The Uruguayan U-20 National Team faces Gambia this Thursday in the round of 16 of the World Cup for this category. Let's review how the Celeste has performed in this stage in previous World Cups.
For the fifth consecutive U-20 World Cup, Uruguay has advanced to the round of 16. The last time they failed to do so was in the tournament held in Colombia in 2011. Out of the 16 World Cups in this category that the Celeste has participated in, they have reached at least the round of 16 in 14 of them (aside from 2011, they failed to advance in 1991).
The first U-20 World Cup was held in 1977 with only 16 teams, where the top team from each of the four groups faced each other in the semifinals. Uruguay topped their group and lost on penalties to the Soviet Union in Tunisia, and then lost to Brazil in the third-place match for the bronze medal.
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Two years later, in Japan, the format changed so that the top two teams from each group advanced to the quarterfinals. Uruguay defeated Portugal in that stage and lost to Argentina, the eventual champions, in the semifinals. In 1981, the same format was repeated and Uruguay was defeated in the quarterfinals against Romania, while in 1983 they faced the same fate against South Korea, and the same happened in 1993, but against Australia.
The first time that the round of 16 was played in this tournament was in the memorable 1997 World Cup held in Malaysia, where Uruguay reached the final. In the round of 16, they defeated the United States 3-0 with a brace from Marcelo Zalayeta and a goal from Nicolás Olivera. They then defeated France on penalties, and Ghana in extra time. They lost in the final against Argentina, earning their first silver medal in this category.
Nigeria hosted the 1999 edition, where Uruguay qualified for the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams. In that stage, they faced Paraguay and won on penalties after a 2-2 draw with goals from Javier Chevantón and Diego Forlán, with Fabián Canobbio scoring the penalty that secured Uruguay's qualification. The team then defeated Brazil in the quarterfinals and lost to Japan in the semifinals, losing the third-place match against Mali.
Uruguay did not qualify for the next three U-20 World Cups but reached the round of 16 in their subsequent participation in Canada 2007. In that stage, the generation that included Luis Suárez, Edinson Cavani, and Martín Cáceres, among others, lost 2-1 to the United States in extra time and were eliminated.
The Uruguayan U-20 team also fell in the round of 16 in the 2009 World Cup: this time it was a 1-3 loss against Brazil, and a great generation with players like Nicolás Lodeiro, Gastón Ramírez, Sebastián Coates, and Abel Hernández could not proceed further in the tournament.
2013 was a very good year for the young Celeste team which, after not advancing past the group stage in the previous tournament in 2011, finished as runners-up. Uruguay finished second in their group and reached the round of 16, where they defeated Nigeria 2-1 with a brace from Nicolás "Diente" López. Later, in the quarterfinals, an agonizing goal from Felipe Avenatti helped them eliminate Spain in extra time, and penalties were needed to defeat Iraq in the semifinals after a 1-1 draw where Gonzalo Bueno scored. Uruguay lost in the final on penalties against France, but had an incredible squad that also included players like José María Giménez, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Guillermo Varela, and Lucas Olaza.
The dream could not be repeated in 2015, in New Zealand, although Uruguay still reached the round of 16 but lost in that stage to Brazil on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Nahitan Nández, Gastón Pereiro, Mauro Arambarri, and Marcelo Saracchi were some of the names from that generation.
Two years later, another great Uruguayan team - who had previously won the South American Championship - finished in fourth place in the tournament held in South Korea. After leading their group, Uruguay defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the round of 16 with a penalty goal from Nicolás De La Cruz. The quarterfinals paired the Celeste against Portugal, and again penalties gave the Uruguayan team the qualification after a 2-2 draw with goals from Santiago Bueno and Federico Valverde. However, penalties did not favor Uruguay in the semifinals, where they lost against Venezuela after a 1-1 draw with a goal from De La Cruz. The bronze medal also slipped away in the penalty shootout after a goalless draw against Italy. Mathías Olivera, Matías Viña, Agustín Rogel, José Luis Rodríguez, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Agustín Canobbio were just some of the names of a great generation of Uruguayan footballers.
The last U-20 World Cup held before the current one was in 2019 in Poland. Uruguay had a perfect record in their group and raised hopes for what they could achieve in the tournament, but lost 1-3 to Ecuador in the round of 16. Ronald Araujo scored the only Uruguayan goal in that match, which also featured players like Darwin Núñez, Brian Rodríguez, Sebastián Cáceres, Juan Manuel Sanabria, and Santiago Rodríguez.