The third match day of the group stage at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia gets underway on Friday, September 6th.
With the expansion to 24 teams and the addition of a Round of Sixteen, four of the third-place teams from the groups will also advance to the knockout stage, instead of just the top two teams from each group.
This post summarizes what teams have already qualified for the Round of Sixteen, which teams can advance automatically advance as one of the top two teams, and where teams could finish depending on the results of the final set of group matches.
For information about TV and streaming details, see “Full Schedule with USA TV and Streaming Details for the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup”.
Group A
Standings
- Colombia: 6 points, +3 goal difference, 3 goals scored
- Mexico: 4 points, +2 goal difference, 4 goals scored
- Cameroon: 1 point, -1 goal difference, 2 goals scored
- Australia: 0 points, -4 goal difference, no goals scored
Matches
Friday, September 6th at 6:00 p.m. EDT
- Australia vs. Cameroon
- Mexico vs. Colombia
Possibilities
- Colombia will finish 1st or 2nd
- Mexico could finish 1st, 2nd, or 3rd
- Cameroon could finish 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
- Australia can only finish 3rd or 4th
Summary
- Colombia is assured advancement as one of the top two teams.
- Mexico would top the group with a win over Colombia.
- If Mexico-Colombia ends in a draw, Mexico will advance as the second-place team.
- If Mexico loses, it can still finish second if Cameroon does not defeat Australia or Cameroon wins but Mexico has superior tie-breakers (namely, goal difference, then goals scored).
- Cameroon would finish third with a draw against Australia.
- Australia needs a victory over Cameroon to have a fair chance of advancement.
Third-Place Team
- 4 points: Mexico or Cameroon
- 3 points: Australia
- 2 points: Cameroon
Group B
Standings
- Brazil: 6 points, +12 goal difference, 12 goals scored
- Canada: 4 points, +9 goal difference, 12 goals scored
- France: 1 point, -3 goal difference, 3 goals scored
- Fiji: 0 points, -18 goal difference, no goals scored
Matches
Friday, September 6th at 9:00 p.m. EDT
- Fiji vs. France
- Canada vs. Brazil
Possibilities
- Brazil will finish 1st or 2nd
- Canada could finish 1st, 2nd, or 3rd
- France could finish 2nd, 3rd, or (very unlikely) 4th
- Fiji could finish 3rd (very unlikely) or 4th
Summary
- Brazil is assured advancement as one of the top two teams.
- Canada would top the group with a win over Brazil.
- If Brazil-Canada ends in a draw, Canada will advance as the second-place team.
- If Canada loses, it can still finish second as long as France does not surpass Canada on goal difference. (Total goals and other tie-breakers could could into play in certain scenarios.)
- France or Canada will almost certainly be one of the top third-place teams, due to their high-scoring match against Fiji.
Third-Place Team
- 4 points: France or Canada
- scenarios involving Fiji are highly unlikely
Group C
Standings
- Spain: 6 points, +3 goal difference, 3 goals scored
- USA: 3 points, +1 goal difference, 2 goals scored
- Paraguay: 3 points, 0 goal difference, 2 goals scored
- Morocco: 0 points, -4 goal difference, no goals scored
Matches
Saturday, September 7th at 7:00 p.m. EDT
- USA vs. Paraguay
- Morocco vs. Spain
Possibilities
- Spain will finish 1st (most likely) or 2nd (very unlikely)
- The USA could finish 1st (very unlikely), 2nd, 3rd, or 4th (very unlikely)
- Paraguay could finish 1st (very unlikely), 2nd, 3rd, or 4th (very unlikely)
- Morocco could finish 3rd (very unlikely) or 4th
Summary
- Spain is assured advancement as one of the top two teams.
- The winner of USA-Paraguay could finish 1st if Morocco somehow defeats Spain and the winner surpasses Spain on tie-breakers (namely, goal difference).
- The USA only needs a draw to secure automatic advancement as the second-place team.
- Paraguay needs a victory over the USA in order to ensure automatic advancement.
- If there is a loser in the USA-Paraguay match, they could still advance as a third-place team, depending on the results in the other groups. The possible loser would have a decent chance of advancement as long as they do not lose by more than 2 goals.
- Morocco could finish as high as third with an unlikely victory over Spain and the USA-Paraguay match not ending in a draw.
