Uruguay U19

In the summer of 2023, Uruguay lifted the FIFA U-20 World Cup for the first time.

Uruguay has won that regional title eight times, spread across three decades that overlap almost none of each other: 1954, 1958 and 1964 in one stretch, then 1975 through 1981 in another burst of three wins in five editions, and a lone triumph in 2017 that stood apart from both.

The side trains at the Complejo Uruguay Celeste, a purpose-built performance centre outside Montevideo, in Canelones, rather than at a stadium of its own, since its matches are played wherever the CONMEBOL and FIFA calendars send it. The nickname La Celeste, borrowed from the senior team's sky blue, has followed the same shirt through generations of players: Luis Suárez, Diego Forlán and Edinson Cavani all passed through this same age group before their names meant anything internationally. More recently, the 2023 title run carried forward players such as Willian José and Agustín Fernández, alongside Estevão Willian, who left for Chelsea shortly after.

What the record still lacks is a second continental title to match the consistency of the runners-up finishes — seven silver medals against eight golds, with long years, including most of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, in which South American youth football belonged to Uruguay's neighbours rather than to Montevideo.