Morocco was strong. South Korea's North African dark horse beat Messi's Descendants Argentina 20 and won for the first time in history
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출처=FIFA SNS 캡쳐
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Morocco's U-20 national soccer team, which made South Korea's promising players cry in the round of 16 at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2025, has created an extraordinary event to build a championship tower for the first time in history.
Morocco won 2-0 in the final match of the tournament against Argentina at Estidau Nacional Julio Martinez Pradhanos in Santiago, Chile on the 20th (Korea time) thanks to Yasir Javiri's multi-goal in the first half.
As a result, Morocco, led by head coach Mohamed Ouabi, kissed the World Cup trophy for the first time in history of all ages. He became the second African champion in 16 years since Ghana in 2009. Morocco's victory gave birth to new champions in the last four tournaments. England won the 2017 Korean competition, Ukraine the 2019 Poland competition, and Uruguay the 2023 Argentina competition for the first time.
Morocco has certainly established itself as a dark horse in the world football community, coupled with the senior national team's first-ever semifinal at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Morocco's A team won a ticket to the 2026 World Cup finals in North Korea and the U.S. early.
Captain and main striker Otman Maamma (Watford), who was also active in the final, was selected as the Golden Ball (best player) of the tournament, and Jabiri, who tied for first in scoring with a total of five goals, won the silver ball.
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Morocco, which passed the Group of Death ', tied with Brazil, Spain and Mexico as No. 1, beat South Korea (2-1 wins) and the United States (3-1 wins), respectively, in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, and advanced to the semifinals, defeating France after a penalty shootout. South Korea, which advanced to the round of 16 as the third-ranked team in the group, fell behind Morocco and failed to advance to the quarterfinals for the third consecutive tournament. South Korea was a surprise runner-up at the 2019 Poland Games and reached the semifinals at the 2023 Argentina Games.
Morocco's opponent in the final was Argentina, the No. 1 favorite to win the U-20 World Cup (six times). From the round of 16 tournaments, Argentina has sought to win seven times in total with a solid power that does not donate a single goal against Nigeria (4-0 wins), Mexico (2-0 wins), and Colombia (1-0 wins). Argentina showed a strong side in the final, losing only once in six tournament finals.
However, an unexpected situation unfolded at the beginning of the game. Xaviri was fouled by Santino Barbi (Club Atletico Tales), who is considered the best goalkeeper of the tournament near the opponent's penalty area. In the 12th minute of the first half, a direct free kick kicked by Jabiri, who was a kicker, aimed at the left corner of the goal was sucked into the goal.
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In the 29th minute, Zabiri scored an extra goal, this time connecting Maamma's right cross with a non-stop shot from the other side of the goal. The score was 2-0 less than half an hour after the start of the game. Confused, Argentina went on the offensive in the 34th minute of the first half, excluding midfielder Valentino Acuna (Newell's Old Voice) and putting striker Matteo Silvetti (Inter Miami).
Argentina pushed unilaterally with more than 75% of the possession, but failed to open Morocco's solid defense. In the 3rd minute of extra time in the first half, Maher Carrizo (Belez Sarsfield) sent the ball to the outside of the goal in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. Gianluca Prestiani (Benfica) left foot volley went wide over the net in the 20th minute of the second half. The match ended in Morocco's 2-0 victory.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
