2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship

The 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship was held in Russia from 17 August to 3 September 2006. It was the officially recognized world championship for women's under-20 national association football teams. Matches were held in four Moscow stadiums (Dynamo, Lokomotiv, Podmoskovie Stadium and Torpedo Stadium) and one in Saint Petersburg (Petrovsky Stadium).

This was the third women's world youth championship organized by FIFA, but the first with an age limit of 20. The first two events, held in Canada in 2002 and Thailand in 2004, had an age limit of 19. FIFA changed the age limit to prepare for the creation of an under-17 championship in 2008.

North Korea won the tournament. They became the first Asian team to win a FIFA women's tournament and the first Asian football team to win any FIFA tournaments since Saudi Arabia's triumph in the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship. the official mascot, is a little fox called Alissa. It is a figure that is very popular in children's literature in Russia, and one frequently said to possess beauty, intelligence, speed and craftiness; traits it shares with many of Russia's promising young women footballers.

Alissa sports a football strip in the colours of the Russian flag, a fitting choice for the proud host country of this world championship. Naturally, it never goes anywhere without its loyal friend, a football, whose company it enjoys immensely. This lively little fox is unquestionably female, as demonstrated by Alissa's long tied-back hair and sports skirt, but then again this is a women's festival of football.

Qualified Teams
The 16 participating U-20 women's teams from the six FIFA confederations are:


 * 1.Teams that made their debut.

Group stage
The draw for the tournament was held in Moscow's City Hall on 22 March 2006. 14 of the 16 competing teams (the two CAF teams were then still undecided) learned their first-round groupings.

Group A
All times local (UTC+4)

Knockout stage


Awards
The following awards were given for the tournament:

Scorers

 * 5 goals
 * Ma Xiaoxu
 * Kim Song-hui


 * 4 goals
 * Anna Blässe
 * Cynthia Uwak


 * 3 goals


 * Ludmila Manicler
 * Fatmire Bajramaj
 * Maureen Eke
 * Danesha Adams


 * 2 goals


 * Collette McCallum
 * Fabiana
 * Jodi-Ann Robinson
 * Zi Jingjing
 * Marie-Laure Delie
 * Nadine Kessler
 * Simone Laudehr
 * Célia Okoyino Da Mbabi
 * Charlyn Corral
 * Rita Chikwelu
 * Akudo Sabi
 * Jo Yun-mi
 * Jong Pok-hui
 * Kil Son-hui
 * Kim Kyong-hwa
 * Anna Kozhnikova
 * Vanessa Bürki
 * Amy Rodriguez
 * Jessica Rostedt
 * Kelley O'Hara


 * 1 goal


 * Mercedes Pereyra
 * Belén Potassa
 * Danielle Brogan
 * Sally Shipard
 * Adriane
 * Francielle
 * Amanda Chiccini
 * Kaylyn Kyle
 * Lou Xiaoxu
 * You Jia
 * Zhang Weishuang
 * Trésorine Nzuzi
 * Laure Boulleau
 * Amandine Henry
 * Jessica Houara
 * Louisa Necib
 * Juliane Maier
 * Lydia Neumann
 * Jennifer Oster
 * Monique Cisneros
 * Maria de Lourdes Gordillo
 * Mónica Ocampo
 * Abby Erceg
 * Emma Humphries
 * Tawa Ishola
 * Hong Myong-gum
 * O Kum-hui
 * Ri Un-hyang
 * Kim Hyang-mi
 * Kim Ok-sim
 * Svetlana Akimova
 * Elena Terekhova
 * Alexandra Long
 * Casey Nogueira


 * Own goals
 * Yuan Fan (for Finland)

Further information

 * This was the first time an Australian football team has played in a worldwide competition as an Asian Football Confederation team. However, the country's senior men's team was the first to play as an AFC team, competing in its first 2007 Asian Cup qualifier in February 2006, two months before the AFC qualifiers for this competition. Before 1 January 2006, Australia was a member of the Oceania Football Confederation.
 * This was the first U-20 Women's tournament in which a Canadian has not won the Golden Shoe award, given to the top goal scorer of the tournament. Canadians Christine Sinclair and Brittany Timko won the award in 2002 and 2004 respectively.