FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Final Preview: Spain vs North Korea

The 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup has reached its ultimate stage, as North Korea, the joint-most successful team in the tournament’s history, looks to go toe-to-toe with Spain to win the title and go clear of everyone else. After a disappointing quarterfinal exit in the 2024 edition, Spain are all set to travel to The Władysław Król Municipal Stadium on Sunday to play their third U-20 Women’s World Cup final in four editions as they try to reclaim the title they successfully won in 2022.

The Road to the U-20 Women’s World Cup Final

Spain

Spain’s route to the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Final has been comfortable, owing to their usual high standards. In a group consisting of China, Nigeria and New Caledonia, the girls ended the group stage unbeaten and in a dominating fashion. The match against New Caledonia saw one of the highest scorelines ever in FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup history, 11-0 in favor of Spain.

A solitary goal conceded against China is the only blemish on an otherwise clean campaign, and they backed up the heroics of the group stage with even better performances in the knockouts.

An Iberian derby was played out in the round of 16, with Spain dispatching their neighbors Portugal 2-0 with relative ease. An own goal from the Portuguese keeper and a strike from Maria Luisa Garcia were enough to trouble the opposition. This was followed by another tight performance against Brazil in the quarterfinals, with Real Madrid’s Paula Comendador scoring the only goal of the game to send them through to the semis.

In the semifinal, they met Italy. Once again their opponents conceded an own goal, before Comendador added to her hot streak by scoring her sixth goal of the tournament to win the match 2-0.

North Korea

North Korea have always been a favorite in this tournament, having won the 2024, 2016 and 2006 editions, the joint-most alongside Germany and the United States. They have had a comparably quieter run to the finals, unbeaten and top of their group, which included Portugal, Costa Rica and Colombia.

The round of 16 saw a rematch of the 2024 U-20 Women’s World Cup Final, again with the same outcome as North Korea triumphed over Japan. They followed it up with a 2-0 beating of Canada and a rematch from the group stage with Colombia. North Korea won both of those games over Colombia 3-0.

Spain Look to Extend Soccer Domination

We are in the middle of an extraordinary period in Spanish soccer. The men and women teams of Spain currently hold these titles simultaneously:

• FIFA World Cup 2026 (M)
• FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 (F)
• UEFA EURO 2024 (M)
• UEFA Women’s Nations League 2025 (F)

… among many more others across youth and futsal levels.

After a great summer of soccer where Spain clinched the men’s World Cup in North America, the under-20 girls of Spain would now love to add a trophy to that collection.

Spain and North Korea also met in the finals of the 2024 FIFA U-17 World Cup a couple of years back, when La Roja lost trying to defend their title from the year prior. North Korea went on to win the title in 2025 as well.

How Are North Korea So Good at Women’s Soccer?

The Korean girls are appearing in their fifth U-20 Women’s World Cup Final since the tournament began, only losing one final in their history to the United States back in 2008. They have also won the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup twice, in 2007 and 2024. The senior women’s team has won the AFC Women’s Asian Cup thrice, second only to China with nine.

Despite all the things we don’t talk about regarding that country and what goes on inside, they seem to do quite well when it comes to producing good women soccer players.

The government over there prioritized entering into international sport since the 1980s. According to The Guardian, it recognized that the women’s global game was underdeveloped and required less financial investment than men’s soccer. From a very young age, the chosen girls live and train together in high-quality facilities, with the promise of good global performances leading to incentives like better housing, access to the capital city, family benefits, etc.

As such, ever since the implementation of the program, young girls from the country have taken up soccer as a way to both improve their living conditions as well as put their country on the sporting map. As they grow older, they are mostly barred from playing in foreign leagues, so they never truly develop beyond their youth potential and, as a result, fall off by the time they reach the senior teams.

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Final: What To Expect

While North Korea can be classified as a powerhouse in this field, Spain are also no pushovers. They are arriving to this final with a lot of confidence. The tournament’s highest goalscorer, Pau Comendador (6), will have to fend off Choe Yon-a (5) for the Golden Boot.

While Spain have only conceded one goal, much like how the men did at the FIFA World Cup this summer, North Korea have conceded… zero. Chasing their seventh consecutive clean sheet in this tournament and looking to extend their record-breaking run of a 14th consecutive victory at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, the North Koreans will be motivated at the chance to create more history.

Spain will think of revenge. Korea will think about further expanding their domination in women’s soccer. Both sides are equally poised to take the trophy home.

Prediction: 2-2 draw, North Korea wins on penalties.