1977 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship was the inaugural staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship and was held in Tunisia from 27 June to 10 July 1977. The tournament took place in three venues — Tunis, Sousse and Sfax — where a total of 28 matches were played, the smallest number in its history. The winner was the USSR, who beat Mexico in a penalty shootout, in the final held at Tunis's Stade El Menzah.
| بطولة العالم للشباب لكرة القدم 1977 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country |  Tunisia |
| Dates | 27 June – 10 July |
| Teams | 16 (from 5 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 4 (in 3 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  USSR (1st title) |
| Runner-up |  Mexico |
| Third place |  Brazil |
| Fourth place |  Uruguay |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 28 |
| Goals scored | 70 (2.5 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Guina (4 goals) |
| Best player |  Vladimir Bessonov |
1979 → | |
The Tournament Committee was chaired by FIFA Vice-President Harry Cavan, who had spearheaded the creation of the World Youth Championship.
Qualification
| Confederation | Qualifying Tournament | Qualifier(s) |
|---|---|---|
| AFC (Asia) | 1977 AFC Youth Championship |  Iran  Iraq
|
| CAF (Africa) | Host nation | [[File:{{{flag alias-1959}}}|22x20px|border |alt=|link=]] Tunisia |
| 1977 African Youth Qualifying for World Cup |  Côte d'Ivoire  Morocco
| |
| CONCACAF (North, Central America & Caribbean) |
1976 CONCACAF U-20 Tournament |  Honduras Mexico
|
| CONMEBOL (South America) | 1977 South American Youth Championship | Brazil  Paraguay Uruguay
|
| UEFA (Europe) | 1976 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship |  Austria  France  Hungary  Italy USSR Spain
|
Squads
For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see 1977 FIFA World Youth Championship squads
Venues
| Tunis |
[[file:Template:Location map Tunisia|210px|1977 FIFA World Youth Championship is located in Template:Location map Tunisia]]<div style="position: absolute; z-index: 2; top: Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".%; left: Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".%; height: 0; width: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"><div style="position: relative; text-align: center; left: -Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".px; top: -Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".px; width: Template:Location map Tunisiapx; font-size: Template:Location map Tunisiapx; line-height: 0; z-index:100;" title="">[[File:Template:Location map Tunisia|Template:Location map TunisiaxTemplate:Location map Tunisiapx|Tunis|link=|alt=]] <div style="font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%; z-index:90; position: relative; top: -1.5em; width: 6em; Expression error: Unrecognized punctuation character "[".">Tunis |
Tunis |
|---|---|---|
| Stade El Menzah | Stade Chedly Zouiten | |
 |
| |
| Capacity: 45,000 | Capacity: 18,000 | |
| Sousse | Sfax | |
| Stade Olympique de Sousse | Stade Ameur El-Gargouri | |
 |
| |
| Capacity: 10,000 | Capacity: 4,000 |
Group stage
The group winners advanced directly to the semifinals.
Final
| 10 July 1977 18:30 |
Mexico
|
2 – 2 (aet) (8-9 pen.) |
USSR
|
Stade El Menzah, Tunis Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Michel Vautrot (France) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Garduno  50' Manzo 58'
|
Bessonov 43, 54'
|