Gianni Infantino was at a packed Nemesio Camacho El Campín stadium in Bogotá, Colombia, to watch the hosts play Australia as the newly-expanded 24-team FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2024™ got underway in style with 21 goals in four games. The FIFA President expressed his delight at the passionate atmosphere after seeing Colombia begin the eleventh edition of the tournament with a 2-0 win, saying it demonstrated the popularity of women’s football.

“What an excellent beginning to the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup here in Colombia,” said Mr Infantino, who watched the game alongside the President of the Colombian Football Association, Ramón Jesurún. “Thanks to an exceptional crowd, the atmosphere was fantastic as the hosts started with a win. The other three games had lots of goals and excitement. The passion for women's football was very evident. It was a privilege to witness the action today in beautiful Bogotá.”

The match was the second on a double bill which kicked off with Cameroon, one of four debutants at the tournament, drawing 2-2 with Mexico. The other two matches were played at the Atanasio Girardot stadium in Medellín where France and Canada drew 3-3 before Brazil, looking to win the title for the first time, beat Fiji, another of the debutants, 9-0.

Previously featuring 16 teams, the tournament has been enlarged to 24 teams as part of efforts to provide more playing opportunities for the national teams and club sides – one of FIFA’s 11 strategic objectives for the global game in the 2023-2027 cycle.

Colombia is hosting a FIFA tournament for the third time, having previously staged the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2011™ and the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016™. “We want this event of international standing in Colombia to be a resounding success and a celebration of the talent, passion and sporting spirit which characterises the players of each country,” said Mr Jesurún.

The tournament sees the introduction of the ‘No Racism’ gesture into the three-step anti-discrimination procedure to empower players, referees, and team officials to take a stand against racism. By crossing their hands at the wrists, players can signal directly to the referee that they are being targeted by racist abuse, prompting the referee to start the procedure. With the first step, the match will be stopped. If the abuse continues, the match will be suspended, with the players and match officials exiting the field of play. In the event the incident does not cease, in the third step, the match will be abandoned.

It is also the first FIFA tournament to feature the new replay technology system known as football video support (VS), a simplified alternative to video assistant referees (VAR), as FIFA continues to drive the use of technology to help referees.