With the group stage concluded, the FIFA U20 World Cup enters the round of 16 with Gambia taking on Uruguay. A place in the quarter-finals against the United States awaits the winner of this fixture. A pair of 2-1 victories over Honduras and France combined with a 0-0 draw with South Korea saw Gambia top Group F in an highly-impressive display.
An excellent streak in the U20 Africa Cup of Nations means that Gambia is on a run of seven victories, one draw and only one defeat in their last nine matches. The Gambian youngsters come into this matchup as the underdogs against the Uruguayans. However, the West African side will be familiar with the situation as they have upset the odds before in this competition.
Gambia entered their group stage fixture against France as 7/1 underdogs and would wind up winning that match outright. Not only did they win but they looked wildly impressive doing so. In fact, Gambia has been the better team in each group stage match that they have played so far.
On the other side, Uruguay finished second to England in Group E after two wins and a loss. La Celeste largely did what was expected of them in the group stage. They recorded a comfortable 4-0 win over Iraq to open the tournament but would need a 93rd minute penalty to get by Tunisia 1-0.
Their toughest test of the competition so far saw them as slight underdogs against England on the second matchday. Uruguay would get involved in a shootout but would ultimately fall short by a score line of 3-2.
The Urugayans have looked dangerous on the attacking side of the ball this tournament. Their seven goals scored in the group stage is the fourth-highest in the U20 World Cup. With their opponents also in solid goal-scoring form, an entertaining fixture could very well be on the cards here.
