Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa advance to U-20 World Cup semifinals.
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.jpg "Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa advance to U-20 World Cup semifinals.")
Egypt was the only team that didn't make it, even though they beat hosts Chile 2-1 in Santiago.
Before losing to Mexico by a close margin, Morocco beat Spain and Brazil to win Group C. They were the best African team so far.
They will now play Korea Republic in Rancagua on Thursday, October 9th. The winner will then play either Italy or the USA in the quarterfinals. After a tough 1-1 draw with Colombia in Talca, Nigeria moved on as one of the best third-place teams.
The Flying Eagles beat Saudi Arabia 3-2 earlier in a thrilling group match. They will now play Argentina in Santiago, which is a repeat of one of the most exciting games they played in previous youth events.
Coach Aliyu Zubairu praised how tough his team was:
"It wasn't easy, but we didn't give up and were proactive." We tried to block their passing lanes because we knew they were strong and good with the ball. We only wanted to move on to the next round.
This effort was a big step forward for South Africa. The Amajita, who are the current African U-20 champions, beat the USA 2-1 to secure their spot in the event. It was their second win of the tournament; they had already beaten New Caledonia 5-0.
They will now play Colombia in the round of 16 on October 8 in Talca, which will be a tough match. Coach Raymond Mdaka was proud of his team's progress, saying, "The players have shown a lot of maturity and a strong desire to compete at this level." We think we can get farther if we obey the rules and take risks.
Africa has a lot to be happy about thanks to Morocco's strategic discipline, Nigeria's fighting spirit, and South Africa's attacking flair. However, Egypt's elimination was a blow to everyone.
The Young Pharaohs beat hosts Chile 2-1 in their last group match, but they didn't make it because they had a worse fair-play record than the South Americans, who finished with the same number of points but more yellow cards.
The African teams' results have given people hope that the continent will become more important in youth football around the world. Now, all three of the remaining countries want to repeat Ghana's famous U-20 World Cup win in 2009.
It won't be easy to get to the next round, but African dreams are still alive in Chile 2025. Three games this week could show how good African football is getting on the world stage: Morocco plays Korea Republic, Nigeria plays Argentina, and South Africa plays Colombia.