Argentina’s loss against Nigeria and early exit from the U-20 Football World Cup clears the way for other title candidates, among them Brazil, Italy and Colombia, three teams that won their round of 16 matches yesterday and made their way to the quarterfinals. The last two games of this round will be played today, Uruguay-Gambia and Ecuador-South Korea.

Colombia (5) – Slovakia (1)

In the Bicentennial Stadium in San Juan, Colombia easily won its round of 16 match against Slovakia 5-1 and punched its ticket to the quarterfinals. With two goals a piece from Óscar Cortés and Tomás Ángel, plus another one by Yaser Asprilla, the cafetero squad reaffirmed itself as a serious contender to win the tournament. Timotej Jambor scored Slovakia’s only goal.

Gran definición de Yaser Asprilla 🇨🇴 en Colombia-Eslovaquia por los octavos de final del Mundial Sub 20.pic.twitter.com/s1q18QtzPe

— VarskySports (@VarskySports) May 31, 2023

Colombia will now play in the quarterfinals against Italy on Saturday at 6pm, again in San Juan. 

Brazil (4) – Tunisia (1)

In La Plata, Brazil also made it to the quarterfinals after easily dispatching Tunisia 4-1. Andrey Santos on two occasions, plus Martins and Marcos Leonardo scored for the winners, and Ghorbel made the only goal for the losing side. 

FINAL. Brasil le ganó 4-1 a Túnez y esta fue la gran definición de Andrey Santos para el cuarto de la Verdeamarela, que pasó a cuartos de final del Mundial Sub-20. pic.twitter.com/c4tRRTWn7q

— TyC Sports (@TyCSports) May 31, 2023

Brazil will face the surprising Israel in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 2.30 pm. in San Juan.

Italy (2) – England (1)

In a hard fought match, Italy finally emerged victorious against England, beating them 2-1 thanks to a penalty kick sanctioned in the final minutes of the game through the VAR (Video Assisted Referee) system. The referee had not initially seen a hand infraction committed by a British player in the penalty box, but after reviewing the play, sanctioned the penalty kick. Tomasso Baldanzi scored Italy’s first goal, and its captain Césare Casadei the second on the penalty kick. Alfine Devine had tied the score for England in the first half.

¡Italia 🇮🇹 está en 4tos del Mundial sub-20! Le ganó 2-1 a Inglaterra 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 con goles de Baldanzi-Casadei / Devine. Accede a esta instancia por tercera vez consecutiva (obtuvo el 3° puesto en las ediciones de 2017 y 2019). Se enfrentará a Colombia 🇨🇴. pic.twitter.com/JzFVWSx9Yz

— VarskySports (@VarskySports) May 31, 2023

Italy will now face Colombia in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 6 pm. in San Juan.

The final two round of 16 games, Uruguay-Gambia and Ecuador-South Korea, will be played today. The winners will face Nigeria and the US in quarterfinals.

-With information from Télam