Argentina and England exit the Under-20 World Cup as Italy, Nigeria, and Brazil progress to the quarterfinals

The Under-20 World Cup quarterfinals have been reached by Italy, Nigeria, Colombia, and a 10-man Brazil squad.

In front of over 30,000 spectators, Argentina’s 2-0 loss to Nigeria on Wednesday put an end to the host team’s improbable journey. Thanks to a late penalty goal, Italy defeated England 2-1 to advance.

Despite having one less player for the entire second half, Brazil destroyed Tunisia 4-1, while Colombia defeated Slovakia 5-1, scoring three of their goals in a four-minute stretch.

In the next round, Nigeria will face either Ecuador or South Korea.

In the quarterfinals, Brazil will play Israel, while Colombia will take on Italy.

Argentina wasn’t one of the favourites to win the U-20 World Cup before it began. Javier Mascherano’s squad originally missed out on the event and was only given a slot when it took Indonesia’s position as host. After the senior team won the World Cup, there was anticipation that the junior players would have strong local support.

But the Nigerians punished Argentina twice in the second half after they missed multiple chances throughout the game. Ibrahim Muhammad was given a golden opportunity to score in the 61st minute thanks to a goal kick that resulted in a defensive blunder.

Argentina kept up the pressure, twice striking the goal posts. Just before the final horn, a late Nigerian counterattack resulted in a header by Rilwanu Haliru Sarki.

In a post-game TV interview, Mascherano remarked, “We played a great match.” We were aware that we may pay a price if we made blunders. Unfortunately, the two errors we made allowed them to score twice.

Italy outplayed England early on, and Tommaso Baldanzi scored in the eighth minute as a result of a series of rapid passes that placed him in front of the custodian. In the 24th minute, Alfie Devine’s close-range goal gave the English side the equaliser. At the La Plata Stadium, one of the worst fields in the competition, a deadlock developed.

But as the game was about to end, a video review judgement offered Italy a chance to score from the spot. The Italians won and advanced thanks to a goal from Cesare Casadei, who stepped up and scored his fifth goal of the competition.

Prior to then, Marcos Leonardo’s penalty kick goal in the 11th minute, his fourth of the competition, gave Brazil the lead. In the 31st, Andrey Santos scored a second goal from close range.

when Tunisia took the lead early in the second half when defender Robert Renan was dismissed, Brazil scored twice in stoppage time via Matheus Martins and Santos.

The 48th-minute goal by Colombia’s scar Cortes started and ended the scoring for his side. Two minutes later, Yaser Asprilla made it 2-0, and Tomás Ngel scored a third in the 52nd.

In the 64th, ngel scored once again.

Timotej Jambor provided some solace with a headed goal in the 87th minute, but Cortes added one more in stoppage time to give Colombia the victory.