1999 FIFA U20 World Cup: The Birth of Spain’s Golden Generation

The 1999 U20 World Cup marked a defining moment in Spanish football — the birth of the golden generation that would go on to dominate world football in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Held in Nigeria, the tournament proved to be a lucky charm for La Furia Roja. It was on African soil that Xavi Hernández and his teammates lifted Spain’s first-ever U20 World Cup trophy — and, 11 years later, Spain would once again conquer the world at the senior level in South Africa 2010. Alongside Xavi, future World Cup winners Iker Casillas and Pablo Marchena also played key roles in Nigeria 1999.

Facts and Figures

 The 1999 FIFA U20 World Cup came with several notable highlights. Here are some of the key details from the long-awaited tournament finally staged in Nigeria after two postponements:

* The competition took place from April 3 to April 24.

* Eight cities hosted the matches: Ibadan, Lagos, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano, Calabar, Kaduna, and Bauchi.

* Zambia, Kazakhstan, and Croatia made their tournament debuts.

Japan and Mali Challenge Spain’s Dominance

 It wasn’t just Spain’s triumph that caught the world’s attention — Japan and Mali were the other surprise packages of the tournament. Both sides defied expectations to reach the semifinals.

The young Samurai Blue, managed by Philippe Troussier, made history by becoming only the second Asian side after Qatar to reach a U20 World Cup final. They defeated heavyweights Portugal, Mexico, and Uruguay in the knockout rounds before facing Spain in the final. However, like Qatar 1981, Japan fell short, suffering a 4–0 defeat in the decisive match.

 Mali, meanwhile, impressed the continent by knocking out Cameroon and hosts Nigeria before being edged out by Spain in the semifinal. Seydou Keita and company still managed to end their campaign on a high, securing third place with a 1–0 win over Uruguay.

Tournament highlights

Group Stage final standings (The one in bold advanced to the knockout stage, the top two from each group, plus best third place)

Grup A	Grup B	Grup C
Paraguay	Ghana	Mexico
Nigeria	Croatia	Ireland
Costa Rica	Argentina	Australia
Germany	Kazakhstan	Saudi Arabia
Grup D	Grup E	Grup F
Mali	Japan	Spain
Portugal	USA	Brasil
Uruguay	Cameroon	Zambia
South Korea	England	Honduras

** = penalties

* = extra time

Round of 16:

-          Mali vs Cameroon 5-4

-          Ireland vs Nigeria 1-1 (3-5)**

-          Spain vs AS 3-2

-          Ghana vs Costa Rica 2-0

-          Paraguay vs Uruguay 2-2 (9-10)**

-          Brasil vs Croatia 4-0

-          Japan vs Portugal 1-1(5-4)**

-          Mexico vs Argentina 4-1

Quarterfinals:

-          Mali vs Nigeria 3-1

-          Spain vs Ghana 1-1 (8-7)**

-          Uruguay vs Brasil 2-1

-          Japan vs Meksiko 2-0

Semifinals:

-          Mali vs Spain 1-3

-          Uruguay vs Japan 1-2

3^rd place playoff: Mali vs Uruguay 1-0

Final: Spain vs Japan  4-0

 Top scorer: Pablo Counago (Spain) – 5 gol

MVP: Seydou Keita (Mali)

 

From Youth to Stardom

 The 1999 U20 World Cup produced more future stars than any edition before it. Among them were Ronaldinho, Ashley Cole, Diego Forlán, Iker Casillas, Tim Howard, and Robbie Keane — alongside Xavi Hernández, who would later return to his former club Barcelona as head coach. Below is the list of players from the 1999 edition who went on to become key figures at the senior level:

Players	World Cup editions (senior)
Gabriel Milito (Argentina)	2006
Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina)	2006
Stipe Pletikosa (Croatia)	2002, 2014
Anthony Seric (Croatia)	1998, 2002, 2006
Jurica Vranjes (Croatia)	2002
Stephen Appiah (Ghana)	2006, 2010
Sammy Adjei (Ghana)	2006
Carlos Kameni (Cameroon)	2002, 2010
Daniel Kome (Cameroon)	2002
Ashley Cole (England)	2002, 2006, 2010
Peter Crouch (England)	2006
Akira Kaji (Japan)	2006
Junichi Inamoto (Japan)	2002, 2006, 2010
Mitsuo Ogasawara (Japan)	2002, 2006
Naoihiro Takahara (Japan)	2006
Yasuhito Endo (Japan)	2006, 2010, 2014
Koji Nakata (Japan)	2002. 2006
Shinji Ono (Japan)	1998, 2002, 2006
Steve Cherundolo (USA)	2006, 2010, 2014
Carlos Bocanegra (USA)	2006, 2010
Tim Howard (USA)	2006, 2010, 2014
Song Chong-gug (South Korea)	2002, 2006
Seol Ki-Hyeon (South Korea)	2002, 2006
Lee Dong-Gook (South Korea)	1998, 2010
Marco Caneira (Portugal)	2006
Simao Sabrossa (Portugal)	2006, 2010
Diego Forlan (Uruguay)	2002, 2010, 2014
Fabian Carini (Uruguay)	2002
Gonzalo Sorondo (Uruguay)	2002
Diego Perez (Uruguay)	2010
Brett Emerton (Australia)	2006
Mark Bresciano (Australia)	2006
Jason Culina (Australia)	2006
Vince Grella (Australia)	2006, 2010
Mile Sterjovski (Australia)	2006
Rafael Marquez (Mexico)	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014. 2018
Gerardo Torrado (Mexico)	2002, 2006, 2010
Robbie Keane (Ireland)	2002
Damien Duff (Ireland)	2002
Mabrouk Zaid (Saudi)	2006
Fouzi Al-Shehri (Saudi)	2002
Julio Cesar (Brasil)	2006, 2010, 2014
Ronaldinho (Brasil)	2002, 2006
Juan (Brasil)	2006, 2010
David Suazo (Honduras)	2010
Carlos Marchena (Spain)	2002, 2010
Xavi Hernandez (Spain)	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
Iker Casillas (Spain)	2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
Gilberto Martinez (Costa Rica)	2002, 2006
Danny Fonseca (Costa Rica)	2006
Winston Parks (Costa Rica)	2002
Pius Ikedia (Nigeria)	2002
Joseph Yobo (Nigeria)	2002, 2010, 2014
Rabiu Afolabi (Nigeria)	2002, 2010
Julius Aghahowa (Nigeria)	2002
Paulo Da Silva (Paraguay)	2006, 2010
Roque Santa Cruz (Paraguay)	2002, 2006, 2010
Nelson Cuevas (Paraguay)	2002, 2006
Salvador Cabanas (Paraguay)	2006