Preview – Brazil’s U-20 team in the “group of death” at the World Cup

Author: Soorya G

The equivalent of the FIFA World Cup for young footballers is set to begin in just one day’s time in Argentina, home of the reigning senior world champions. The FIFA U-20 World Championship, also known colloquially as the Youth Championship, will be contested by 24 countries, all with the ambition of calling themselves the best youth team in the world. The Youth Championship, which is normally a biennial tournament that takes place every two years, is returning after a long break of four years, after the 2021 edition of the tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic around the world. The move of the Tokyo Olympics, the European Senior Championship and the Copa America from 2020 to 2021 has meant that soccer’s calendar is completely full, leaving the governing body with no option but to cancel the event.

However, his return was far from straightforward, as controversy marred what should have been a joyful return to action. Indonesia, which was awarded the rights to host the event, was stripped of its privileges after protests inhibited Israel’s participation in the tournament. Had it been allowed, the Youth Championship could have been the first international sporting event to be held in the country, but circumstances forced a last-minute change of venue. At the end of March, it was decided that the tournament would be moved from Indonesia to Argentina.

Four stadiums in Argentina will host the prestigious event, which will be held in a group format. Six groups of four teams each were created, according to the classification rules established by the regulatory body. The two best teams in each group, as well as the four best third-placed teams in the groups, will qualify for the quarter-finals. The third-placed teams will qualify on the basis of the points they obtained in the group stage, and the goals they score could make the difference between qualification and elimination if there is a draw between two teams.

As for the difficulty of qualifying from their respective groups, Argentina must be dreaming of their chances, as they seem to be the clear favorites in their group, made up of Uzbekistan, Guatemala and Honduras, while Brazil have a tough task after being drawn in what promises to be the most competitive group of the tournament. The Brazilians were drawn alongside Italy, Nigeria and the Dominican Republic, but the Seleção will be confident in their abilities to get through the group stage.

Argentina is the most successful team in the history of the competition, having won the title on six occasions. La Albiceleste won five of the seven titles between 1995 and 2007, in an era of dominance.

Meanwhile, Brazil are close behind with five titles to their credit, having won the tournament most recently in 2011. Brazil will be fairly confident of their chances of adding a sixth title to their trophy cabinet, despite being drawn in what, on paper, looks like the “group of death”, considering the wealth of talent they have in their squad. The U-20s have reached the most finals in the history of the tournament, with nine appearances in the summit clash.

The Brazilians will play their first match in the tournament on Sunday, when they take on Italy at the Malvina Argentinas in Mendoza. After the first game, the team will continue in Mendoza for a few days before facing the Dominican Republic on May 24, before traveling to La Plata to face Nigeria at the Ciudad de La Plata on May 27. If things go according to plan, the Junior National Team will face the quarter-finals in San Juan on June 3, before returning to La Plata if the results are favorable, where they hope to stay until June 11, when the final is scheduled. The Brazilian team has some extraordinary talents, such as 20-year-old Arthur Augusto from América Mineiro in defense. Vasco da Gama midfielder Andrey Santos and Gremio’s Ronald are other players who deserve attention, while Corinthians duo Guilherme Biro and Giovane will make the Brazilians a force to be reckoned with.

Forecasts

A number of exciting talents will be eager to enter, in what will be their first experience on the big stage, and there seem to be several excellent teams in contention to go all the way in the competition. Brazil will start as favorites due to the extraordinary quality of their team. Argentina have always been a strong force in the tournament, while European teams have historically been no match for their South American counterparts.