Korea DPR led the Asian qualifiers by virtue of their surprise victory at the AFC Youth Championship in India in November. Japan, who were only edged out on penalties in the final, will join them in Canada, as will the two other semi-finalists, Korea Republic and suprise packages Jordan.

Congo were named champions at the 15th African Youth Championship in Brazzaville in January and February 2007 after a fine run of form that saw them beat Nigeria in the final. The victory is only the country's second-ever continental crown. The Congolese champions will be joined in Canada by Gambia, Zambia and Nigeria.

The UEFA European U-19 Championship 2006 served as the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2007. The tournament was played in Poland from 18 to 29 July 2006 and eight teams participated in the final round, which consisted of two groups of four. Spain beat Scotland 2-1 in the final and they, along with the four other top six finishers, qualified for Canada.

The final qualifying tournament featured two four-team groups with the top two teams from each group reaching the finals in Canada. The USA and hosts Panama qualified from Group A in January 2007, while Mexico and Costa Rica rounded out the field for Canada 2007 by finishing in the top two spots in Group B in February of 2007 in Culiacan, Mexico.
As hosts, Canada qualify automatically for the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

New Zealand qualified for Canada by winning the OFC U-20 Men's Championship which took place in Auckland between 20-31 January 2007. Although the young All Whites entered the competition as favourites, they had to wait until the final day of the competition before booking a place at the FIFA U-20 World Cup for the first time in the country's history.

Brazil won the South American U-20 Championship in Paraguay, which ran from 7 to 27 January 2007. Runners-up Argentina, Uruguay and Chile also booked their places at the U-20 finals. As the top two finishers in Asuncion, Brazil and Argentina also sealed places at the Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing in 2008.

The host country qualifies automatically.