Asunto: U20 World Cup - Season 21

The U20 World Cup starts tonight in Australia. A couple of the feature games include: Italy v England and Spain v Netherlands.

The games will all probably be sell-outs so buy your tickets now

The first round of matches in the U20 World Cup has seen a few nailbiters, a few thumpings and a few upsets.

Coming in to the tournament, the three top ranked teams were Latvia, Italy and Finland, all of whom won their opening games. Latvia were clinical in disposing of Iran 2-0. Italy thumped England 5-1 after the scores were locked at half-time. While Finland had to come from behind to beat Macedonia 2-1.

Hungary expected to take the points against USA but a late goal to Tony Sauvage saw the Americans victorious. 30th-ranked Sweden upset 6th-ranked Romania 1-0. And 7th-ranked Bulgaria were outclassed by 38th-ranked France 2-0. Israel went into their clash with Slovenia as the higher-ranked team but no-one at the ground believed that as they watched the Slovenians record a crushing 5-1 victory.

In other games:
Argentina, the highest-ranked non-European team, monstered Switzerland 7-0.
Portugal and Taiwan played a game which saw seven yellow cards but no goals.
In the Brazil-Russia game, Brazil had the possession advantage while Russia had more shots on goal but the result was a 0-0 draw.
Germany played most of their second half against Bosnia with a one-goal advantage but a man down, which ultimately saw the Bosnians equalise late in the game for a 1-1 draw.
Belgium were no doubt pleased to record a 1-1 draw against a higher-ranked Croatian outfit.
Poland should have easily disposed of Greece but eight shots on goal returned nothing and the teams shared the points.
Ukraine striker Leonid Komar scored both goals in their 2-1 win over neighbours Belarus but he will have to sit out the next game against Poland after being sent off in the closing stages.
The Dutch put in a poor showing against Spain, letting in five first-half goals and having a player sent off.
Slovakia were surprised by an early Japanese goal but bounced back to record a comprehensive 4-1 win.

I'm planning to put together a tipping tournament for the U20 finals, if anyone wants to join. I couldn't find any good websites to do it on, so I guess just post yours here and I'll put it together in a spreadsheet or something. No scores, just whoever wins (no draws because it is a knockout). If I could get these within two days that'd be great, but none after the start of the matches being tipped. Remember this is just for the knockout stages, and follows this form (A means Group 1, 1 means finished first in that group):

R16-1. A1 v B2
R16-2. C1 v D2
R16-3. E1 v F2
R16-4. G1 v H2
R16-5. A2 v B1
R16-6. C2 v D1
R16-7. E2 v F1
R16-8. G2 v H1

QF-1. R16-1 Winner v R16-2 Winner
QF-2. R16-3 Winner v R16-4 Winner
QF-3. R16-5 Winner v R16-6 Winner
QF-4. R16-7 Winner v R16-8 Winner

SF-1. QF-1 Winner v QF-2 Winner
SF-2. QF-3 Winner v QF-4 Winner

FINAL. SF-1 Winner v SF-2 Winner

To make it fair, everyone should make theirs once the group matches are done, otherwise some people may have Round of 16 nations that didn't even get past the group stage. Be ready as there will only be a 24 hour gap between the third group match and the Round of 16 to post your tips. I'd suggest making one now and adjusting it to the teams that actually qualify.

I wish I had thought of this before the tournament began, but oh well!

I really like your idea mate

used to bet on real World Cup back in days..

It might be better to send our bids to u as PM so others do theirs purely...

Yeah that's a good idea. Once the group stage has finished, everyone send me their predictions for the knockout stage! (no late ones)

Switzerland, Romania, Iran, Israel, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands all can no longer qualify for the knockout stage, with the most notable being 11th ranked Romania and 14th placed Bulgaria. Hungary also suffered another shock loss making it back-to-back.

.. and u can post them as soon as the final stage will kick off

Hopefully there will be more than few..

So the first round of playoffs are:
Arg v Swe
Fin v Cro
Lat v Ukr
Spa v Jap
Brz v CTp
Ita v Ger
Pol v Svn
Svk v Fra

Hello
In the name of of Allah the Merciful
After peace for all ppm, and all candidates for coach of the year the national football team to the site of Australia elect state, and I am running to lead the team and this is not the understatement of the Milky Shan, whether current or former.
. I football with a team under the slogan "Long live Australia."
Australian rebound football and activate the national team.
Interestingness in games, whether friendly or official.
Provided the national team in the rankings.
Go to the max in the World Cup.
He has any advice, you should note submitted by, and finally I wish to be your good opinion.

I have experience in training
I was the first assistant coach of the Algerian national team
Then assistant coach of the first Brazilian team