2025 South American U-17 Championship

2025 South American U-17 Championship
CONMEBOL Sub 17 Colombia 2025
Tournament details
Host countryColombia
Dates27 March – 12 April
Teams10 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)2 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Brazil (14th title)
Runners-up Colombia
Third place Venezuela
Fourth place Chile
Tournament statistics
Matches played28
Goals scored77 (2.75 per match)
Top scorer(s) Thomás de Martis (6 goals)
2023
2026 →

The 2025 South American U-17 Championship was the 20th edition of the South American U-17 Championship (Spanish: CONMEBOL Sudamericano Sub-17, Portuguese: CONMEBOL Sul-Americano Sub-17), the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONMEBOL for the men's under-17 national teams of South America. It was held in Colombia from 27 March to 12 April 2025.[1][2]

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Venezuela between 4–20 April 2024,[3][4] before CONMEBOL decided to move it to Colombia due to Venezuela becoming the host of the 2025 South American U-20 Championship.[1] Starting from this edition, the tournament will be played every year in line with the annual cycle implemented by FIFA for the FIFA U-17 World Cup.[5]

As a result of the expansion of the FIFA U-17 World Cup format, seven teams qualified for the U-17 World Cup from this edition onwards, an increase of three berths from the four CONMEBOL teams that previously qualified.[6] The top 7 teams qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar as the CONMEBOL representatives.[7]

Defending champions Brazil successfully retained their title, defeating the hosts Colombia 4–1 on penalties following a 1–1 draw in the final, which earned them their fourteenth South American U-17 Championship title, the most in the tournament’s history.[8] These two teams and the next five best-placed teams — Venezuela, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia — qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Format changes

After three years of evaluation and analysis of the proposal submitted in 2021,[9] FIFA announced on 14 March 2024 that its U-17 World Cup would be expanded to 48 teams and would be held annually from 2025, with Qatar being awarded the hosting rights for the next five tournaments.[6] Consequently, CONMEBOL had to modify the format of the South American U-17 Championship to define the 7 places it was awarded in the new slot allocation of the U-17 World Cup. The new format of the South American U-17 Championship is as follows:[5]

  • The group stage remains unchanged, with the ten teams being divided into two groups of five teams each. Both groups are played on a single round-robin basis.
  • The top two teams of each group advance to the semi-finals and qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Winners of semi-finals advance to the final to determine the champions while losers play the third place match.
  • Teams placed third and fourth in each group will play for the 5th to 8th places, with the third placed teams playing the fourth placed teams in two semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals play for fifth place and qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup while the losers play for seventh place, with the winner being the last team to qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World.
  • Teams placed fifth in the group stage will be eliminated.

Host and venues

Venezuela was originally announced as host country for the tournament by the CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez during a CONMEBOL Council meeting held on 10 April 2024.[3][10]

However, on 15 November 2024, CONMEBOL announced some changes to its competition calendar for 2025 in a letter sent to its member associations, moving the South American U-17 Championship to Colombia to replace Venezuela,[1][2] which went on to host the 2025 South American U-20 Championship after CONMEBOL withdrew Peru's hosting rights of this tournament.[11]

CONMEBOL announced Montería and Cartagena as host cities on 6 February 2025, with the Estadio Jaraguay and the Estadio Jaime Morón León being the venues for the matches.[12]

Montería
Location of the host cities.
Cartagena
Estadio Jaraguay Estadio Jaime Morón León
Capacity: 12,000[13] Capacity: 17,500[14]

Teams

All ten CONMEBOL member national teams entered the tournament.

Team Appearance Previous best performance
 Argentina 20th Champions (4 times, most recent 2019)
 Bolivia 20th Champions (1 time, 1986)
 Brazil (holders) 20th Champions (13 times, most recent 2023)
 Chile 20th Runners-up (3 times, most recent 2019)
 Colombia (hosts) 20th Champions (1 time, 1993)
 Ecuador 19th Runners-up (1 time, 2023)
 Paraguay 19th Runners-up (1 time, 1999)
 Peru 20th Fourth place (1 time, 2007)
 Uruguay 20th Runners-up (3 times, most recent 2011)
 Venezuela 20th Runners-up (1 time, 2013)

Squads

Each team registered a squad of a minimum of 19 and a maximum of 23 players, including at least 3 goalkeepers. Players born between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2010 (ages 15 to 17) were eligible to compete in the tournament (Regulations Articles 47 and 50).[7]

