FIFA U-20 World Cup – Group A
Tahiti – Senegal
Venue: Arena Lublin
The first match in group A will be played between Tahiti and Senegal. For Tahiti participation in this tournament is a big success. They will play in the U-20 World Championships for only the second time – in 2009 they lost all group matches by a fair margin (0:8 against Spain, 0:8 against Venezuela and 0:5 against Nigeria). This time everything seems like it will be a similar story – but any goal they score will be a big thing for the little team from this Pacific Island.
Senegal is a team that should be a danger for any competitor. This African team will play in this kind of tournament for the third time, in 2015 they qualified and got to semifinals. After two losses – 0:5 against Brazil and 1:3 against Mali they finished in fourth place. In this year’s squad, there are a few talented players from Ligue 1 who will try to get the attention of any club scouts.
It will be the first match between these two teams – and Senegal should win easily.
STATSCORE prediction: Senegal win
Poland – Colombia
Venue: Stadion Miejski Widzewa Łódź
The tournament’s host team will play Colombia. This match that will be played in Łódź, should be really exciting and all Polish fans will be hoping that their team will get the three points in their opening match.
The Polish team’s biggest success was third place in 1983. Their last appearance was in 2007 – after finishing in 2nd place in the group stage (they played against the USA, Brazil and South Korea), they lost an eighth final match against Argentina (1:3). Now they want to achieve some success in front of their own fans.
Colombia is the team who are often present for the finals of these U-20 World Championships – it will be their 10th appearance. In the 2019 South American U-20 Championship, they finished fourth in the final place for qualification. In this squad, as well as players, form their own national league, they also have a few participants playing their football in Europe (Netherlands, England)
This will also be the first meeting between these two teams.
STATSCORE prediction: Draw
FIFA U-20 World Cup – Group B
Mexico – Italy
Venue: Stadion Miejski, Gdynia
Group B is being called the “group of death”. Four really strong teams, each one able to qualify for the next round. The first match in this group is between Mexico and Italy.
Mexico is one of three U-20 World Championship participants (along with USA and Argentina) that have taken part the most number of times in the history of this tournament – they will be playing for the sixteenth time. Their biggest success? Second place in 1977 when they lost in final against the Soviet Union. What’s a little bit disturbing for the Mexican fans? They haven’t won any of their last 7 matches (2 draws, 5 losses).
Italy also has big problems with their form (only 1 win in their last 10 matches). They will defend the third place they won two years ago in South Korea. In the squad, they have only one player who plays outside Italy – Roberto Alberico from Hoffenheim.
What will be the result from their first meeting in the history of these championships? We will see soon!
STATSCORE Prediction: Draw
Japan – Ecuador
Venue: Stadion im. Zdzisława Krzyszkowiaka, Bydgoszcz
Japan – Ecuador is the second match from group B. The team from Asia are the 2018 AFC U-19 Champions. Their squad contains only players from their native league. Their biggest success came in 1999 when they reached the final, but lost against Spain 0:4. They are on a bad run of six defeats in a row in this U-20 category (their last win was a match against South Africa in May 2017)
The team from South America seem to be a little unpredictable. They won the 2019 South American U-20 Championship, but it is just their fourth appearance in the U-20 World Championships with their best results in 2001 and 2011 (1/8 final)
STATSCORE prediction: Ecuador win
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