Luciano Rodriguez is Uruguay’s hero at FIFA U-20 World Cup; Israel finishes third

Author: Soorya G

The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina came to a thrilling conclusion on June 11, with Italy and Uruguay facing off in the final and Israel and Korea Republic battling it out for third place.

The tournament featured 24 teams from six confederations, showcasing some of the best young talent in world soccer. Uruguay finally broke their losing streak in the finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup by beating Italy in a surprising game. The South Americans beat their rivals with a goal in the 86th minute to become the 12th country to win the tournament and only the third South American team after Brazil and Argentina. Uruguay had already reached the finals in 1997 and 2013, but lost both games.

Look at the Uruguayans’ reliable defense. They won six of their seven matches without conceding a goal. In the group, Iraq are 4-0 up and Tunisia are 1-0 down. In 1/8 Gambia 1-0, in 1/4 USA 2-0, in 1/2 Israel 1-0. And finally, Italy in the final, 1-0.

Note that only England managed to score (and beat) the South American team – 3-2.

In Sunday’s final, neither team was able to establish dominance early on, as the managers of both teams decided to adopt a slightly more defensive approach, which was to be expected considering the magnitude of the game. Cesare Casadei, who is the tournament’s top scorer, and Simone Pafundi, who also had a great campaign, failed to produce the brilliance they had done up until the final, which meant that Uruguay’s defensive approach paid off handsomely.

On the other hand, Uruguay’s approach was no different, as they stuck to the counter-attacking strategy that had worked well for them. They took one of those chances in the final minutes, with Luciano Rodriguez scoring the decisive goal to help Uruguay lift the U-20 World Cup trophy.

In the race for third place, tournament debutants Israel won bronze after beating South Korea. It didn’t take long for the Israelis to break the deadlock, with Ray Binyamin scoring the first goal in the first 20 minutes. The Koreans equalized quickly, with Seung Won Lee scoring another goal from the penalty spot. However, for the rest of the game, it seemed only a matter of time before Israel scored, and that’s exactly what happened, with Omer Senior and Anan Khalaili scoring late on to complete a 3-1 victory and secure third place.