About Sudamericano Sub-20

History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage

The Torneo Juventudes de América, also known as Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-20 or CONMEBOL U-20 Championship in English, is a youth national team tournament organized by the South American confederation every two years. The competition was held for the first time in 1954 with nine teams, but it eventually included all CONMEBOL teams in 1983. The Sudamericano Sub-20 has been frequently used as a qualifying event for different competitions, including the FIFA U-20 World Cup and the Pan American Games.

The tournament’s format is quite simple, as it draws all ten teams into two groups of five. Each group sees a round-robin between the teams involved in it, and three teams make it to the tournament's next stage. Once there, a new round-robin takes place between the six teams that reach the final round, where the top team is crowned as champion and gains access to whichever competition is required, meaning it can be used to qualify for one or two competitions at the same time. Usually, those who finish the final round in fifth or sixth have no option of playing the previously mentioned international tournaments.

Out of the teams playing in the tournament, Brazil are by far the most successful, being the only team to win it more than ten times. However, there is another impressive record held by Uruguay, as La Celeste managed to win the tournament four times in a row between 1975 and 1981, an unmatched feat among South American teams in this category.