Argentina defeated New Zealand 5-0 in their FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023 Group A match on Sunday (July 27). With the win, Argentina topped the group with a 3-0 record and qualified for the Round of 16.
After a 2-1 win over Uzbekistan and a 3-0 victory over Guatemala, Argentina faced New Zealand. Ignazio Maestro Pucci scored the opening goal in the 14th minute. Gino Infantino scored in the 17th minute and Luca Romero made it 3-0 in the 35th minute.
Brian Aguirre scored on a penalty kick (PK) 안전놀이터 in the fifth minute of the second half. Alejo Belize scored in the 41st minute to make it 5-0. The win gave Argentina an impressive record of 10 goals scored and one conceded in three games, following an unbeaten start to the group stage. They will enter the knockout stages with host nation advantage and a chance to win the tournament.
Led by Javier Mascherano, who played for Liverpool, Barcelona, and was a mainstay of the Argentine national team, Argentina failed to qualify for the knockout stages after being eliminated in the South American qualifiers. After the original hosts, Indonesia, canceled the tournament due to an international dispute, Argentina took over as hosts.
It’s hard to believe that Argentina is a team that didn’t make it out of the qualifiers. They’ve quickly become the favorite. If they win, Argentina will lift the U-20 World Cup trophy for the first time in 16 years, since the 2007 tournament in Canada.
Argentina won the World Cup last year at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, led by Lionel Messi. If they can follow their older brothers with the trophy, they will go down in history as a golden generation.