Havana, October 11 (RHC) – The U-20 World Cup, hosted by Chile, begins its quarterfinal stage today with matches between Spain and Colombia, and Argentina against Mexico.
The four teams demonstrated a high level of performance from the start of the group stage on September 27, and in the round of 16, they completed their matches with distinction.
The first match will take place at 5:00 p.m. (local time) at the Estadio Fiscal in the city of Talca, capital of the Maule region, which was completely renovated for this event organized by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
The Spanish national team began their campaign with a 2-0 loss to Morocco, then drew 2-2 against Mexico and defeated perennial favorite Brazil 1-0, while in the next round they defeated Ukraine by the same scoreline.
The Colombian team arrives unbeaten, thanks to their 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia and consecutive 0-0 draws against Norway and 1-1 with Nigeria.
Colombia advanced to the round of 16 with a resounding 3-1 victory over South Africa.
The match between Argentina and Mexico, considered by some to be an early final, will begin at 8:00 p.m. at the National Stadium in the capital’s Ñuñoa district.
The Argentines arrive with a perfect record of 12 points from four matches.
In the group stage, they won 3-1 against Cuba, then defeated Australia 4-1, and ended with a 1-0 draw against Italy.
Finally, during the round of 16, they defeated Nigeria 4-0.
For its part, Mexico drew 2-2 with Brazil—the same result they achieved against Spain—and defeated the surprising Moroccan team 1-0.
In the round of 16, they eliminated host Chile from the World Cup with a resounding 4-1 victory.
“It will be a very interesting matchday, and as an added bonus”, FIFA noted on its official website that only Spanish will be spoken on the field.
