[1] The top two teams of the tournament qualified for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in France as the CONMEBOL representatives.

The draw of the tournament was held on 14 December 2017, 19:00 ECT (UTC−5), at the Casa de la Selección in Quito.

The hosts Ecuador and the defending champions Brazil were seeded into Groups A and B respectively, while the remaining teams were placed into four "pairing pots" according to their results in the 2015 South American Under-20 Women's Football Championship: Venezuela–Colombia, Argentina–Chile, Paraguay–Uruguay, Bolivia–Peru.

If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order (Regulations Article 18.1):[5] The top two teams of each group advance to the final stage.

If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order, taking into account only matches in the final stage (Regulations Article 18.2):[5] The following two teams from CONMEBOL qualified for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.