The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title. At a FIFA Executive Committee meeting held in Sydney on 26 May 2008, Colombia beat the only other candidate country, Venezuela, for the right to organize the U-20 World Cup. It was suggested by the then-Vice President of Colombia Francisco Santos Calderón that it was needed to withdraw from the race with Brazil to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup so the nation could concentrate on hosting the "best possible games". In an inspection tour of development works in March 2010, Jack Warner, then the vice president of FIFA, said that the completion of this tournament could provide Colombia with a launch pad to become a possible host for the 2026 World Cup. The official song of the tournament was "Nuestra Fiesta" by Colombian singer Jorge Celedón.

Venues

The venues that were confirmed on 29 September 2010 are located in Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, Manizales, Armenia, Cartagena, Pereira and Barranquilla. During an announcement about the ticketing procedures for Colombian residents, it was confirmed that the opening game would be held at the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla, with the Estadio El Campín hosting the final match.

Participating teams and officials

Qualification

In addition to host nation Colombia, 23 nations qualified from six separate continental competitions.

Match officials

Squads

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 27 April 2011, at the Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala Convention Centre in Cartagena. The seedings were as follows. The winners and runners-up from each group, as well as the best four third-placed teams, will qualify for the first round of the knockout stage (round of 16). Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria: Ranking of third place teams in each group are determined by the following criteria, top four advances to the round of 16: All times are in local, Colombia Time (UTC−05:00).

[{{legend|#2b42a3|Champion}} {{legend|#34c0be|Runner-up}} {{legend|#269c5a|Third place}} {{legend|#81c846|Fourth place}} {{legend|#e4e454|Quarter-finals}} {{legend|#f4d4ac|Round of 16}} {{legend|#b94954|Group stage}} | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/2011///FIFA///U-20///World///Cup///Results.png]

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Group F

Ranking of third-placed teams

Knockout stage

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Third place match

Final

Statistics

Goalscorers

With five goals, Henrique, Alexandre Lacazette and Álvaro Vázquez are the top scorers in the tournament. In total, 132 goals were scored by 80 different players, with three of them credited as own goals.

Final ranking

Awards

The following awards were given:

Organization

In late 2009 the Colombian Football Federation unveiled the budget for conducting the event, to be COP 150 billion (US$75 million). On 30 September 2009, the presidents of both FIFA and Colombia announced that the logo would show a steaming cup of coffee with the colours of the Colombian tricolour.

Opening ceremony

Prior to the start of the tournament, the Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez in Barranquilla hosted the Opening Ceremony, involving local musical performances and guests including Jorge Celedón, Barranquilla's Carnival Performers, Checo Acosta and Maía.

Closing ceremony

The Estadio El Campín in Bogotá hosted the Closing Ceremony. The show was managed by the Ibero-American Theater Festival and Teatro Nacional de Colombia and, like the opening ceremony, included musical performances.