[2] During the first meeting of the local organising committee in January 2013, provisional dates of 19 June to 11 July were given towards hosting of games, with a final decision on stadiums and cities originally meant to be taken in February 2013.

[4][5] France, the 2013 champions, were unable to defend their title as they failed to reach the final round of the UEFA qualifying tournament.

[8] Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Wellington and Whangārei were the 7 cities chosen to host the competition.

The final draw was held on 10 February 2015, 17:30 local time, at the SkyCity Grand, Auckland.

As the CAF U-20 Championship was not completed at the time of the draw, a separate draw took place on 23 March 2015 in Dakar, Senegal, at the tournament's conclusion to determine the groups where the 2nd, 3rd and 4th placed CAF teams would play in, to ensure there was no manipulation of games in the qualifying tournament ensuring fairness to all qualified teams.

[22][23] Each participating national association had to submit a final list of 21 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers) at least 10 days before the tournament started.

[24] The third-placed teams which advanced to the round of 16 were placed with the winners of groups A, B, C and D according to a table published in Section 18 of the tournament regulations.

[31] Prior to being released for 'General sale' on 13 June 2014,[32] registered footballers in New Zealand were given 'priority treatment' by allowing them the option to buy tickets from two months earlier.