Third-Place Team
- 4 points: Paraguay
- 3 points: Paraguay, USA, or (very unlikely) Morocco
- 1 point: Morocco (fairly unlikely)
Group D
Standings
- Germany: 6 points, +5 goal difference, 8 goals scored
- Nigeria: 3 points, -1 goal difference, 2 goals scored
- Korea Republic: 1 points, -1 goal difference, no goals scored
- Venezuela: 1 points, -3 goal difference, 2 goals scored
Matches
Saturday, September 7th at 4:00 p.m. EDT
- Korea Republic vs. Germany
- Venezuela vs. Nigeria
Possibilities
- Germany will finish 1st or 2nd
- Nigeria could finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
- Korea Republic could finish 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
- Venezuela could finish 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
Summary
- Germany is assured advancement as one of the top two teams.
- Nigeria would ensure automatic advancement with a victory over Venezuela.
- Nigeria could top the group if they defeat Venezuela, Germany loses to Korea Republic, and Nigeria surpasses Germany on tie-breakers (namely goal difference, then goals scored).
- If Korea Republic loses to Germany, a draw in the Venezuela-Nigeria match would be enough for Nigeria to advance automatically as the second-place team.
- If Korea Republic defeats Germany and Nigeria draws with Venezuela, Nigeria would finish in third as Korea Republic would have the goal difference difference advantage (0 or higher versus -1).
- If Germany defeats Korea Republic and Venezuela-Nigeria does not end in a draw, the winner of the latter match would automatically advance as the second-place team.
- If both matches end in draws, Germany tops the group and Nigeria finishes second. Then, Korea Republic will finish third, above Venezuela, due to a goal difference advantage (-1 versus -3).
- For the double-draw scenario, the third-place team, Korea Republic would be on 2 points,
Third-Place Team
- 4 points: Nigeria or Korea Republic
- 3 points: Nigeria
- 2 points: Korea Republic or Venezuela
- 1 point: Korea Republic or Venezuela
Group E
Standings
- Japan: 6 points, +10 goal difference, 11 goals scored
- Austria: 6 points, +3 goal difference, 5 goals scored
- Ghana: 0 points, -4 goal difference, 2 goals scored
- New Zealand: 0 points, -7 goal difference, 1 goal scored
Matches
Sunday, September 8th at 7:00 p.m. EDT
- Austria vs. Japan
- New Zealand vs. Ghana
Possibilities
- Japan will finish 1st or 2nd
- Austria will finish 1st or 2nd
- Ghana will finish 3rd or 4th
- New Zealand will finish 3rd or 4th
Summary
- Both Japan and Austria are assured advancement as the top two teams.
- The Austria-Japan match will decide those teams placement.
- Japan only needs a draw to top the group, due to their goal difference advantage.
- Austria can only top the group with a victory over Japan.
- For the match between New Zealand and Ghana, a draw would put Ghana in third-place, but with only 1 point.
- Either Ghana or New Zealand need to win in order to have a chance of advancing as one of the better third-place teams. Group E plays last, so those two teams will know (1) if they have a path to the Round of Sixteen and (2) what scorelines would be needed to finish as one of the top four third-place teams.
Third-Place Team
- 3 Points: Ghana or New Zealand
- 1 Point: Ghana
Group F
Standings
- Korea DPR: 6 points, +13 goal difference, 15 goals scored
- Netherlands: 4 points, +2 goal difference, 5 goals scored
- Argentina: 1 points, -4 goal difference, 5 goals scored
- Costa Rica: 0 points, -11 goal difference, no goals scored
Matches
Sunday, September 8th at 4:00 p.m. EDT
- Argentina vs. Costa Rica
- Netherlands vs. Korea DPR
Possibilities
- Korea DPR will finish 1st or 2nd
- Netherland could finish 1st, 2nd, or 3rd
- Argentina could finish 2nd, 3rd, or 4th
- Costa Rica could finish 3rd or 4th
Summary
- Korea DPR is assured advancement as one of the top two teams.
- The Netherlands could top the group with a win over Korea DPR.
- The Netherlands only needs a draw to ensure a second-place finish.
- The Netherlands could still finish second if they lose narrowly to Korea DPR and Argentina does not surpass the Netherlands on tie-breakers (namely, goal difference, then goals scored).
- Group F is the second-to-last group to play their final matches, so the Netherlands and Argentina will have a clear picture of how they could advance.
- Since the eventual third-place team of the final group to play, Group E, can only have at most 3 points, if one of the third-place teams in Groups A to D is also on 3 points or less, then the Netherlands are assured of advancing while Argentina can lock up a spot in the Round of Sixteen with a victory over Costa Rica.
- If all four third-place teams from Groups A to D are on 4 points, then the Netherlands may need a draw to ensure advancement
- Argentina would finish third by drawing with Costa Rica, but would only be on 2 points. Depending on the results of the earlier groups, that will probably not be enough to make the top four of the third-place teams.
- Costa Rica needs to win to have a chance as a third-place team.
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