Poland U20 vs Italy U20 Predictions

Can Poland make it to the next round of the Under 20 World Cup? They’re hosting the 2019 tournament, but they only made it out of the group stage as one of the best third-place finishers. That’s left them as the outsiders heading into this clash with Italy on Sunday, as the knockout round of this tournament gets underway in Wroclaw. The Italians will be eying up glory at this tournament, as they look to win it for the first time. Can they keep that dream alive this weekend?

Poland are heading into this game after a really poor group stage campaign. They ended up claiming just four points, which came after a 2-0 loss to Colombia in their opener. They papered over the cracks with a 5-0 win over Tahiti, while they didn’t really impress in a 0-0 draw with Senegal. While that sent them through to the second round, it’s hardly built up the hosts as a potential winner of this competition. They’ve got to hope to catch Italy on an off day, but even then the hosts will need to improve their performance level.

Italy still seem to be in first gear, but they are heading into this clash with an unbeaten group campaign behind them. Italy wrapped things up with a 0-0 draw against Japan, but by that stage, they were already through. Italy won their opening two clashes, showing that this talented squad could impress this summer. This year is being built up as a big one for the Italian youth sides, following the Under 17’s run to the final of their European Championships.

The Italians have an impressive line up drawn from all parts of Serie A, with some players tasting top-flight experience this term. This bunch are aiming for bigger things down the line in the game, while they’ll fancy their chances of making it to the final looking at the draw. They’ve managed to avoid France, while Portugal – one of the pre-tournament favourites – are already out. Could Italy take this chance to step up?

The Italians have started the tournament like all serious contenders should – solid results without overexerting themselves. They’ve got a strong record, which should see them edge out Poland. Given how Poland struggled against Senegal and Colombia, we expect Italy to edge this clash. We’re going with Italy for the victory as our prediction here, with the young Azzurri aiming to kick off a run to the final.