Next Haaland, Messi potentially await as FIFA U-20 WC kicks off

The FIFA U-20 World Cup, a biannual tournament that has always been a hotbed of talents, which had announced the arrival of the likes of Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Adriano, Paul Pogba and many more, is set to commence on Saturday night.

Hosts and six-time champions Argentina will take on Uzbekistan (Sunday 3:00am BST) in a Group A encounter after the tournament kicks off three hours earlier with two simultaneous matches involving New Zealand-Guatemala (Group A) and USA-Ecuador (Group B).

The 23rd edition of the tournament makes its long-awaited return after COVID-19 pandemic forced FIFA to postpone the age-group showpiece event in 2021. Indonesia was initially given the hosting rights but was later transferred to Argentina after the Asian nation refused to host Israel. As a result, Argentina managed to step into the tournament after having failed to qualify. However, defending champions Ukraine are absent in the 24-team event as they failed to reach the European qualifiers.

The previous edition witnessed Erling Haaland lit up the stage with an outrageous nine goals against Honduras – a single-game record for any FIFA international game. The Norwegian aside, Julian Alvarez, Rafael Leao, Darwin Nunez and others made a serious impression.