Third place playoff
Ecuador 1-0 Italy
U-20 World Cup Final
Ukraine 3-1 South Korea
Ukraine win the U-20 World Cup for the first time in their history.
Unlucky for the Koreans they played well but didn’t seem to have to many answers in the final third whilst Ukraine when given the chances were clinical in front of goal.
Indonesia stripped of hosting rights for the 2023 edition after protests against Israel’s qualification.
If only there was a nearby country without the same Israel issues and already ready to host a FIFA tournament this year…
You mean Qatar don’t you? Because thats where is will end up.
Judging by the amount of Palestinian flags at the men’s senior World Cup last year, I doubt the Israel FA would particularly prefer Qatar, and they fall on the Iran side of the Iran vs. USA divide. They’d probably prefer the UAE.
We don’t officially have those “Israel issues”, in that the nation is officially pro-State of Israel, but there’s plenty of pro-Palestine sentiment in Australia, particularly in larger cities and suburban areas such as in much of western Sydney.
Having said that, the Hakoah group that got super into Hemed while was was playing in Wollongong and Parra will be super into it. I can even see Maccabi Australia helping the Israel U20s with their accommodation and such, so it’d be the best/worst of both worlds depending on your position in regarding Israel/Palestine.
Saudi Arabia are attempting to normalise Israeli relations as of March 2023. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Argentina confirmed as the new hosts.
The country that gave refuge to multiple Nazis after WWII?
Why is that relevant?
Crazy also that Australia hasn’t qualified since the 2013 edition - AFC only has 4 spots.
Particularly given since 2015 Oceania has had 2 spots - so NZ plus one.
Oceania gets two spots for the youth World Cup, but only 0.5 (up to 2022) in the men’s World Cup? I don’t understand.
It started this morning.
South Korea beat France 2-1 this morning.
South Korea made the semis.
South Korea play Italy, having beaten Nigeria in extra time in the quarters.
And the surprise packet,
Israel (who know sit in UEFA and whose qualification caused the move away from Indonesia) play Uruguay.
Israel beat Brazil in extra time, and Uruguay beat the US