Madrid’s Bernabéu offered a rare youth-football spectacle on Saturday, with 52,000 spectators watching Real Madrid defeat Chile’s Santiago Wanderers 3-1 to claim the under-20 world title. José Mourinho, the Portuguese coach of the senior Real side, was among those in attendance as the European champions lifted a trophy that has quickly found a place on the calendar between the continent’s leading academies.
The competition has been contested since 2022 between the European and South American under-20 champions, but this was its first final staged in Europe. The Bernabéu crowd also set a new attendance mark for the fixture, passing the 45,000 who saw Flamengo meet Barcelona at the Maracanã last year.
For Wanderers, who had earned their journey from Valparaíso by winning the Under-20 Libertadores in March, the occasion became increasingly difficult to manage. The Chilean side had beaten Flamengo on penalties after a 1-1 final draw to secure their Intercontinental place, yet they ended the Madrid match with three players sent off.
Dubó was dismissed before half-time after a challenge on Yanes. Real’s number seven took responsibility for the ensuing free kick and curled in the opening goal in the 29th minute. Wanderers briefly restored balance early in the second half when Christian Silva punished an error in Real’s build-up, but their resistance weakened after further red cards.
Santamaría put Real back in front in the 36th minute, before Roberto Martín added the third in the 54th. The Spanish club’s academy side therefore became the latest name on a short but varied honours list spanning both sides of the Atlantic.
A young competition travelling between continents
Flamengo remain the tournament’s most successful club, having won it twice, both times in Rio de Janeiro. In 2024 they overcame Olympiacos 2-1, while their other final victory came against Barcelona on penalties. Benfica were the inaugural winners after beating Peñarol at Montevideo’s Estadio Centenario, and Boca Juniors took the 2023 edition at La Bombonera against Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.
Real Madrid’s success adds another European home to the prize, but the final also underlined the appeal of a contest shaped by long continental journeys: a Chilean youth team arriving in the Spanish capital, and a full Bernabéu responding to a match normally played far from the game’s biggest stages.
