The match of the Under-20 World Cup: Argentina will meet Uzbekistan, Guatemala and New Zealand and will play in Santiago del Estero and San Juan

THE Argentina national team will be in group A with Uzbekistan, Guatemala and New Zealand in the Sub 20 world which it will host between 20 May and 11 June. Brazilanother of the great candidates, was included in group D, the most complex a priori, together with Italy, Nigeria and the Dominican Republic, debutants in the tournament.

FIFA held this Friday at its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, the draw for the competition, which will be played an initial phase with six groups of four teams, at the end of which the two best groups and the four best third-placed teams will qualify for the round of 16. Mendoza, San Juan, La Plata and Santiago del Estero will be the venues, as confirmed by the AFA.

Argentina, the most title-winning team in the category with six Olympic rounds under their belt, will participate as organizers, after FIFA granted them the organization after withdrawing them from Indonesia due to the situation generated by the governor’s request of Bali to veto Israeli participation.

Included in the seeding hype, defined by the points scored in the last five editions of these World Cups, Albiceleste was drawn in group A, with Uzbekistan, Guatemala and New Zealand.

The debut will be on Saturday 20 May, on the opening day, against the reigning Asian champions at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, the same stadium where they will play three days later against Guatemala. The duel against the oceanian will be on Friday May 26 at the San Juan Bicentennial. Times have not yet been confirmed.

The path of the national team, consequently, can take three different paths in case of failure to be eliminated in the initial round. If the zone wins it will go against one of the third best. It can be group C (Senegal, Colombia, Japan and Israel), group D (Italy, Brazil, Nigeria and the Dominican Republic) or group E (Uruguay, England, Iraq and Tunisia).

If he finishes second in the initial phase, the second in group C (Senegal, Colombia, Japan and Israel) will be waiting for him. And if he finishes in third place and is one of those to go through, he could play the winners of the same group or the winners of group B (United States, Ecuador, Fiji and Slovakia).

Beyond the different scenarios to go in search of the seventh youth world championship, the concrete fact is that Mascherano already knows his first three rivals and now he must bring out all his strength of conviction to be able to put together the best possible team with the most large amount of Europibes.

There is that the Under 20 World Cup is not among the tournaments in which Fifa forces clubs to sell their players, so it will depend on the good will of the European entities and on the AFA negotiations.

Among those awaiting such permission, without a doubt, is Alejandro Garnacho, the Spanish-born Argentine-born striker who opted for the albiceleste colors some time ago and who would be the great jewel of this team. At the age of 18, he plays a leading role at Manchester United.

Luka Romero (Lazio), Máximo Perrone (Manchester City), Nicolás Paz (Real Madrid) and Facundo Buonanotte (Brighton), also awaiting authorisation, as well as locals Valentín Barco (Boca) and Federico Redondo (Argentinos Juniors), Jr. of Fernando Redondo, will be some of the players to follow

the other groups

Brazil, winners on five occasions, most recently in 2011, will be in group Dwith Italy, the team led by Carmine Nunziata, who participates for the third consecutive time and who started as top seeds, together with Nigeria and the Dominican Republic, making their debut in an Under 20 together with Israel.

The Brazilian side, led on an interim basis by Ramón Menezes, are preparing for the competition this week in Spain with a tournament in Cadiz, without striker Endrick Felipe Moreira, who has been with Real Madrid since 2024.

From the group of sown heads, Uruguay finished in group E with six-year-old winners England, Iraq and Tunisia. After losing the South American category final to Brazil, Marcelo Broli’s Uruguayans will be looking for their first title, with Villarreal’s Andrés Ferrari and initially without Real Madrid’s Álvaro Rodríguez.

Teams from Senegal, the United States and France also started from the main drum.The African team will be rivals in Group C of Colombia, a team led by Héctor Cárdenas and who after eleven appearances will try to overtake third place in 2003, Japan and debutants Israel.

United States of America will be in group B together with Ecuador, Miguel Bravo’s “Tri” who qualified after beating Paraguay on the last day and Venezuela’s defeat against Colombia, as well as Fiji, who participates for the second time after having done in 2015, and Slovakia.

France are chasing their second title 10 years after the one they conquered in Turkey against Uruguay. They will do so in group F, in which they will face South Korea, Gambia and Honduras, a team returning to the competition with the aim of progressing beyond the group stage for the first time and having conceded nine goals by Norway’s Erling Haaland in the latest edition of Poland 2019, in which Ukraine won the title against South Korea.

The lottery counted with the participation of Juan Pablo SorinArgentine captain in the 1995 Qatar edition, FIFA legend and participant in two World Cups, together with David Trezeguet, world champion with France in 1998, and before him the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, thanked both the AFA that the national government “for hosting this fantastic event”.

