New Zealand U20 vs Uruguay U20 Predictions

The big surprise of the Under 20 World Cup so far has been the displays of New Zealand. They’ve been impressive in their results to date, which sends them into their final clash of the group with a perfect record. They meet Uruguay on Thursday, with these two fighting it out at the top of the table. Who will progress into the next round as the top side in the group? Will Uruguay live up to expectations, or are we going to see this run from New Zealand roll into the last 16?

So far, New Zealand have really impressed in Poland. Their 2-0 win over Norway last time out put them through to the next round, something which they achieved two years ago in South Korea. However, New Zealand were then dumped out of the competition in the last 16 by the USA, losing 6-0 in that clash. We don’t expect to see a repeat of that when these two sides go head to head this week, especially following some fine displays from the Kiwis.

Uruguay have joined them at the top of the table, also taking six points from their opening two games. The South Americans were semi-finalists two-years ago, making it that far once again will surely be a priority. We saw their 2017 side progress to the World Cup in Russia last summer, which was the first real step in Uruguay’s bid to streamline their pathway from the youth teams to the senior side. That’s something which their continental rivals have been doing for years, so this is a key tournament for Uruguay.

The South Americans have kicked things off with a 3-1 win over Norway and a 2-0 success against Honduras. However, that doesn’t quite match up to New Zealand. The Kiwis have won their two games at this tournament without conceding a goal. Their first game saw them hammer Honduras 5-0, which comes with the country showing really positive signs at youth level.

New Zealand should come into this clash full of confidence after their results so far. This side is really picking up steam going into their final clash of the group, while we see the Kiwis building on their strong start here. We’re backing them to claim at least a draw in this clash, especially as both sides could make a couple of changes ahead of the last 16. We think the two are evenly matched based on results so far, so we see the value here in New Zealand Double Chance.