Cell division cycle associated 7 like (CDCA7L) belongs to the JPO protein family, recently identified as a target gene of c‑Myc and is frequently dysregulated in multiple cancers. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies to date have been carried out to investigate the functions of CDCA7L in glioma. Thus, in this study, the expression level of CDCA7L and its association with the prognosis in glioma were detected through the TCGA database. The mRNA expression levels of CDCA7L in glioblastoma (GBM) tissues and normal brain tissues were detected by RT‑qPCR and western blot analysis. To explore the role of CDCA7L in glioma, CDCA7L siRNA was constructed and transfected into U87 glioma cells. The expression levels of CDCA7L and cyclin D1 (CCND1) in glioma U87 cells following transfection with CDCA7L siRNA were measured by RT‑qPCR and western blot analysis. CCK‑8, colony formation, EdU and Transwell assays were used to measure the effects of CDCA7L on U87 cell proliferation, and flow cytometry was used to monitor the changes in the cell cycle following transfection with CDCA7L siRNA. Xenograft tumors were examined in vivo for the carcinogenic effects, as well as the mechanisms and prognostic value of CDCA7L in glioma tissues. The results revealed that CDCA7L was highly expressed in human GBM tissues, and a high expression of CDCA7L was associated with a poor prognosis of glioma patients through the TCGA database. We demonstrated that CDCA7L was highly expressed in human GBM tissues and 3 glioma cell lines. The downregulation CDCA7L expression significantly inhibited the proliferation and colony formation ability of U87 cells by blocking cell cycle progression in the G0/G1 phase. In addition, we found that the mRNA and protein levels of CCND1 were markedly decreased following transfection with CDCA7L siRNA compared with NC siRNA in vitro. The downregulation CDCA7L expression reduced the number of invading cells. Consistent with the results of the in vitro assays, the xenograft assay, immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay and western blot analysis demonstrated that, in response to CDCA7L inhibition, tumor growth was inhibited, Ki‑67 and CCND1 expression levels were decreased in vivo. On the whole, the results of the current study indicate that CDCA7L is highly expressed in human glioma tissues and that a high CDCA7L expression predicts a poor prognosis of glioma patients. CDCA7L promotes glioma U87 cell growth through CCND1.