The tournament was hosted in South Africa for the third time, previously being held in 2012 and 2023.

[1] Played over twenty-one days in the Western Cape locations of Stellenbosch and Cape Town, the U20 Championship features the twelve best U20 nations in the world competing for the world title.

[2] The defending champions were France whom had won the previous three tournaments back-to-back.

[4][5][6] Going into the tournament, the two finallists had met each other earlier in the year (March 2024) at the 2024 U20 Six Nations Championship.

[7][8] The teams participating in the tournament are listed in the table below, with a summary of their previous best results at the World Rugby Under 20 Championship included.