Morocco make history, more beckons

The gatekeepers? The most dominant nation at FIFA U-20 World Cup level

Morocco make history, more beckons

This is The Shortlist, your free weekly dispatch of short-form stories from the editorial team at SCOUTED: Tom Curren, Jake Entwistle and Llew Davies.

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The 2025 U-20 World Cup Final beckons

Jake Entwistle

Since the last Shortlist, both the quarter-final and semi-final matches at the U-20 World Cup have been and gone. Here's a recap.

Néiser Villarreal, who wears ‘Ney’ on the back of his shirt because he idolises Neymar, bagged a hat-trick against Spain to send Colombia through to the semi-final. His ability to explode away from a defender and rifle the ball into the net is devastating. Not even the maverick Pablo García and his 40-yard potshots could match Ney’s finishing.

In the semi-final, Colombia faced Argentina. And they had to do so without Ney due to the two bookings he picked up alongside his five goals in the previous knockout stage games. They missed him.