The Brazil team will play Tunisia in 1/8 of the U-20 World Cup

Author: Soorya G

There were no major surprises on the final day of the group stage at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina, when the Round of 16 matches were decided. Several interesting matches have been decided, all of which will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two best teams from each of the six groups, as well as the four best third-placed teams, qualified for the pre-quarter-finals. New Zealand, Slovakia, Nigeria and Tunisia were the four third-placed teams who managed to qualify, while France were eliminated from the tournament due to their inferior goal difference.

In the final match of the group stage, France recovered from an early deficit to beat Honduras 3-1. Odin Pena scored shortly after Ousmane Camara’s own goal in the 13th minute, but being a man down didn’t stop the French from putting on a great display of attacking soccer, with Alan Virginius scoring either side of half-time. Felix Nzouango’s goal in the 77th minute kept France in the hunt for qualification, but they failed to score again. South Korea and Gambia played out a goalless draw and there was no change in the Group F table.

England and Iraq were also involved in a very tight draw, in which neither team managed to score. A win could have seen Iraq qualify, while England would have missed out on top spot. Uruguay managed to qualify against Tunisia thanks to a penalty converted by Franco Gonzalez in injury time.

The 1-0 result in Uruguay’s favor also confirmed that Tunisia would face favorites Brazil in the Round of 16. Brazil finished first in what was the most competitive group of the tournament, in which three teams reached six points. The Seleção lost their first game to Italy, before bouncing back with big wins against the Dominican Republic and Nigeria to maintain top spot. Uruguay will play Gambia, the winners of Group F, and the winner of that match will face the winner of New Zealand’s game against the USA.

England will face Italy in an interesting clash, while defending champions Argentina will take on an impressive Nigeria side. South American powerhouses Ecuador and Colombia will face South Korea and Slovakia respectively, while Brazil will probably face the winner of the Israel-Uzbekistan match.

1/8

USA – New Zealand /// Gambia – Uruguay
Uzbekistan – Israel /// Brazil – Tunisia
Colombia – Slovakia /// England – Italy
Ecuador – South Korea /// Argentina – Nigeria