[5] However, Indonesia was stripped of hosting rights on 29 March 2023 due to its refusal to allow the Israel U-20 national team in the country.

[8][9] On 17 April 2023, at a press conference jointly held by economy minister Sergio Massa, tourism and sports minister Matías Lammens, and the president of the Argentine Football Association (AFA), Claudio Tapia, it was announced that Argentina would host the tournament,[10] followed shortly after by a statement from FIFA confirming Argentina as the new hosts.

Indonesia had also failed to qualify for the competition and lost its automatic spot in the WC when the tournament was moved to Argentina.

La Plata, Mendoza, San Juan and Santiago del Estero were the four cities chosen to host the competition.

The draw took place at 16:00 CEST (11:00 ART host time) on 21 April 2023 at FIFA headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland.

[16] The ceremony was presented by Samantha Johnson and conducted by FIFA Director of Tournaments Jaime Yarza, with the former footballers Juan Pablo Sorín, from Argentina, and David Trezeguet, from France, acting as draw assistants.

[19] On 19 May, Swiss referee Sandro Schärer withdrew prior to the tournament due to an injury and was replaced by José María Sánchez Martínez.

In early May 2023 - before the removal of Indonesia as the host, FIFA announced that the official song of the tournament would be "Glorious", performed by the Indonesian EDM group Weird Genius and featuring three other Indonesian stars: Lyodra Ginting, Tiara Andini and Ziva Magnolya.

However, Israel's participation is subject to political controversy due to Indonesia having the world's largest Muslim population and the two countries having no formal relations owing to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

[32] However, the Governor of Bali, I Wayan Koster as well as the Governor of Central Java (where Solo is located), Ganjar Pranowo, both members of the ruling party PDIP, subsequently stated their objection of hosting the Israeli team, citing 'anti-colonial' stances of Sukarno rather than religious ones.

[34] On 28 March 2023, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, in a break with his party, voiced his own support to Israeli participation, and implored his people to not mix politics and sport.