“Argentina’s credentials are huge for this tournament as organiser, as they are the defending champions and I congratulate them again for taking their third overall title in Qatar. It is a country that thrives on football and bringing this World Cup in Argentina will be a huge inspiration for future stars,” he said.

Claudio Tapia, president of the AFA, thanked FIFA for “the opportunity to host this World Cup”. “I think it will be the best youth world championship there has ever been. Feel at home, we will try to make it an unforgettable event for everyone,” he added.

The groups

– Group A: Argentina, New Zealand, Uzbekistan and Guatemala

– Group B: United States, Ecuador, Fiji and Slovakia

– Group C: Senegal, Colombia, Japan and Israel

– Group D: Italy, Brazil, Nigeria and the Dominican Republic

– Group E: Uruguay, England, Iraq and Tunisia

– Group F: France, South Korea, Honduras and The Gambia.

The device

• 20/05 – Group A – Guatemala-New Zealand (Santiago del Estero)
• 20/05 – Group A – Argentina-Uzbekistan (Santiago del Estero)
• 20/05 – Group B – United States-Ecuador (San Juan)
• 20/05 – Group B – Fiji-Slovakia (San Juan)
• 21/05 – Group C – Israel-Colombia (La Plata)
• 21/05 – Group C – Senegal-Japan (La Plata)
• 21/05 – Group D – Nigeria-Dominican Republic (Mendoza)
• 21/05 – Group D – Italy-Brazil (Mendoza)
• 22/05 – Group E – England-Tunisia (La Plata)
• 22/05 – Group E – Uruguay-Iraq (La Plata)
• 22/05 – Group F – France-Korea (Mendoza)
• 22/05 – Group F – Gambia-Honduras (Mendoza)
• 23/05 – Group A – Uzbekistan-New Zealand (Santiago del Estero)
• 23/05 – Group A – Argentina-Guatemala (Santiago del Estero)
• 23/05 – Group B – United States-Fiji (San Juan)
• 23/05 – Group B – Ecuador-Slovakia (San Juan)
• 24/05 – Group C – Senegal-Israel (La Plata)
• 24/05 – Group C – Japan-Colombia (La Plata)
• 24/05 – Group D – Italy-Nigeria (Mendoza)
• 24/05 – Group D – Brazil-Dominican Republic (Mendoza)
• 25/05 – Group E – Uruguay-England (La Plata)
• 25/05 – Group E – Iraq-Tunisia (La Plata)
• 25/05 – Group F – France-Gambia (Mendoza)
• 25/05 – Group F – Korea-Honduras (Mendoza)
• 26/05 – Group B – Ecuador-Fiji (Santiago del Estero)
• 26/05 – Group A – Uzbekistan-Guatemala (Santiago del Estero)
• 26/05 – Group B – Slovakia-United States (San Juan)
• 26/05 – Group A – New Zealand-Argentina (San Juan)
• 27/05 – Group D – Brazil-Nigeria (La Plata)
• 27/05 – Group C – Colombia-Senegal (La Plata)
• 27/05 – Group D – Dominican Republic-Italy (Mendoza)
• 27/05 – Group C – Japan-Israel (Mendoza)
• 28/05 – Group E – Iraq-England (La Plata)
• 28/05 – Group F – Honduras-France (La Plata)
• 28/05 – Group E – Tunisia-Uruguay (Mendoza)
• 28/05 – Group F – Korea-Gambia (Mendoza)
• 29/05 – DAY OF REST
• 30/05 – Round of 16 – 1B-3A/C/D (Mendoza) (38)
• 30/05 – Round of 16 – 2A-2C (Mendoza) (37)
• 31/05 – Round of 16 – 1C-3A/B/F (San Juan) (42)
• 31/05 – Round of 16 – 1A-3C/D/E (San Juan) (41)
• 31/05 – Round of 16 – 1D-3B/E/F (La Plata) (40)
• 31/05 – Round of 16 – 1D-2D (La Plata) (39)
• 06/01 – Round of 16 – 1F-2E (Santiago del Estero) (44)
• 06/01 – Round of 16 – 2B-2F (Santiago del Estero) (43)
• 06/02 – DAY OF REST
• 06/03 – Quarter-finals – W37-W40 (San Juan) (46)
• 06/03 – Quarter-finals – W42-W39 (San Juan) (47)
• 06/04 – Quarterfinals – V43-V41 (Santiago del Estero) (48)
• 06/04 – Quarterfinals – W38-W44 (Santiago del Estero) (45)
• 05-07/06 – REST DAYS
• 06/08 – Semifinals – V45-V46 (La Plata)
• 06/08 – Semifinals – V47-V48 (La Plata)
• 09-10/06 – REST DAYS
• 06/11 – Third place (La Plata)
• 11/06 – Final (La Plata)

Source: EFE