When Argentina will return to play the Under-20 World Cup: Brazil, Italy, Nigeria and Uruguay, possible rivals for the round of 16

THE Argentina national team Sub 20 beaten this Friday 5-0 at New Zeland in San Juan and perfectly closed their participation in the group stage of the World Cup that takes place in our country. Three games and three wins for Javier Mascherano’s team, with 10 goals in favor and one conceded enter the round of 16 without hesitation as first in group A. It is a happy image that contrasts with the sadness experienced in the South American Cup in Colombia, the one from which the national team bitterly said goodbye in the initial phase and which had left him without the possibility to play this tournament.

But this is already the past. Argentina took over the organization of the World Cup after FIFA banned Indonesia and all is joy in blue and white. Although now comes the hardest. The knockout matches and a possible ghost appears there. It is that Brazil, the region’s great rival and historical power in youth football, can cross paths with Argentina. Even Italy, Nigeria or Uruguay, among the various options. For now, if everything stays the same, the rival will be the Azzurra. However, we still have to wait to answer this question.

Is that the Sub 20 selection awaits one of the best third parties. It can be the best third in group C, the one in D or the one in E. What does that mean? The regulation stipulates that the four best third parties are classified. If someone from zone C appears (it could be Japan, Israel or Senegal), that will be their next opponent, Wednesday, at 18:00, again with the San Juan del Bicentenario stadium as the stage.

But if no team qualifies from that group, the rival in the round of 16 will come from group D. And there the level of difficulty can go up, since there Nigeria will play head-to-head (six points and a goal difference of +3), Brazil (3 and +5), Italy (3 and -1) and the Dominican Republic (0 and -7). Yes, at worst. What has to happen for Ramón Menezes Hubner’s team to finish third? It will be known this Saturday around 17:00 It will arrive, for example, with a defeat for Canarinha against the Africans and a victory or a draw for the Azzurri against the weak Dominican Republic.

Finally, if there is no third-best C or D, the next opponent will come from group E. England lead (six points and a goal difference of +2), followed by Uruguay (3 and +3) and Tunisia (3 and +2). The latter two will face each other in the last round, this Sunday from 15:00.

In case of passage to the quarterfinals, Mascherano and his companions would wait for the winner of the clash between Ecuador, who scored nine against Fiji this Friday, and the second in zone F, made up of Gambia (6 points), South Korea (4 ), Honduras (1) and France (0).