Arsenal youngster qualifies for u20 World Cup with Colombia | OneFootball

Arsenal’s Alexei Rojas has qualified for the u20 World Cup with Colombia after they finished third in the 2025 South American u20 Championship this month.

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

The Colombia u20s saw their chances of winning the South American u20 Championship come to an end last week, after defeats to Brazil and Argentina left them six points behind both.

With two games remaining and the head-to-head advantage in favour of their opponents, Colombia knew they couldn’t possibly finish first. But they could still secure the top-four finish necessary to qualify for the u20 World Cup this September.

By winning their final two games against Chile and Uruguay, Colombia made sure there were no doubts about their participation at that tournament. They finished third, and ended up just one point behind second-place Argentina as Brazil came out on top.

Photo via Rojas on Twitter

Arsenal’s Alexei Rojas ultimately only made one appearance at the tournament, but it was a significant one, keeping a clean sheet in a 1-0 win against eventual winners Brazil in the first of two group stages.

Had Rojas also started in goal against Brazil in their final stage match, perhaps his team could have avoided defeat on that occasion too.

It wasn’t to be, but Rojas will seemingly get further chances to show what he can do at the u20 World Cup later this year.

Photo via Arsenal.com

For the time being, Rojas will return to Arsenal. The 19-year-old has made regular appearances in training with the Gunners’ first team this season, as well as appearing on the bench for the League Cup game against Bolton Wanderers.

But there’s a lot of competition in goal at the moment, with David Raya and Neto available and Tommy Setford, Jack Porter, and Lucas Nygaard all fit to compete for the third-choice spot. Rojas has his work cut out for him.