2021 OFC U-20 Championship

2021 OFC U-20 Championship
Tournament details
Host countrySamoa
DatesCancelled
Teams11 (from 1 confederation)
← 2018
2022 →

The 2021 OFC U-20 Championship, originally to be held as the 2020 OFC U-19 Championship, was originally to be the 23rd edition of the OFC U-19/U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for the men's under-19/under-20 national teams of Oceania.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in the Samoa in July 2020.[1] However, on 14 May 2020, the OFC announced that the tournament had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and would not be held before October 2020 but no later than January 2021.[2] On 28 July 2020, the OFC announced that the tournament would be held in January 2021,[3] provisionally between 23 January and 7 February 2021, with the name of the tournament changed from "2020 OFC U-19 Championship" to "2021 OFC U-20 Championship".[4][5] The OFC announced on 5 November 2020 that a decision on the tournament would be made during the Executive Committee meeting in December.[6] On 16 December 2020, the OFC announced the tournament had been postponed indefinitely until confirmation had been received from FIFA about the status of the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, scheduled for May–June 2021, of which the top two teams of the tournament would have qualified for as the OFC representatives.[7]

Following FIFA's decision to cancel the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup on 24 December 2020,[8] the OFC announced on 18 January 2021 that the tournament would remain on track to be held in 2021, with the new dates to be decided in the coming months.[9] However, on 4 March 2021, the OFC announced that the tournament had been cancelled, and Samoa would be retained to host the next edition in 2022.[10]

New Zealand were the two-time defending champions.

  1. ^ "Hosts confirmed for 2020 Youth Tournaments". Oceania Football Confederation. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  2. ^ "OFC tournaments postponed". Oceania Football Confederation. 14 May 2020.
  3. ^ "OFC tournaments update". Oceania Football Confederation. 28 July 2020.
  4. ^ "OFC U-20 Championship 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 10 September 2020.
  5. ^ "OFC Competitions 2021 Calendar (updated 4/06/2021)" (PDF). Oceania Football Confederation. Fédération Tahitienne de Football. 4 June 2021.
  6. ^ "OFC announces schedule changes for early 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 5 November 2020.
  7. ^ "More calendar changes for 2021". Oceania Football Confederation. 16 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Update on FIFA Women's World Cup and men's youth competitions". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Men's youth tournaments postponed". Oceania Football Confederation. 18 January 2021.
  10. ^ "OFC confirms schedule changes". Oceania Football Confederation. 4 March 2021.