FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP FINAL
Ukraine U-20 – Korea Republic U-20
Venue: Stadion Widzewa Łódź, Łódź
The final stage of the U-20 World Cup 2019 has arrived! It has been an amazing tournament hosted by Poland! We have seen many beautiful goals and exciting matches but now only two teams remain and will fight for the trophy!
Both Ukraine and South Korea have reached the finals for the first time in their history. After the group stages, no one probably expected that one of these teams would go on to win this U-20 World Cup. Regardless of the result, playing in the final is an amazing achievement for both teams. Ukraine and Korea have played some very good matches, showed a lot of skill and a lot of ambition. Who do we think will pick up the trophy? Let’s look at each of the teams:
UKRAINE U-20 – THEIR ROAD TO THE FINAL
Ukraine were drawn in the group with the USA, Nigeria and Qatar. Although they were not seen as favorites to win the group, they went on to play very well against the USA (win 2-1) and Qatar (win 1-0). After this, they were almost certain of winning their group and they did this thanks to a draw with Nigeria (1-1) in their last match. In the last 16, they easily defeated Panama (4-1) and then after an even match in quarter-finals, they beat Colombia (1-0). It seemed that the beautiful Ukrainian dream would end after the match against Italy, but again, the European team played an amazing match and advanced to the final (1-0).
Ukraine’s defence has been excellent in this tournament. They conceded only 2 goals in the group stages and only a single goal in the knockout stages. In addition, they have scored 10 goals and they are still undefeated in Poland. It looks like this underrated South Korea team is definitely weaker than Italy and Ukraine should come on top.
SOUTH KOREA U-20 – THEIR ROAD TO THE FINAL
The team from Asia is definitely the biggest surprise of this tournament. South Korea was placed in a group with Argentina, Portugal and South Africa, and only a few people could have expected the Koreans would be able to advance to the knockout stages. They started poorly (defeat 0-1 against Portugal), but victory in the second match over South Africa (1-0) gave them hope for advancing to the knockout stages, this became a reality thanks to the win over Argentina (2-1) in their last group match. In the last 16, there was the duel between two Asian teams and the better team turned out to be South Korea, they beat Japan 1-0. In the quarter-finals, after an amazing match, they defeated Senegal after a penalty shoot-out (4-3), and in the semi-finals, they defeated Ecuador (1-0), despite the fact that the South American team looked better.
The Korea Republic team is distinguished by its tenacity and faith in success. They were not favorites in almost every match they have played but somehow they have reached the final. The Koreans have only lost one game, which was their first game of the tournament, they have also drawn one and the rest have ended in victories. At the Polish stadiums during regular time, they have scored 7 goals and conceded 4. The Korea Republic is definitely a team that can not be underestimated.
The teams will meet for the second time this year. In March, in a friendly Ukraine came out on top and won 1-0. In our opinion, in the final of this competition, a similar result is very likely!
An interesting fact: 3 out of 6 matches for Ukraine and 4 out of 6 matches for the Korea Republic have ended with a scoreline of 1-0.
STATSCORE prediction: Ukraine – South Korea: 1
