1981_FIFA_World_Youth_Championship
1981 FIFA World Youth Championship
International football competition
The 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship, the third edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship, was held in Australia from 3 to 18 October 1981. The tournament took place in six venues—where a total of 32 matches were played. Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle and Sydney—The winner was West Germany, who beat surprise package Qatar 4–0 in a final held at Sydney Cricket Ground. The official mascot of this World Youth Championship was Kickaburra, a Kookaburra which is a common Australian bird.
Quick Facts FIFA World Youth Championship Australia 1981, Tournament details ...
| FIFA World Youth Championship Australia 1981 | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Australia |
| Dates | 3–18 October |
| Teams | 16 (from 6 confederations) |
| Venue(s) | 6 (in 6 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  West Germany (1st title) |
| Runners-up |  Qatar |
| Third place |  Romania |
| Fourth place |  England |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 87 (2.72 per match) |
| Attendance | 443,094 (13,847 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Ralf Loose Roland Wohlfarth Taher Abouzaid Mark Koussas(4 goals) |
| Best player(s) | Romulus Gabor |
| Fair play award | Australia |
← 1979 1983 → | |
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More information Confederation, Qualifying Tournament ...
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- 1.^ Teams that made their debut.
For a list of all squads that played in the final tournament, see 1981 FIFA World Youth Championship squads.
Group A
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Group stage result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Uruguay |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | +5 | 6 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Qatar |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 |  Poland |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 2 | |
| 4 |  United States |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 1 |
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More information United States, 0–3 ...
| United States | 0–3 | Uruguay |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | López Báez  5' Aguilera 60' Da Silva 67' |
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More information Poland, 4–0 ...
| Poland | 4–0 | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Rzepka 17' Kowalik 18' Dziekanowski 65', 67' |
(Report) |
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Group B
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Group stage result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Brazil |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Romania |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 5 | |
| 3 |  South Korea |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 |  Italy |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 |
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More information Italy, 1–4 ...
| Italy | 1–4 | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Mariani 83' |
(Report) | Kwak Sung-ho 7' Choi Soon-ho 12', 29' Lee Kyung-nam 88' |
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More information South Korea, 0–3 ...
| South Korea | 0–3 | Brazil |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Paulo Roberto 48' Ronaldo 61' Jun J.S. 79' (o.g.) |
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Group C
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Group stage result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Germany |
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 |  Egypt |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Mexico |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
| 4 |  Spain |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 2 |
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More information West Germany, 1–2 ...
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More information Egypt, 3–3 ...
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More information Spain, 2–4 ...
| Spain | 2–4 | West Germany |
|---|---|---|
| F. López 72' Fabregat 78' |
(Report) | Trieb 29' Wohlfarth 47', 85' Anthes 55' |
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Group D
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Group stage result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Australia (H) |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 |  Argentina |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 |  Cameroon |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 1 |
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More information Australia, 2–1 ...
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More information Australia, 3–3 ...
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| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 11 October - Melbourne | ||||||||||
| Uruguay | 1 | |||||||||
| 14 October - Melbourne | ||||||||||
| Romania | 2 | |||||||||
| Romania | 0 | |||||||||
| 11 October - Canberra | ||||||||||
| West Germany (a.e.t.) | 1 | |||||||||
| West Germany | 1 | |||||||||
| 18 October - Sydney | ||||||||||
| Australia | 0 | |||||||||
| West Germany | 4 | |||||||||
| 11 October - Newcastle | ||||||||||
| Qatar | 0 | |||||||||
| Brazil | 2 | |||||||||
| 14 October - Sydney | ||||||||||
| Qatar | 3 | |||||||||
| Qatar | 2 | |||||||||
| 11 October - Sydney | ||||||||||
| England | 1 | Third place | ||||||||
| England | 4 | |||||||||
| 17 October - Adelaide | ||||||||||
| Egypt | 2 | |||||||||
| Romania | 1 | |||||||||
| England | 0 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
More information Uruguay, 1–2 ...
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More information Brazil, 2–3 ...
| Brazil | 2–3 | Qatar |
|---|---|---|
| Ronaldo 27', 78' |
(Report) | Al-Muhannadi 10', 54', 87' |
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More information England, 4–2 ...
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Semi-finals
More information Romania, 0–1 (a.e.t.) ...
| Romania | 0–1 (a.e.t.) | West Germany |
|---|---|---|
| (Report) | Schön 103' |
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Third place play-off
Final
More information West Germany, 4–0 ...
| West Germany | 4–0 | Qatar |
|---|---|---|
| Loose 28', 66' Wohlfarth 42' Anthes 86' |
(Report) |
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| 1981 World Youth Championship winners |
|---|
 West Germany First title |
More information Golden Shoe, Golden Ball ...
| Golden Shoe | Golden Ball | Fair Play Award |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Koussas |
Romulus Gabor |
Australia |
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Mark Koussas of Australia won the Golden Shoe award for scoring four goals. In total, 87 goals were scored by 56 different players, with two of them credited as own goals.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Claudio Morresi- Jorge Cecchi
- Juan Jose Urruti
David Mitchell- Ian Hunter
Djalma Baia- Leomir
- Paulo Roberto
Bertin Olle Olle
Mohamed Helmi
Anthony Finnigan- Geoffrey Dey
- John Cooke
Pietro Mariani
Agustín Coss- González Farfán
- Ildefonso Ríos
- José Enrique Vaca
Piotr Rzepka- Jerzy Kowalik
Ali Alsada
Augustin Eduard- Cornel Fisic
- Dorel Zamfir
- Stere Sertov
Kwak Sung-Ho- Lee Kyung-Nam
Francisco López- Jorge Fabregat
- Sebastián Nadal
Mark Devey
Carlos Berruetta- Javier López Báez
- Carlos Aguilera
- Jorge Villazán
Alfred Schön- Martin Trieb
Own goals
- Jose Guillen (playing against Egypt)
- Jun Jong-Son (playing against Brazil)
More information Pos, Team ...
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Germany |
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 10 | Champions |
| 2 | Qatar |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 9 | −2 | 7 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Romania |
6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | +3 | 9 | Third place |
| 4 | England |
6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 7 | +2 | 6 | Fourth place |
| 5 | Uruguay |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 6 | Eliminated in Quarter-finals |
| 6 | Brazil |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 5 | |
| 7 | Australia (H) |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| 8 | Egypt |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 10 | −1 | 4 | |
| 9 | Argentina |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Eliminated in Group stage |
| 10 | Poland |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 2 | |
| 11 | South Korea |
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
| 12 | Mexico |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 2 | |
| 13 | Spain |
3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | −2 | 2 | |
| 14 | Cameroon |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 1 | |
| 15 | United States |
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | −7 | 1 | |
| 16 | Italy |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | −5 | 0 |
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- Actually Eritrea, as the FIFA anachronistically reports.
- FIFA World Youth Championship Australia 1981 Archived 4 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine, FIFA.com
- RSSSF > FIFA World Youth Championship > 1981
- FIFA Technical Report