Draw

The draw of the tournament was held on 19 December 2024, 14:15 PYT (UTC−3), at the CONMEBOL headquarters in Luque, Paraguay.[15] The ten teams were drawn into two groups of five. The hosts Colombia and defending champions Brazil were seeded into Group A and Group B respectively and assigned to position 1 in their group, while the remaining teams were placed into four "pairing pots" according to their results in the 2023 South American U-17 Championship (shown in brackets).[15]

Seeded Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  •  Colombia (9) (Hosts, assigned to A1)
  •  Brazil (1) (Title holders, assigned to B1)

From each pot, the first team drawn was placed into Group A and the second team drawn was placed into Group B. In both groups, teams from pot 1 were allocated in position 2, teams from pot 2 in position 3, teams from pot 3 in position 4 and teams from pot 4 in position 5.[16]

The draw resulted in the following groups:[17]

Group A
Pos Team
A1  Colombia
A2  Argentina
A3  Paraguay
A4  Chile
A5  Peru
Group B
Pos Team
B1  Brazil
B2  Ecuador
B3  Venezuela
B4  Uruguay
B5  Bolivia

Group stage

The top two teams in each group advanced to the final four.

Tiebreakers

In the group stage, teams were ranked according to points earned (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers would be applied in the following order (Regulations Article 20):[7]

  1. Head-to-head result between tied teams;
    • Points in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
    • Goal difference in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
    • Goals scored in head-to-head matches among the tied teams;
  2. Goal difference in all group matches;
  3. Goals scored in all group matches;
  4. Fewest red cards received;
  5. Fewest yellow cards received;
  6. Drawing of lots.

All match times are local times, COT (UTC−5), as listed by CONMEBOL.[18][19]

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Colombia (H) 4 3 0 1 5 2 +3 9[a] Final four and
2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2  Chile 4 3 0 1 9 3 +6 9[a]
3  Argentina 4 2 0 2 12 6 +6 6[b] 5th–8th places
4  Paraguay 4 2 0 2 7 5 +2 6[b]
5  Peru 4 0 0 4 0 17 −17 0
Source: CONMEBOL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Head-to-head result: Colombia 1–0 Chile.
  2. ^ a b Head-to-head result: Argentina 4–1 Paraguay.
Peru 0–5 Paraguay
Report
  • De Carvalho 10'
  • Zayas 19'
  • Villalba 43', 48'
  • Campss 86'
Referee: Anthony Díaz (Ecuador)
Colombia 1–0 Chile
Londoño 75' Report
Referee: Rony Cueva (Venezuela)

Chile 3–2 Argentina
  • Sepúlveda 56'
  • Yáñez 70'
  • Jiménez 81'
Report De Martis 45', 90+6'
Referee: Hernán Heras (Uruguay)
Peru 0–2 Colombia
Report
  • Trujillo 86'
  • Flórez 90+5'
Referee: Gabriel Mendoza (Bolivia)

Chile 5–0 Peru
  • Cuevas 17' (pen.), 70'
  • Orellana 24'
  • Olguín 43', 65'
Report
Referee: Matheus Candançan (Brazil)
Argentina 4–1 Paraguay
  • Ojeda 24'
  • Meza 37'
  • Espíndola 81'
  • Verón 82'
Report Buhring 90+6'
Referee: Rony Cueva (Venezuela)

Argentina 5–0 Peru
  • Ojeda 8'
  • Castillo 41' (o.g.)
  • Piñeyro 52', 86'
  • De Martis 78'
Report
Referee: Gabriel Mendoza (Bolivia)
Paraguay 1–0 Colombia
Coronel 69' Report
Referee: Anthony Díaz (Ecuador)

Colombia 2–1 Argentina
Report De Martis 77' (pen.)
Referee: Matheus Candançan (Brazil)
Paraguay 0–1 Chile
Report Olguín 90+11' (pen.)
Referee: Hernán Heras (Uruguay)

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Brazil 4 3 1 0 8 3 +5 10 Final four and
2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup
2  Venezuela 4 2 1 1 5 3 +2 7
3  Ecuador 4 2 0 2 8 5 +3 6 5th–8th places
4  Bolivia 4 1 0 3 2 7 −5 3
5  Uruguay 4 0 2 2 3 8 −5 2
Source: CONMEBOL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Bolivia 0–2 Venezuela
Report
  • Claut 27'
  • Berroterán 77'
Brazil 1–1 Uruguay
Ruan Pablo 50' Report Azambuja 45+2'
Referee: Sebastián Martínez (Argentina)

Bolivia 0–3 Brazil
Report
Referee: Jordi Espinoza (Peru)
Uruguay 0–4 Ecuador
Report

