With the Junior Cóndores in search of the title: how the M20 Santiago 2026 Rugby Challenger Cup will be played

Chile welcomes the future of international rugby. The renovated High Performance Rugby Center (CARR), located inside La Reina's Mahuida Park, will host the World Rugby U20 Challenger Cup Santiago 2026. Playing at home, the youth Cóndores will look to be protagonists against national teams from all over the planet. Eight squads from four continents (Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Canada, Hong Kong China, Namibia, Portugal and Romania) will take part in a competition to be played from this Friday the 2nd to October 17. It will be the third time the country hosts this tournament, the second-tier World Rugby competition for Under-20 national teams, below the U20 World Cup. In fact, the country hosted the first edition, in 2008, where the youth Cóndores achieved their best result: a runner-up finish after losing the final to Uruguay. In 2012 they took third place, also at home. Now, Chile will be part of Group A alongside Romania, Brazil and Hong Kong China, with a schedule that will begin against the Asian side on the tournament's opening day. The Cóndores M20 debut will be this Friday, October 2, at 7:00 p.m., against Hong Kong China. Afterwards, the national team will face Romania on Wednesday, October 7, also at 7:00 p.m., and will close out its group stage participation against Brazil on Monday, October 12, again in the last match of the day. In parallel, Group B will be made up of Namibia, Belgium, Portugal and Canada, teams that will also play three matches during the initial phase to define their positions and the matchups for the final day. The action at the CARR will begin with the matches between Romania and Brazil, Namibia and Canada, Belgium and Portugal, plus Chile's debut against Hong Kong China. Captain Marco Alvano and head coach Eduardo Etcheto at the presentation of the World Rugby U20 Challenger 2026. Photo: Chile Rugby. The format and the squad The teams will play a round-robin in the group stage. After the initial stage, the eight squads will return to the field on Saturday, October 17 to play the deciding matches. The final day will determine all the tournament's positions, with matchups between the fourth- and third-placed teams of each zone, followed by the duel between the second-placed sides and, finally, the match between the leaders of both groups, which will determine the champion of the World Rugby U20 Challenger 2026. In that regard, Eduardo Etcheto, head coach of the Cóndores M20, spoke about the significance of having the tournament in the country: "For us, as a team — players, staff and the whole federation — it is a huge joy to have them here. We have very high expectations. People have worked hard, especially on the administrative side, and the boys in training," he said. "It is a beautiful country, which I keep falling in love with, and it is eager to grow in this sport," added the Argentine. Meanwhile, captain Marco Alvano set his sights high for the tournament: "I am extremely proud, very happy for this opportunity we have been given. It's the first time I get to represent Chile in my country. I am very happy to be able to lead this group. There are many leaders in this group; it could have been anyone, but I was lucky that it fell to me. We will go all out to lead the group by example. We will give everything to reach that October 17 and play in the final," said the back, who has already been part of the senior Cóndores squad. The Cóndores M20 roster is made up of 30 players. Forwards: Maximiliano Abumohor (CD Alumni), Mateo Alcaide (DOBS), Lucca Baglietto (COBS), Cristóbal Barrera (CD Alumni), Gianfranco De Giorgis (UC), Benjamín Díaz (COBS), Cristóbal Escobar (UC), Stefano Maino (PWCC), Cristián Olmos (PWCC), Cristián Riquelme (JOBS), Clemente Rodríguez (UC), Max Schlesinger (CD Alumni), Rafael Silva (Old Boys), Cristóbal Soto (COBS), Ignacio Valdés (Aviron Bayonnais, France) and Lukas Vega (Sporting RC). Backs: Marco Alvano (Old Boys), Thomas Baguley (Old Boys), Sebastián Benavente (Old John's), José Tomás Bonilla (All Brads), José Pablo Fernández (Old Reds), Agustín Infante (UC), Lucas Pizarro (COBS), Tomás Queirolo (DOBS), Claudio Roa (Old John's), Cristóbal Serrano (DOBS), Jaime Soler (Old Boys), Nicolás Weitzel (Old Locks), Luka Winkler (CD Alumni) and Santiago Wood (Old Boys). The renovation of the home of rugby The staging of the World Rugby U20 Challenger Cup on national territory takes place amid the process of developing the sport in the country, both at the sporting and infrastructure levels. The home of Chilean rugby is undergoing a complete renovation. To host the prestigious tournament, new grandstands and sports lighting were installed at the CARR. In later stages, a second pitch and a four-story building will be built. In a first phase, in 2023, a synthetic pitch was installed under World Rugby regulation, with an investment of around 1.2 billion pesos. In the second phase, ahead of the tournament, the Andes grandstand was built and the sports lighting was installed, carried out with another investment of about 1.45 billion pesos by the Regional Government. "The Andes grandstand and the sports lighting will allow night matches to be broadcast on television. The lighting technology is brought from the United States. This phase involves an investment of 1.5 billion financed by the Regional Government, in which the support of Claudio Orrego has been very important," explained Davor Stancic-Rokotov, director of Chile Rugby, to El Deportivo. The venue's capacity increased from 1,200 to 2,600, and it is expected to reach around 5,000 with the installation of the Pacific grandstand, which is also part of the planning, as is the installation of a second playing field. The expansion of the facilities will also include the construction of a four-story building that will incorporate spaces related to sporting operations and the holding of activities at the venue. The design includes broadcast booths, event halls, spaces for technical staff, cafeterias and dining rooms, among other facilities. The initiative is in the approval process before the National Sports Institute (IND), while the resources for its execution have already been secured with the Government. "It is a very interesting project. The investment is close to 4.8 billion pesos in total," Stancic-Rokotov emphasizes.