FIFA U-20 World Cup Final: Uruguay U-20 vs Italy U-20
Both Sides Going For First Titles
Italy’s Casadei a Player to Watch
Uruguay and Italy both won in the FIFA U-20 World Cup semifinals to advance to Sunday’s final. While neither team has won the U-20 World Cup before, Uruguay have made multiple final appearances. This is Italy’s first time playing for the trophy, and they have a good shot to pull it off. The Azzurri’s Cesare Casadei has scored seven goals from midfield, which leads the entire tournament. With two solid teams going at it, we’ll run through the FIFA U-20 World Cup Final odds.
FIFA U-20 World Cup Final
Uruguay U-20 vs Italy U-20
Date, time:
Location: Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata, Argentina
Broadcast: FS2, Telemundo
Head-to-Head
Italy U-20 and Uruguay U-20 last met in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Following a scoreless draw in the third-place match, Italy came away with a win on penalties. However, Uruguay picked up a 1-0 win over Italy in the group stage of that same tournament. Here, the FIFA U-20 World Cup Final odds favor the Azzurri.
Uruguay Stellar on Defense
- Semifinal Result: 1-0 W vs. Israel
Uruguay’s U-20 national team kept another shutout in their semifinal win vs. Israel. Goalkeeper Randall Rodriguez has consistently been up to the task and has not conceded a single goal in the knockout stage.
Uruguay were often on the front foot in their match vs. Israel on Thursday and had many chances. Anderson Duarte had a few good chances and barely missed on one of them and hit the post on the other.
The breakthrough for Uruguay finally came in the second half, when Duarte finished off a rebound. They held on to make their first U-20 World Cup final appearance since 2013.
This is Uruguay’s third appearance in the U-20 final, but they’ve never won the tournament. Uruguay knocked off Israel, the USA and Gambia on their knockout stage World Cup schedule to get hereUSA and Gambia on their knockout stage World Cup schedule. They’ve outscored their opponents by a combined 4-0 in the knockout stage and have won five of their six matches in the knockout stage.
Uruguay are comfortable not having too much of the ball and counter attacking as well. In the knockout stage, they’ve had less than 50 percent of the ball in all of their matches.
Their defense has been excellent throughout the tournament, with five shutouts in six matches. Uruguay’s only slip-up was a 3-2 loss to England in the group stage, and they finished in second place in Group E as a result.
Italy in First U-20 World Cup Final
- Semifinal Result: 2-1 W vs. South Korea
Italy survived a difficult test in the semifinals vs. 2019 finalists South Korea with a 2-1 victory. Cesare Casadei opened up the scoring with his seventh goal of the tournament. South Korea got an equalizer on a penalty just under ten minutes later.
The score remained level deep into the match, but Italy won a late free kick just outside the box. Udinese’s Simone Pafundi beat the seven-man wall and converted on a beautiful strike.
Midfielder Casadei leads the tournament with seven goals. He’s scored over half of the Azzurri’s 13 goals at this tournament. Italy’s offense has been firing on all cylinders lately.
They’ve scored multiple goals in each of their last four games, with a 2.5 goals per-game average. Only Brazil have scored more goals than Italy at the U-20 World Cup. Italy defeated Brazil in the group stage and have managed three big wins in the knockout stage.
Italy took down a talented England side in the round of 16. Then, they picked up a 3-1 win vs. Colombia in the quarterfinals before their match vs. South Korea. Italy are now in their first-ever U-20 World Cup final. The World Cup odds price Italy as -150 to go on and lift the trophy.
Match Analysis and Odds
Both Italy U-20 and Uruguay U-20 have won five of their six matches at the tournament thus far. Italy, with their high-flying offense, are favorites for this match. The FIFA U-20 World Cup Final odds price Italy at +120 ATS and moneyline odds here. As 0.5-goal underdogs, Uruguay comes in at -150 odds to cover the spread.
Four of the last six FIFA U-20 World Cup finals have gone into extra time. Here, a draw displays +240 odds, but just two of 14 knockout stage matches have gone into extra time.
Five of Italy’s six matches have finished with three or more goals, including their last four. Still, under 2.5 goals for the match are priced at -135 odds. Uruguay’s matches have been quite low-scoring, as the previous four have finished with two or fewer goals.
They’ve kept clean sheets in all of them and have been hard to break down during the tournament. Italy could undoubtedly see more of the ball here but will need to be clinical to put away a tough Uruguay team. Regardless of the outcome, there will be a first-time winner here.
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