Uruguay 0–1 Bolivia
Report Maraude 43'
Ecuador 0–1 Venezuela
Report Claut 51'
Referee: Sebastián Martínez (Argentina)

Ecuador 2–1 Bolivia
Quintero 33', 50' Report Pérez 84' (pen.)
Referee: Jordi Espinoza (Peru)
Venezuela 0–1 Brazil
Report Luis Eduardo 88'

Brazil 3–2 Ecuador
  • Luis Eduardo 55'
  • Gustavo 57'
  • Luis Gustavo 89'
Report
Referee: Sebastián Martínez (Argentina)
Venezuela 2–2 Uruguay
  • Claut 43'
  • Uribe 90+5'
Report
  • Dos Santos 10'
  • F. Fernández 75'
Referee: Diego Ulloa (Colombia)

Final stage

The final stage was played on a single-elimination basis and consisted of the 5th–8th play-offs matches, semi-finals, third place match and final. If a match was level at the end of normal playing time, the winner would be decided directly by a penalty shoot-out (no extra time will be played).[7]

All match times are local times, COT (UTC−5), as listed by CONMEBOL.[20][21]

5th–8th places

The 5th–8th semi-finals matchups were:

  • Group A third place vs Group B fourth place
  • Group B third place vs Group A fourth place
 
5th–8th semi-finalsFifth place
 
      
 
8 April – Montería
 
 
 Argentina3
 
11 April – Montería
 
 Bolivia0
 
 Argentina1 (3)
 
8 April – Montería
 
 Paraguay (p)1 (4)
 
 Ecuador0 (4)
 
 
 Paraguay (p)0 (5)
 
Seventh place
 
 
11 April – Montería
 
 
 Bolivia1
 
 
 Ecuador0

5th–8th semi-finals

Winners qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Ecuador 0–0 Paraguay
Report
Penalties
4–5
  • Zayas
  • Ledesma
  • Franco
  • Buhring
  • Coronel
Referee: Diego Ulloa (Colombia)

Argentina 3–0 Bolivia
  • De Martis 44', 58'
  • Parmo 90'
Report
Referee: Rony Cueva (Venezuela)

Seventh place match

Winner qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Bolivia 1–0 Ecuador
García 52' Report
Referee: Matheus Candançan (Brazil)

Fifth place match

Argentina 1–1 Paraguay
González 90+5' Report Jara 14'
Penalties
  • Mattar
  • Parmo
  • Verón
  • Meza
  • De Martis
3–4
  • De Carvalho
  • Zayas
  • Ledesma
  • Villalba
  • Coronel
Referee: Gabriel Mendoza (Bolivia)

Final four

The semi-finals matchups are:

  • Semi-final 1 (SF1): Group A winners vs Group B runners-up
  • Semi-final 2 (SF2): Group B winners vs Group A runners-up
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
9 April – Cartagena
 
 
 Colombia5
 
12 April – Cartagena
 
 Venezuela1
 
 Colombia1 (1)
 
9 April – Cartagena
 
 Brazil (p)1 (4)
 
 Brazil1
 
 
 Chile0
 
Third place
 
 
12 April – Cartagena
 
 
 Venezuela3
 
 
 Chile0

Semi-finals

Brazil 1–0 Chile
Dell 65' Report

Colombia 5–1 Venezuela
Report Claut 34'
Referee: Jordi Espinoza (Peru)

Third place match

Venezuela 3–0 Chile
  • Berroterán 51'
  • Boyer 64'
  • Maitán 68'
Report

Final

Colombia 1–1 Brazil
Sevillano 41' Report Angelo 88'
Penalties
  • Rivas
  • Orozco
  • Cataño
1–4

Goalscorers

There were 77 goals scored in 28 matches, for an average of 2.75 goals per match.

6 goals

  • Thomás de Martis

5 goals

4 goals

  • Diego Claut

3 goals

2 goals

  • Uriel Ojeda
  • Joaquín Piñeyro
  • Luis Eduardo
  • Yastin Cuevas
  • Cristian Flórez
  • Edwin Quintero
  • Pedro Villalba
  • Yimvert Berroterán

