South America’s qualifying tournament for the 2026 U20 Women’s World Cup in Poland wrapped up it’s initial Group Stage and is about to launch the final, Hexagonal phase. In the Hexagonal, the 6 remaining teams will play each other once. The top four teams from the Hexagonal will qualify for the world cup, with the top team being crowned the champion. Let’s look at how the Group Stage unfolded

First, let’s look at some of the stories that emerged from Group A. Featured hosts, Paraguay, as well as Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Venezuela; of the two groups, it was the deepest and most difficult group.

All of the matches in Group A were close affairs. No side completely dominated another, and the only runaway score line from the group was Paraguay’s 4-0 opener against Chile. Still, Colombia and Venezuela stood out as the top teams. Paraguay were inconsistent, and Chile were perhaps the disappointment of the tournament.

In the end, the hosts joined Colombia and Venezuela to advance to the Hexagonal. Let’s look at some of the story lines that got us here.

Colombia topped Group A without losing a match, and they were the only team to beat Venezuela. But they did not play lights out, as whole. In fact, they regularly struggled to score, resulting in two goalless draws against Paraguay and Chile. But they topped the group and avoided defeat because of lights-out play from goalkeeper, Luisa Agudelo.

Colombia enter the Hexagonal as Group A winners without a loss, and they did that without conceding a goal in all four matches. And let’s be clear, they could have conceded if not for some heroics from Agudelo.

In particular, she had standout performances against Chile and Venezuela. In particular, her outing against Venezuela was key to Colombia’s victory. Against Chile, when Colombia’s offense was proving anemic in their first match, Agudelo made multiple good saves to keep Chile from snatching a win. This diving save on a freekick from Ambar Figueroa was the highlight of the match:

Againt Venezuela, the Vinotinas were dominant for most of the match, but they couldn’t beat the brick wall that was Agudelo. These two saves, in particular, kept Colombia even and provided the platform for Maithe Lopez to steal all three points late in the match:

If you’re handing out an award for performance of the this initial group phase, it’s hard to argue against it going to Luisa Agudelo. She was superb.

There’s good reason to put high expectations on this Paraguay side as they entered the tournament. They did well in last you’re U17 tournament, and a lot of this side carried over. They’re the hosts. And, of course, they’re fronted by one of the hottest players in world right now, Claudia Martinez.

And they started the tournament looking like they were going to be a force to be reckoned with, putting on a dominant display in a 4-0 over Chile. Claudia Martinez, for her part, had two goals in the match.

After that opening match, however, not only did Paraguay not win another match (two draws and a loss to Venezuela), but they didn’t score another goal. They did miss a penalty and get two players sent off, however. They weren’t necessarily outplayed in these matches. In their loss to Venezuela, they were the better side. But in both draws, they played substantial minutes down a player.

As things stand, it’s hard to see Paraguay winning this tournament, but they could still qualify for the U20 Women’s World Cup. If they can play tighter at the back and get Villabla and Martinez going, a top-four finish in the Hexagonal is definitely possible for this side.

In my preview of the tournament, I predicted Venezuela to be the weak spot in this group. My rationale was two-fold: (1) a lot of these players were with the team that didn’t do well in last year’s U17 tournament and (2) a lot of these players are based in Venezuela’s league, and the starters are not on the top teams in that league.

Boy was I wrong. Venezuela were solid in every match. They probably should have beaten Colombia but for Luisa Agudelo’s aforementioned heroics. Two players that have really stood out for Venezuela are striker, Genesis Hernandez and goalkeeper, Valeria Rebanales.

Hernandez, a native of Florida and sophomore playing at Nova Southeastern University. has three goals in the group stage, including both goals in Venezuela’s opener against Uruguay. The pick of her goals, appropriately, comes with an assist from Rebanales, but Hernandez takes the praise through her strength in holding off a defender and deft touch to beat Uruguay’s keeper.

