At the 2022 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship held in Honduras from June 18 to July 3, 2022, the Dominican Republic U20 team made history by clinching berths in the 2023 FIFA Men’s Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia after eliminating Jamaica with a 1–0 win in the quarterfinal. It is the first time any Dominican Republic team has qualified for a FIFA World Cup at any age level or gender.[1] In the semifinal match, the Dominican team defeated Guatemala 4–2 in a penalty shootout after a 2–2 draw, securing a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympic games in Paris. In the final match, fortune was not on the side of the Dominican Republic when they lost 6–0 against the United States, even so, the sensation in the entire region about the Caribbean country was excellent because soccer is not the main sport in the Dominican Republic. It was a pleasant surprise for everyone to see the talent and potential of the Dominican players as they became Concacaf Runners-up.[2]
2023
The Dominican Under-20 Soccer Team settled on April 16 in Jerez, Spain, where they participated in the "Road to Youth World Cup" competition where they played three friendly matches against the U-20 teams of Brazil, Iraq and Uzbekistan as part of the final phase of their preparation for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
The Dominican Under-20 National Team participated in its first U-20 World Cup in 2023, a tournament that was held in Argentina. It would be placed in Group D along with historical teams such as Italy, Brazil and Nigeria. The Dominican Republic would have his debut on May 21 against Nigeria in the city of Mendoza, he would start winning with a goal of Edison Azcona at minute 21, later the African team would come back from the game ending this with a score of 2–1, despite the defeat the performance of the Dominican team was acceptable being a rookie team in the tournament and also considered as the weak team of the group. Their second commitment would be against the five-time world champion of the category, Brazil, in this match the superiority of the South American team would be notorious, defeating the Dominican team by a score of 6-0. This result forced the Dominican Republic to win on the last group date against Italy and wait for other results to qualify as one of the best third parties. However, the Dominican team succumbed to the Europeans and would be defeated 3–0, being eliminated in the first round in their first World Cup experience.
The following players have previously been called up to the Dominican Republic under-20 squad in the last 12 months and remain eligible. Some of the following players were named in the squad for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup to go as sparring
