanctioned with a fine and nine of its players were temporarily suspended due to infraction of the Competition Regulations and the FIFA Disciplinary Code. Likewise, one U.S. player was suspended and banned for the remainder of the competition.[15]
^"Honduras named host for 2022 Concacaf Men's U-20 Championship". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. 24 February 2022. Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
^ abcd"Concacaf Men's Under-20 Championship to qualify teams to 2023 FIFA U-20 Men's World Cup and 2024 Summer Olympic Games". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^ ab"Santiago 2023 Qualification Systems Manual – Football" (PDF). www.santiago2023.org. Santiago 2023. 24 May 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 November 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
^"Concacaf statement regarding U20 and U17 Men's National Team Competitions". Concacaf.com. CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^"Concacaf announces updated match schedule for 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. 21 June 2022. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
^ abc"2022 CONCACAF U-20 Championship regulations". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
^"Draw reveals groups for 2022 Concacaf Under-20 Championship". CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
^"2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship – Match schedule (actualization)" (PDF). CONCACAF. 21 June 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
^"2022 CU20 individual awards". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. 3 July 2022. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
^"Aceituno, Azcona y Ordóñez encabezan el XI del Sub-20". CONCACAF.com (in Spanish). CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
^"Americans rule as underdogs snatch Indonesian adventures". FIFA. 3 July 2022. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
^ ab"United States, Honduras secure U20 World Cup spots". San Pedro Sula: CONCACAF. 29 June 2022. Archived from the original on 30 January 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
^ ab"Dominican Republic make history, Moreno a hero for Guatemala". San Pedro Sula: CONCACAF. 30 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
^Ordoñez, Oscar (2 July 2022). "Estos son los torneos oficiales donde participará la Selección Sub 20 de Guatemala en el 2023". Prensa Libre (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
^"Concacaf Disciplinary Committee imposes sanctions and suspensions following post-match incidents between Costa Rica and United States". CONCACAF.com. CONCACAF. 30 June 2022. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.