Valeria Rebanales is part of the goalkeeping core at Venezuela’s defending champions, ADIFFEM. She has been near lights out so far. She’s proven herself aggressive off her line with excellent reactions. As a result of her aggressiveness, Rebanales will come out of her box to help with possession. She can find herself caught off her line or out of position a bit. This played a role in the goal Venezuela conceded in their loss to Colombia. But this has been the exception in her play. Overall, Rebanales has been a standout for a Venezuela side full of standouts.

Against Colombia, she made two excellent saves, including a retreating dive after her defense lost possession in a bad spot.

If Venezuela can carry their moment into the Hexagonal, they can match up with any of the finalists and could very well see themselves qualifying for the U20 Women’s World Cup.

Whereas Group A was marked by depth of quality throughout, Group B was a little more straightforward to predict, and the results fell mostly in line with how I would have predicted them. That doesn’t mean the group lacked interesting storylines. Quite the opposite, there is meat to chew on in this group.

For Group B, Argentina and Brazil were clearly going to be the top teams in the group, and it would have been surprising for Peru to upset Ecuador for third. While Brazil looked strong but beatable, Argentina were difficult to break down and difficult to prevent from scoring. Group B, though more predictable, brought some major intrigue for the Hexagonal.

Argentina finished the Group Stage with a perfect record, winning all of their matches and scoring 12 goals to only 2 conceded. But perhaps the most impressive part of this performance is that they heavily rotated their roster every time. The only player to not start a match was third-string goalkeeper, Juanna Schipper. Only one player, Pilar Sibransky, started three matches in a row. No player started all four of their matches, including the other two keepers on the roster, who split the games two apiece.

Of the 19 field players, only three started a single match; Annika Paz the most surprising of that group. While I, personally, find keeping Paz off the field a crazy prospect, Argentina have used her in a fairly consistent way. When she hasn’t started, she’s come in as sub fairly early in each second half. And frankly, in this kind of tournament where matches come quickly, bringing Paz’s pace and power off the bench has to be a nightmare for the opposition defenses.

Here, in Argentina’s opening match against Ecuador, Paz plays her partner in attack, Kishi Nuñez, who plays a ball behind the defense. Paz has to do a lot of work to both win the ball and finish, but she handles both with a seeming ease.

Along with Paz and Nuñez, Mercedes Diz had a solid Group Stage, both scoring goals and providing a dangerous presence for her attacking teammates. Argentina looked very good in the Group Stage and enter the Hexagonal on a high.

At the outset, Ecuador would have been picked to finish third in this group, and that’s where they finished. But errors played key roles in their losses against Argentina and, especially, Brazil. In both matches, errors played key roles in Ecuador conceding goals, and they were both unforced errors.

Against Argentina, a short ball played on a goal kick put defender Maithe Zambrano in a difficult spot. She was quickly closed down by Mercedes Diz. Zambrano attempted to dribble around her, but had the ball stripped, and Argentina scored. Against Brazil, Ecuador twice fought back to bring the match to a 2-2 draw late, when a goalkeeping error gave Brazil a late winner.

In both of these losses, Ecuador were able to find goals. Had they been error free, perhaps Ecuador has two draws against Argentina and Brazil, and we’re talking about them as dark horses. But that is something they can bring with them into the Hexagonal. They scored goals. This freekick probably the pick of them:

But Ecuador scored goals from set pieces. They earned penalties. They scored from counters and buildup play. The attack wasn’t dominant, but it was able to find goals. If the errors can be cleaned up, Ecuador could well be playing in the U20 World Cup.

By Brazilian standards, this was a ‘meh’ Group Stage. To be clear, that involves winning three of four matches, with a goal difference of +11, and their one loss in the final match against an Argentina side that subbed on two of the best strikers in the tournament against a rotated Brazilian squad. But that’s the thing, we can provide explanations for why Brazil hasn’t looked inspiring, but we can’t deny that they haven’t looked inspiring.

Evelin and Brendha have had strong Group Stages. They provided goals for Brazil. But they attack hasn’t really wowed. The defense has been serviceable, but against the better teams in the group, they conceded goals.

