Colombia is ready to host the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup: opportunities and challenges

The time has come. The ball will roll next Saturday and the U-20 Women’s World Cup will begin in Colombia. The country will not only host the event with the best youth teams, but will also have the challenge of demonstrating its ability to organize a FIFA tournament of maximum importance at an international level.

Colombia already hosted the 2011 World Cup in the same category, but at the men’s level, and the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup. Now the enthusiasm that has been awakened in the country for women’s football is being put to the test, largely thanks to the good performances of the National Team in all its categories and the expectations generated by the current youth generation, led by Linda Caicedo.

The U-20 Women’s World Cup is a tournament that has been held every two years since its first edition in 2002. In the last edition, Costa Rica 2022, 16 teams participated, now there are 24, and it will be played in four stadiums: Techo and El Campín, in Bogotá, the Atanasio Girardot in Medellín and the Pascual Guerrero in Cali. One of the main challenges at the organizational level is to get a response from the fans, so much so that the mayor of Cali, Alejandro Eder, said: “We are expecting at least 4,000 to 5,000 spectators per match.”

For organizational purposes, the Colombian Football Federation and the Government signed a contract for 6.955 billion pesos (about 1.72 million dollars) to guarantee land and air transportation; lodging and food; logistics; services, supplies, technology and health supplies; sports equipment and clothing.

Great opportunity for Colombia

Organizing a FIFA World Cup is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity in different areas, such as infrastructure, with the adaptation and investment in sports venues and training sites. For example, in Bogotá, the IDRD reported that it invested a total of $904,788,767 in alternative venues.

The El Campín stadium, the main venue, has received an investment of nearly $988,000,000 pesos for various interventions to ensure the quality of the facilities. For its part, the Estadio Metropolitano de Techo has been subject to a thorough modernization with a total investment of $8,140,000,000 pesos.

In Cali, the Pascual Guerrero received from FIFA the modern hybrid turf, with natural and synthetic grass, which cost $1.5 billion.

For its part, the Mayor’s Office of Medellín reported an investment of more than $5 billion in improvements to the Atanasio Girardot.

Vanessa Alipioteam manager of Deportivo Cali women’s team, which has just won the local league, says: “It is an opportunity to show that Colombia is a football country, that we love and do very well everything related to women’s football here, not only playing it, but that we have great potential at an organizational and managerial level, and that the public likes women’s football. Like any sporting event, this serves to improve the image of the country, to stimulate the economy in the cities where the matches will be played.”

The footballer Carolina Pinedaa representative of America, believes that “the World Cup is an opportunity for the world to get to know our country.”

And she analyses: “It will benefit in terms of visibility, in terms of investment by FIFA in infrastructure in many places where the national teams will train. But beyond that, if it generates a development plan based on the needs of local women’s football, I have my doubts. But there is more to it than that, perhaps not the impact on improving the internal competition and visibility, but what the event means is very beneficial.”

For its part, Ricardo Rozoformer coach of the Colombian women’s national team, sees many benefits: “It is the ideal setting to benefit from the development and projection of women’s football; there is investment, women’s football will be visible for almost the entire September, it will generate income, and strengthen the image of women’s football worldwide. Hopefully this support will remain for professional and amateur women’s football.”

Format

There are 24 teams, 4 from AFC, CAF, Concacaf and Conmebol (plus host Colombia), 2 from OFC and 5 from UEFA. The top two teams from each group qualify for the round of 16, along with the four best third-placed teams. Then there will be quarter-finals, semi-finals, a match for third place and the final.

Opening

The 2024 U-20 World Cup in Colombia will open next Saturday, August 31, with the opening whistle. The first matches will be Cameroon vs. Mexico and Colombia vs. Australia, in Group A, both at the El Campín stadium. In Group B, France vs. Canada and Brazil vs. Fiji will play at the Atanasio Girardot.

PAUL ROMERO

Sports Editor

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