U-20 World Cup: how were the crosses of the knockout stages and the record achieved by South American football

For the first time, five South American teams will play the knockout stages of a U-20 World Cup, after the qualification of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay in this 2023 edition held in Argentine territory.

The Argentine team led by Mascherano did not have the best crossing: it will face Nigeria in the second round, the best of all the third parties. It will be next Wednesday at 18 at the San Juan del Bicentenario stadium.

Argentina had to wait for the results of the Group E matches, in which Uruguay won 1-0 against Tunisia and England drew goalless against Iraq, which ended up defining the fate of Japan, the other possible rival of Javier Mascherano's team.

The Nigerians finished third in the difficult zone they shared with Brazil and Italy. They achieved the same amount of points, although they occupied the last step of the podium by goal difference.

This is how the crossings were

Among the South American teams, the pairings in the knockout phase will be: Colombia-Slovakia (Wednesday, 14:30), Brazil-Tunisia (Wednesday, 14:30), Argentina-Nigeria (Wednesday 18:40), Gambia-Uruguay (Thursday, 14:30) and Ecuador-South Korea (Thursday, 18 hs).

Fixture under 20

In addition, the United States will play New Zealand (Tuesday, 14:30 p.m.), Uzbekistan with Israel (Tuesday, 18 p.m.) and England and Italy (Wednesday 18 p.m.) will play a European classic in Argentina.

Argentina, Brazil and Colombia passed as leaders of their respective groups, while Ecuador and Uruguay certified their ticket to the next round as second.

"Historic! For the first time in a U-20 World Cup, there will be five South American teams in the knockout stages," Conmebol celebrated on its social networks.

Of the five, only the Albiceleste, which is in this World Cup because FIFA withdrew the organization from Indonesia for its protests over the participation of Israel, has closed the group stage with full victories. Three out of three.

The Argentine team is the most successful in the category with six stars. It is followed by Brazil with five. It is worth saying that, between the two football powers of our continent, they add more titles than all of Europe combined.

On that side of the pond, the champions of the category are the following: Portugal (2), Spain, France, Serbia, England, Ukraine and the extinct Soviet Union, Federal Republic of Germany and Yugoslavia.

Of the African confederation, only Ghana lifted the trophy in the 2009 edition held in Egypt.