1 goal

  • Santiago Espíndola
  • Bautista González
  • Juan Cruz Meza
  • Tomás Parmo
  • Alex Verón
  • Santos García
  • Jesús Maraude
  • Diego Pérez
  • Angelo
  • Dell
  • Gustavo
  • Kayke
  • Luis Gustavo
  • Martín Jiménez
  • Matías Orellana
  • Cristóbal Sepúlveda
  • Zidane Yáñez
  • Criss Macías
  • Jhon Sevillano
  • Ashley Trujillo
  • Yeminson Urrutia
  • Juan Riquelme Angulo
  • Elías Legendre
  • José Buhring
  • Jhosías Campss
  • Mauro Coronel
  • Mauricio De Carvalho
  • Tobías Jara
  • Fernando Zayas
  • Nicolás Azambuja
  • Agustín Dos Santos
  • Francisco Fernández
  • Juan Boyer
  • Marcos Maitán
  • Juan Camilo Uribe

1 own goal

  • Luis Eduardo (against Ecuador)
  • Gerson Castillo (against Argentina)

Qualified teams for FIFA U-17 World Cup

The following seven teams from CONMEBOL qualified for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar.

Team Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA U-17 World Cup1
 Brazil 5 April 2025 18 (1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2023)
 Venezuela 2 (2013, 2023)
 Colombia 6 (1989, 1993, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2017)
 Chile 5 (1993, 1997, 2015, 2017, 2019)
 Paraguay 8 April 2025 5 (1999, 2001, 2015, 2017, 2019)
 Argentina 15 (1985, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2023)
 Bolivia 11 April 2025 2 (1985, 1987)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.

References

  1. ^ a b c {Zabala, Daniel (15 November 2024). "Colombia será sede de importantes torneos de selecciones: Conmebol confirmó" [Colombia will host important national team tournaments: Conmebol confirmed] (in Spanish). Antena 2.
  2. ^ a b CONMEBOL (15 November 2024). "ACTUALIZACIÓN - Fechas y Sedes Torneos CONMEBOL 2025" (PDF) (in Spanish). Ovación.
  3. ^ a b "Venezuela será la sede del Sudamericano Sub-17 de fútbol: los detalles" [Venezuela to host the South American Under-17 football tournament: the details]. El Diario (in Spanish). 10 April 2024.
  4. ^ "Conmebol confirmó las fechas de todos los torneos que organizará en el 2025" [Conmebol confirmed the dates of all the tournaments it will organise in 2025] (in Spanish). Montevideo Portal. 18 September 2024.
  5. ^ a b "La CONMEBOL Sub17 Masculina y Femenina se disputarán todos los años" [The CONMEBOL U17 Men's and Women's competitions will be held every year] (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 18 September 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Qatar appointed as host of FIFA U-17 World Cup™ annually from 2025 to 2029". inside.fifa.com. FIFA. 14 March 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d "Reglamento CONMEBOL Sub17 2025" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 15 November 2024.
  8. ^ "La Canarinha levanta su 14° título". Conmebol. 13 April 2025.
  9. ^ Moses Kollie Garzeawu (26 June 2024). "FIFA Unveils Revolutionary Youth Competition Plan, Led by Liberia's Mustapha Raji". Liberian Observer.
  10. ^ "Conmebol anuncia que Venezuela será sede del sudamericano sub17" [Conmebol announces Venezuela to host the U17 South American Championship] (in Spanish). Caracas: Agencia Venezolana de Noticias. 18 September 2024. Archived from the original on 21 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Venezuela será la sede del Sudamericano Sub-20 2025" [Venezuela to host the 2025 South American U-20 Championship]. El Nacional (in Spanish). Agence France-Presse. 15 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Confirmación de sedes y fixture para la CONMEBOL Sub17 2025" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 6 February 2025.
  13. ^ "Inaugurada la tribuna oriental del estadio Jaraguay de Montería" (in Spanish). La Lengua Caribe. 14 July 2017.
  14. ^ Anaya, Lucho (9 April 2024). "¿Una ampliación del Jaime Morón León? Lo que piensa la administración distrital" (in Spanish). PrimerTiempo.CO.
  15. ^ a b "Sorteo de grupos para la CONMEBOL Sub17 2025" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 27 November 2024.
  16. ^ "SORTEO | CONMEBOL SUB 17" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 19 December 2025 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ "Grupos definidos para la CONMEBOL Sub17 – 2025" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 19 December 2024.
  18. ^ "CONMEBOL SUB17 2025 Calendario de partidos" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 19 December 2024.
  19. ^ "CONMEBOL SUB17 2025 Calendario de partidos" (PDF) (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 3 February 2025.
  20. ^ "Continúa el camino por el título y boletos mundialistas" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 7 April 2025.
  21. ^ "CONMEBOL Sub-17: definidas últimas fechas y ¡confirmado el horario de la final Colombia vs. Brasil!" (in Spanish). Colombian Football Federation. 10 April 2025.