2003 FIFA World Youth Championship

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship
2003 الإمارات العربية المتحدة
Tournament details
Host country	United Arab Emirates
Dates	27 November – 19 December
Teams	24 (from 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	7 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions	Brazil (4th title)
Runners-up	Spain
Third place	Colombia
Fourth place	Argentina
Tournament statistics
Matches played	52
Goals scored	119 (2.29 per match)
Attendance	592,100 (11,387 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Dudu; Fernando Cavenaghi; Eddie Johnson; Daisuke Sakata; (4 goals)
Best player(s)	Ismail Matar
Fair play award	Colombia
	← 2001 2005 →

The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 14th FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. Brazil claimed their fourth title, becoming the first country to simultaneously hold all three World Cups of the same gender (senior, under-20, and under-17).^[a] The tournament was originally planned to be played 25 March to 16 April 2003, but was postponed because of the Iraq War.

^ Meenaghan, Gary (29 July 2015). "When Iniesta and football's future stars discovered UAE's passion: The 2003 Fifa World Youth Championships". The National. Retrieved 29 August 2023. Brazil, in contrast, were delighted: the victory completed a remarkable treble for the South American nation, whose senior team had won the World Cup a year earlier in Japan and South Korea, and whose Under 17s had beat Cesc Fabregas's Spain in their own world championship final a few months later.

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[1] Meenaghan, Gary (29 July 2015). "When Iniesta and football's future stars discovered UAE's passion: The 2003 Fifa World Youth Championships". The National. Retrieved 29 August 2023. Brazil, in contrast, were delighted: the victory completed a remarkable treble for the South American nation, whose senior team had won the World Cup a year earlier in Japan and South Korea, and whose Under 17s had beat Cesc Fabregas's Spain in their own world championship final a few months later.

[a]