Italy progressed to the FIFA U-20 World Cup Round of 16 after finishing second in Group D, but who could the Azzurrini face en route to the final? Who Will Italy Face In FIFA U-20 World Cup Ro16? The Azzurrini secured their place in the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup after finishing second in Group […]
Italy progressed to the FIFA U-20 World Cup Round of 16 after finishing second in Group D, but who could the Azzurrini face en route to the final?
Who Will Italy Face In FIFA U-20 World Cup Ro16?
The Azzurrini secured their place in the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup after finishing second in Group D and the Italian youngsters will go on to face the United States.
Progressing into the knockout stages of the competition was the bare minimum for Italy after reaching the final in 2023, but performances so far have failed to impress.
Carmine Nunziata’s side narrowly defeated Australia in their opening fixture before a disappointing draw with Cuba, as the Azzurrini conceded two penalties in the second-half to drop a 2-0 lead.
Most recently, the young Italian’s were beaten 1-0 by one of the competition’s favorites, Argentina, with both sides registering just one shot on target.
A list of stars were tipped to be ones to watch for Italy have failed to live up to expectations so far, with the likes of Alvin Okoro and Marco Romano yet to score a goal.
The Azzurrini will go into the FIFA U-20 World Cup Ro16 with a lack of momentum after failing to win in their last two fixtures and face a USA side that has already made history.
Marko Mitrovic’s side secured the biggest win in the nations’ history at the U-20 tournament, after inflicting a 9-1 thrashing over New Caledonia in their opening match of the competition.
The U.S then went on to secure a 2-0 victory over France and secured a place in the R016, before suffering a surprise defeat to South Africa in the final group stage encounter.
However, Mitrovic made eight changes to his side that beat France, meaning the U.S. will field a full-strength eleven against Italy when the two meet on October ninth.
What Is Italy’s Route To FIFA U-20 World Cup Final?
After losing to Uruguay in the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup final, Italy set their sights on going a step further in this years competition and were one of the favorites going into the tournament.
Our AI Supercomputer predicted how the Azzurrini’s campaign would go and Nunziata’s side will need to pick up a victory over the United States to fulfill this expectation.
We have looked at who the young Italian side could face en route to the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup final, and the Azzurrini are in for a tough ride.
Quarter Final
Obviously, the Italy U-20 side will need to beat the United States before thinking about what may come next, however, if the Azzurrini make it past their Ro16 opponents then they will face the winner of Morocco vs South Korea.
Morocco have been one of the surprise packages of the tournament so far, finishing top of Group C that contained three of the world’s biggest soccer nations – Brazil, Spain and Mexico.
The African nation secured a 2-0 win over Spain in their opening group stage encounter, before a narrow 2-1 victory over Brazil to secure a place in the Ro16.
As for South Korea, their place in the Ro16 came after finishing as one of the best teams to finish third in their group, picking up four points from the opening stages.
A win over Panama in their last group stage meeting confirmed South Korea’s place in the knockout stages and go into their clash against Morocco as huge underdogs.
Semi Final
If the Azzurrini make it past one of Morocco or South Korea, then the young Italian’s could face a host of difficult tests in the U-20 World Cup semi final.
On Italy’s side of the draw for the Ro16 we have, Paraguay vs Norway and Japan vs France, meaning Nunziata’s side have avoided some of the tournaments big-hitters like Spain, Colombia and Argentina.
Paraguay booked their place in the knockout stages after finishing second in Group B, beating Panama, losing to Ukraine and earning a point against South Korea.
Their upcoming opponents have enjoyed a strong opening to the tournament, as Norway are yet to taste defeat after beating Nigeria and playing-out stalemates with the U.S and Saudi Arabia.
One of the standout teams of the tournament so far has been Japan, as the Asian nation won each of their group stage matches and are yet to concede a goal.
Japan secured 2-0 victories over Egypt and the tournament’s hosts, Chile, before thrashing New Zealand 3-0 in their final group stage clash on October 4th.
France’s run in the tournament has brought its ups and downs, as Les Bleus won two of their three group stage matches and ended the opening spell with a 6-1 win over New Caledonia.
