Why are many breakout stars missing the U20 FIFA World Cup?

Emerging stars absent from World Cup

The U20 FIFA World Cup, is an international football tournament organized by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). This is a tournament that brings players from the world's best nations together, players who are under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977, it was hosted by Tunisia under the name of FIFA World Youth Championship until 2005.

The U20 FIFA World Cup is a crucial step towards developing young talents, players look to make a name for themselves in the sport, with few of them making it to the top tier of world football. However, in recent years, the involvement of emerging stars has declined.

The U20 FIFA World Cup 2023 has highlighted issues faced by FIFA

The U20 FIFA World Cup 2023 was scheduled to happen in Indonesia, but it was stripped off because the country was dealing with protests against Israel, which was involved in the competition; the tournament, which has seen the likes of Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, and Erling Haaland is now going to take place in Argentina from May 20 - June 11.

This U20 FIFA World Cup 2023 is staged at a similar time in the calendar to its predecessors, and FIFA had little but no choice but to run it outside of the international window to avoid clashes with other summer tournaments like Women's World Cup, Men's U21 Euro, Men's and Women's U17 Euros are also scheduled to take place between May and July.

This has disabled the involvement of players like Garnacho and many more as their respective clubs have been reluctant to release them before the end of the season. European associations along with other associations pleaded with FIFA to make exceptions and allow players to play, but their request was rejected as FIFA stated that it is only possible to make changes because of injury up to the eve of the first game, and the tournament has been dogged by politics and complications.

Manchester City's youngster Rico Lewis, Chelsea's Lewis Hall, and Malo Gusto are some of the players missing the tournament along with the hometown hero Alejandro Garnacho. The following clubs are not obliged to release their players before the end of the season for their respective countries.

Despite facing all the difficulties, the tournament remains a stage for young talented players to showcase their talents and catch the eyes of the top European teams. The absence of top young footballers is a blow to the tournament, but it also showcases the difficulties FIFA has been facing lately. The hope is that even though there have been difficulties this year, the U20 FIFA World Cup in Argentina will provide a platform for the next generation.