The Round of 16 of the 23rd FIFA U20 World Cup begins on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, with three African teams competing.
The competition hosted by Argentina began with a total of 24 teams, including four from Africa: Senegal, the champions of the Africa U20 Championship; Gambia, the runners-up; Nigeria, the third-placed team; and Tunisia, the fourth team.
A jocular statistic uncovered by the editors of www.atspo.com at the Round of 16 of the FIFA U20 World Cup is that the champion of Africa has been eliminated from the tournament, leaving the second to fourth teams to strive for survival.
The Young Scorpions of Gambia will be the first African team to play in the tournament’s knockout stage against Uruguay at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero.
The Gambia U20 team has dominated the FIFA U20 World Cup, leading their group and going undefeated in their first two matches as debutantes. Their final group stage game ended in a scoreless tie, and they finished first in the group.
The Atlas Lions of Morocco will play in the Round of 16 against the five-time winners of the competition, Brazil, at the Estadio Único Diego Armando Maradona in the city of La Plata on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
The Moroccan team’s bid for a second U20 World Cup medal after 2005 may have been dashed because Brazil remained unbeaten in the group stage, but the African side qualified as one of the four best third-placed teams from the six groups that advanced to the knockout stage.
Nigeria’s Flying Eagles will keep their powder dry against Argentina at the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario on Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
The Argentine team appears to be the best in the group stage because they were the only team to win all three games, while the host nation scored ten goals and conceded one, which was scored by Uzbekistan in the first game.
The third team at the Africa U20 Championship in Egypt, Nigeria, was the third team in Group D after two wins and one draw. They were the first team among the four best third-placed teams from the six groups to advance to the knockout stage.
