Continental Performance Profiles in Elite Youth Football: A Multidimensional Analysis of Physical,...

The present study aimed to construct a multidimensional performance profile of men's elite youth national teams from the 6 continental confederations (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA) by examining physical, technical-tactical, spatial, and passing network characteristics at the 2023 FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups.

Data from 174 match observations and 943 player observations were analyzed using mixed-effects models.

At U-17, confederation-related differences were observed across physical, spatial, and passing-related domains. AFC players covered more total distance than CONMEBOL (P = .006, effect size [ES] = 1.55), while CAF players reached higher top speeds than OFC (P = .030, ES = 0.87) and showed greater team length in the middle and defensive thirds (mean difference [MD] = 3.55 to 10.19 m, P = .004-.040). UEFA showed stronger passing-related profiles than OFC, including higher pass and line-break completion (MD = 0.17 to 0.28, P ≤.005) and higher passing network density, global efficiency, and average clustering coefficient (MD = 0.08 to 0.16, P = .004-.036). At U-20, physical and most spatial differences were limited, whereas passing network differences persisted, with OFC teams showing lower density than all other confederations (MD = -0.17 to -0.11, P < .001-.018) and lower global efficiency than CONCACAF, UEFA, and CAF teams (MD = -0.09 to -0.08, P = .005-.012).

Confederation-related profiles were more prominent at U-17 but became less evident in physical and spatial domains by U-20, whereas passing-related differences persisted and highlighted collective passing organization as an important feature of elite youth football development.