Either Uruguay Under-20s or Italy Under-20s will be crowned champions of the world for the first time when they butt heads in Sunday's Under-20 World Cup final in La Plata.

Marcelo Broli's side ended Israel's magical run in the semi-finals with a 1-0 triumph, while the Azzurrini denied South Korea another shot at glory with a 2-1 win on Thursday.

Uruguay's only previous appearances in the Under-20 World Cup final came in the 1997 and 2013 editions - where they lost to Argentina and France respectively - and they have sought to rectify past failings with a tremendous streak of defensive resilience.

Indeed, La Celeste have not conceded a single goal in the knockout stages so far and have kept five clean sheets from their six games at the 2023 tournament - the outlier being a 3-2 group-stage defeat to England - while also finding the back of the net in all six of their affairs so far.

However, their Italian adversaries - and Chelsea's Cesare Casadei in particular - need no lessons in finding the back of the net, and the Azzurrini's affinity for attacking elegance came to the fore to end South Korea's hopes of back-to-back appearances in the Under-20 World Cup final.

Uruguay will receive a timely suspension boost ahead of Sunday's final, as attacker Luciano Rodriguez has completed a two-game ban following his sending-off against Gambia in the last 16, having seen his customary one-game punishment extended by FIFA.

As for Italy, striker Giuseppe Ambrosino was withdrawn in the 89th minute of their semi-final win over South Korea due to a reported injury concern, but there is nothing to suggest that he will not be passed fit for the final.

Uruguay Under-20s possible starting lineup:
R. Rodriguez; Chagas, Boselli, Gonzalez, Matturro; Garcia; L. Rodriguez, Diaz, Sosa, De los Santos; Duarte

Italy Under-20s possible starting lineup:
Desplanches; Zanotti, Guarino, Ghilardi, Turicchia; Casadei, Prati, Giovane; Baldanzi; Esposito, Ambrosino

With the greatest respect to Uruguay's previous opponents, Italy will present much more of a challenge to La Celeste's rearguard mettle, and England proved in the group stage that Broli's men can indeed be worn down

Video preview of both teams performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3UToypF61k

Source:👉https://betextract.com/