Twelve years after their first appearance, the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™ was the second time that Cuba have featured at that age group’s showpiece tournament. As with their first, they were unable to make it out of their group in Chile, but there are certainly some positives to be taken from their efforts – not least their historic draw with Italy, having overturned a two-goal deficit, which became one of the major talking points of the group stage.

Head coach Pedro Pereira feels that his side’s historic first point at the tournament is no more than they deserved, and sees it as an opportunity to keep developing the game back in Cuba. “The general feeling is positive. For these players, for this coaching team and for everyone who has contributed to growing our sport in Cuba,” he said.

“That draw and the way we played show that we have talent in Cuba. It will serve as encouragement for many kids and young players back at home.”

They accompanied their 2-2 draw with Italy with brave performances against Argentina and Australia, but were ultimately beaten 3-1 on both occasions. While these defeats were not the results they would have hoped for, they impressed many onlookers by managing to score in all three of their matches. “I felt that, with the players and the resources at our disposal, we could go there and compete – and we did that. Now we have to think about how to nurture our talent in order to grow on the international stage,” Added Pereira.

Pereira represented Cuba during his playing career, which included their 2006 FIFA World Cup™ qualification campaign, and joined the Football Association of Cuba (ACF) in 2021, where he began working as an assistant coach for the senior and U-20 sides. He took charge of his nation’s U-20 side just one month before the tournament on home soil got underway, after Yunielys Castillo resigned.

Pereira has seen first-hand the work that FIFA has done with the AFC over recent years to develop the game in Cuba. “The support with pitches has been vital, but so have the resources that help to improve the quality of training. It’s especially valuable for the municipalities, where we look out for players.”

In terms of infrastructure, the FIFA Forward Programme has helped the AFC to modernise two crucial facilities: the Antonio Maceo Stadium in Santiago de Cuba and the La Polar Stadium in Havana.

The Antonio Maceo Stadium renovation was completed in 2022, equipping the stadium with an artificial pitch along with other essentials like goals and dugouts. The new-look ground has since hosted international matches as well as local ones, and it serves as the home ground of several boys’ and girls’ youth teams.

Havana’s La Polar Stadium was reopened in two phases: the first came in 2017, and included the island’s first synthetic pitch; the second came earlier this year, introducing new changing rooms, covered seating areas, offices, lighting systems and solar panels. With that, the ground has become a vital asset for Cuban football as a whole.

In addition, the AFC has been working together with FIFA on other infrastructure projects in Havana, including the installation of new synthetic turf on the main field of the Pedro Marrero National Stadium.

The AFC has also implemented FIFA’s Football for Schools Programme this year. The initiative uses football as a vehicle to promote education, physical activity and the development of life skills, as well as to increase the number of young people playing the sport.

“There is quite a good number of people playing football in Cuba, but anything that we can use to grow that is important. Our performances in Chile will also help with that”, said Pereira.

Pereira – who took part in a FIFA-supported workshop for coaching instructors in 2022 – thinks that other factors will also help to encourage the development of the sport. An example he used is the fact that the FIFA U-17 World Cup™, which Cuba have not qualified for since 1991, is now a yearly competition.

“It’s very positive because it forces you to keep working on your teams all year round. We may have less time to prepare between qualifiers, but we get more higher-level competition. That will lead to us having a stronger U-20 group, which in turn provides a stronger base for the senior side.”

Pereira is also an advocate for the expansion of the FIFA World Cup™ from 32 to 48 teams. “It gives countries like ours more hope that we can qualify”, he says. And while Cuba are not in the race for a spot at next year’s tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States, he leaves a positive and confident message for his players: “This generation that played in Chile can and should dream about the FIFA World Cup 2030™.”