The 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 6th edition of the tournament. The tournament was played in Japan from 19 August to 8 September with sixteen national football teams and marked the first hosting of a FIFA women's tournament in the country. The host nation was to be decided on 19 March 2010 but was postponed by FIFA to give bidders more time to prepare their bids. On 3 March 2011, FIFA initially awarded the World Cup to Uzbekistan. However, on 18 December 2011 FIFA had the tournament stripped from this country for problems with the bid and named Japan as a possible host. Japan was officially announced as host on 8 February 2012.

Bids and hosting problems

Vietnam had originally won the right the host the tournament. However, the country had to withdraw its bid because it could not guarantee government backing and found the FIFA bid process "taxing". New Zealand had initially been asked to be ready as a backup venue, but was eventually awarded the 2015 FIFA U-20 Men's World Cup and FIFA then awarded the hosting rights to Uzbekistan. However, in its meeting in Tokyo in December 2011, FIFA's Executive Committee decided to cancel Uzbekistan's hosting of the tournament due to "a number of logistical and technical issues" and announced that Japan had been proposed as its new organiser. The Uzbekistan Football Federation had recommended six cities to host the matches. They were Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Qarshi, Mubarek and Guzar. The competition would have taken place in Tashkent's Pakhtakor and Bunyodkor Stadiums, Samarkand's Olympic Stadium, Bukhara's Markaziy Stadium, Qarshi's Nasaf Stadium, Mubarek's Bahrom Vafoev Stadium and the Guzar Stadium.

Host cities and venues

On 31 March 2012, FIFA announced five stadiums for the tournament.

Qualified teams

Squads

Each team submitted a squad of 21 players, including three goalkeepers. The squads were announced on 10 August 2012.

Match officials

A total of 14 referees and 28 assistant referees were appointed by FIFA for the tournament.

Final draw

The final draw was held on 4 June 2012 in Tokyo. Teams were placed in four pots:

Group stage

The ranking of each team in each group will be determined as follows: If two or more teams are equal on the basis of the above three criteria, their rankings will be determined as follows: The two teams finishing first and second in each group qualify for the quarter-finals. All times are Japanese Standard Time (UTC+9).

Group A

Group B

Group C

North Korea's 9–0 win over Argentina set a new competition record as highest win.

Group D

Knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, extra time shall be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner, except for the play-off for third place where no extra time shall be played as the match is played directly before the final.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place match

Final

Awards

The following awards were given for the tournament:

Goalscorers