South America’s dominance continued through the group stage.
Brazil and Colombia were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023 at the Estadio San Juan del Vicentenario in San Juan, Argentina, on Thursday (4 June) after losing to Israel and Italy respectively.
The South American dominance began to falter in the last 16, with Ecuador falling to South Korea and Argentina to Nigeria, and with Brazil and Colombia now out in the quarter-finals, Uruguay is the only team left standing.
In fact, the five South American teams fared very well at the tournament. Compared to other continents, South America was the only one where all the nations made it through the group stage.
In Group A, hosts Argentina cruised to the round of 16 with three unbeaten matches. However, they fell victim to a counter-attack from the Flying Eagles of Nigeria in the round of 16, losing 0-2. Ecuador finished second in Pool B behind the United States and made it to the Round of 16, but were unable to advance to the quarter-finals after a hard-fought 2-3 loss to South Korea.
Colombia in Group C and Brazil in Group D also had strong group performances, reaching the round of 16 and the quarterfinals, respectively, before falling victim to European powers like Italy and Israel and suffering early (?) exits.
As mentioned earlier, Uruguay is the only team left from South America. They finished second in Group E and made it to the round of 16, quelling a Gambian upsurge with a 1-0 win to reach the quarter-finals. It’s the last bit of South American pride.
But their opponents are the United States. They won all three of their matches in Group B, conceding six goals to reach the round of 16 and demolished wildcard New Zealand 4-0. The United States have been tremendous in the tournament, winning four games and conceding 10 goals in four matches 토토사이트.
Of course, given the nature of the tournament, upsets can happen at any time. However, the US’s form is the most dominant in the tournament, which means that Uruguay’s chances of victory are significantly reduced, which means that we could see a South American annihilation in the quarter-finals.
If Uruguay were to lose to the United States in the quarter-finals, it would be the first time in 42 years that a South American team has failed to reach the last four since 1981. At the 1981 tournament in Australia, both Brazil and Uruguay failed to reach the final four, losing to Qatar and Romania respectively.
Once so dominant that three of the four finalists were from South America, they now have to worry about not having a single team in 42 years. Europe, on the other hand, already has two teams in the final four. Asia and Africa are also guaranteed a place in the final four. It’s a massive shift.