The round of 16 at the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) U-20 World Cup 2023 is complete.
The Korea U-20 National Team, led by head coach Kim Eun-joong, played to a goalless 0-0 draw against the Gambia in the final Group F match of the tournament at the Mendoza Stadium in Mendoza, Argentina at 6 a.m. ET on Monday.
With the result, South Korea, which finished the group stage with one win and two draws (5 points), finished second in Group F behind the Gambia (2 wins, 1 draw and 7 points) and advanced to the Round of 16.
The tournament will feature the top four finishers from the 12 teams that finished first and second in Groups A through F and the six teams that finished third.
South Korea will face Ecuador in the Round of 16 on June 2 at 6 a.m. at Santiago del Estero Stadium.
With the Korea-Ecuador matchup, the U-20 World Cup Round of 16 has been finalized.
USA-New Zealand, Gambia-Uruguay, Uzbekistan-Israel, Brazil-Tunisia, Colombia-Slovakia, England-Italy, and Argentina-Nigeria will compete for a spot in the quarterfinals. 메이저놀이터
Notably, if South Korea defeats Ecuador to reach the quarterfinals, they will face the winner of Argentina-Nigeria.
Hosts Argentina are the favorites after winning Group A with three straight wins.
Nigeria went 2-1 alongside Brazil and Italy in Group D, dubbed the Group of Death, but lost on goal difference and advanced to the round of 16 as the group’s third-place wild card.
Whichever team makes it through, the quarterfinals will be tough.
Meanwhile, Group C’s Japan is out of the competition.
They finished behind Group D’s Nigeria (6 points) and Group A’s New Zealand (4 points) on goal difference, and behind Group B’s Slovakia and Group E’s Tunisia (3 points and +1 goal difference) on goal difference.
This is the first time in 22 years that Japan has been eliminated in the group stage of a U-20 World Cup since the 2001 tournament.
Japan failed to qualify for four consecutive tournaments beginning in 2009 before reaching the round of 16 in back-to-back tournaments in 2017 and 2019.