The 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 4th edition of the tournament. It was held in Chile between 19 November and 7 December 2008. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all six confederations, took part in the final competition, in which Chile had a guaranteed place as the host nation.

Background

On 15 September 2006, FIFA officially announced Chile as the host country. It was the third time Chile organized a football world cup, after the 1962 FIFA World Cup and the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship, but the first in the women's competition. The decision came as a surprise to Chile, as it had bid in August 2006 to host the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, which was finally granted to New Zealand (Ecuador was unsuccessful in both bids). Chile previously hosted the South American Under-20 Women's Football Championship and the first edition for Under 17s in January 2008.

Venues

Four different cities were selected as venues in an open bidding process. Changes to the stadiums to comply with FIFA standards were carried out between December 2007 and September 2008. The selected venues were:

Qualified teams

The places were allocated as follows to confederations: AFC (3), CAF (2), CONCACAF (3), CONMEBOL (2), OFC (1), UEFA (4), plus the host country.

Squads

Group stage

The opening phase of the tournament comprised four groups of four teams, with the top two sides in each section advancing to the quarter-finals. The final draw to determine the groups took place in Santiago, Chile on 13 September 2008 at 20:30 UTC. All times local (UTC-3)

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Knockout stage

All times local (UTC-3)

Knockout map

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

3rd-place playoff

Final

Awards

The following awards were given for the tournament:

All star team

The following players were named as the All Star Team for the tournament:

Goalscorers