U-20 World Cup: Uruguay. Italy defeat S.Korea, Israel to book final spot
Uruguay and Italy will play in the final match of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup following their semi-final wins over Israel and South Korea respectively.
The semi-final matches were decided on Thursday June 8, 2023 at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium in Argentina.
In the first semi-final, Uruguay were 1-0 victors over giant-killers Israel. Anderson Duarte scored the winner in the 61st minute to send the South Americans into the last-4 and end Israel’s incredible debut march in Argentina..
The other semi-final saw Italy battle South Korea in a keenly contested fixture.
On a day Nigeria’s Flying Eagles arrive home from Argentina , their quater-final conquerors South Korea fell to Italy, a team they beat in the group stage of the competition.
Tournament top-scorer Cesare Casadei shot Italy ahead in the 14th minute before Lee Seung-Won converted a 23rd minute penalty to level scores.
Italy left it late to bag the winner as Simone Pafundi scored in the 86th minute to send Italy through to the final with a 2-1 semi-final result.
2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup runners-up South Korea will not have opportunity to right the heartbreak of the last edition, rather they will fight for a podium finish in the third place playoffs vs Israel.
The final match of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup between Uruguay and Italy will take place on Sunday June 11, 2023.