Perhaps the match that most defines Brazil’s ‘merely goodness’ was their opener against Ecuador. Brazil were certainly the better team throughout the match. Brazil were in control, but they twice gave up leads and only won because of a poor error from Ecuador’s goalkeeper in second half stoppage time. Brazil got bailed out at the last minute.

Brazil are probably still the favorites to win the tournament, and it would be shocking if they didn’t qualify for the U20 Women’s World Cup. But they’ve won every previous edition of this tournament, and that seems genuinely in doubt right now.

As the Hexagonal begins, let’s look at a major question facing each team.

Argentina - Will they keep up the rotation?

It’s uncertain if Argentina will keep the rotation for the Hexagonal. They rested the first day of matches, so Argentina had four matchdays in a row. In the Hexagonal, all six teams will play every match day, but here are more rest days between matches. So there will surely still be rotation, but it may not be as heavy as the in the Group Stage.

Of course, will a reduction in rotation change the feel of the team?

Brazil - Will they capture some of the Brazilian spark?

Brazil looks just fine, and that’s not for a lack of talent. It’s hard to pinpoint what seems off, on the whole, but there are clear moments that can be pointed to. A poor penalty in an opening match. A rotated squad in the final match with nothing major at stake. But are these moments that will be cleaned up in the Hexagonal or a sign that Brazil might final finish second-best?

Colombia - Can they find the offense to match Luisa Agudelo’s performances?

Agudelo has been the player of the tournament so far, and that may continue in the Hexagonal. But Colombia doesn’t need Agudelo to be lights out every match if they could help her out with more goals. Turn 0-0 draws into 1-0 wins, and Colombia will win this competition.

Ecuador - Can Ecuador compete without Fiorella Pico?

Early in the second half of their match against Bolivia, Ecuador’s captain, Fiorella Pico, was stretchered off with an injury. She was not in the lineup for the decider against Peru. I’ve struggled to get details on how long she will be out, but Ecuador will have show they can get results without their best player. They’ve got one of the best defenders in the tournament in Maithe Zambrano. Evelyn Burgos and Mary Guerra are quality midfielders. They aren’t without talent, but can Ecuador get points against a tougher set of teams without their top talent?

Paraguay - Can Paraguay get the most out of Claudia Martinez?

Paraguay are in the Hexagonal as much on poor play from Chile and Uruguay as on their own merit. Aside from the opener, they didn’t score a goal despite having the best striker in the tournament and an attacking partner she’s familiar with. I would have predicted Paraguay to top their group because they’ve got what every team desperately needs - a consistent goal scorer. But after the opener, Paraguay really struggled to create offense. They had moments, but not even Claudinha, herself, can be expected to finish every half chance that comes her way. After the opener, Paraguay struggled to even provide her half chances. Can they find enough consistency in the Hexagonal to turn this home-field advantage a top-four finish and qualification?

Venezuela - How long can they ride this dark horse?

Venezuela were the surprise package of the Group Stage. They were consistently on attack, created chances, finished chances (except against Agudelo), and had a stout defense. Perhaps most importantly, they were basically error free. The two errors you might point to came in their loss to Colombia. The first was saved by Rebanales in goal. The second is arguably some poor positioning by Rebanales on Colombia’s winner, but that comes with her aggressiveness. Venezuela doesn’t have the depth of other teams. Can they keep up this consistency as the matches grow on the legs? Can they remain relatively error free? Can they continue to find goals?

The Hexagonal kicks off on Monday, February 16th. All six teams will participate each matchday, with Paraguay and Brazil playing first on Monday, with kickoff at 4pm. The matches will continue to be available for free on Vix for viewers in the US.

As we discovered with the Group Stage, Vix may initially show matches as upcoming but not actually stream them. If that’s the case, the best bet for watching them is on the CONMEBOL YouTube page.

The Group Stage has plenty of exciting moments, and the Hexagonal should provide more of the same. Tune in and catch some of the most exciting talent in South America.