Yes, there is some World Cup betting to look forward to this summer as the FIFA Under 20 tournament kicks off out in South Korea. This is a 24-nation tournament which kicks off on May 20th and runs through to June 11th and the tournament will be hosted across six different venues. There is some home nation interest as well, as England, are there on the back of a solid U-19 tournament in 2016 as they made the semi-finals there. So there you can see the natural development of the youth game.
Just like England the rest of the UEFA contingent, all of the other qualified nations came through youth tournaments played out over the last year or so. It is now on to the World Cup and it looks as if it is going to be tremendously competitive tournament as well. There are six groups of four nations in the first round, with the top two from each of the groups making it through to the round of sixteen, where they will be joined by the four best third-placed sides from the group stage. So this is a long tournament for the youngsters, with a long, long road to the Under 20 World Cup Final.
Teams at the Under 20 World Cup
Host Nation: South Korean
Asia: Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam
Africa: Guinea, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia
CONCACAF: Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, United States
South America: Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela
Oceania: New Zealand, Vanuatu
Europe: England, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal
Under 20 World Cup Betting 2017 Odds
| Team | Betting Odds |
|---|---|
| France | 6/1 |
| Germany | 7/1 |
| Argentina | 9/1 |
| Uruguay | 9/1 |
| Portugal | 10/1 |
| Italy | 12/1 |
| England | 12/1 |
| Mexico | 16/1 |
| South Korea | 20/1 |
| Japan | 20/1 |
| Zambia | 20/1 |
| Senegal | 25/1 |
| bar | 33/1 |
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Under 20 World Cup 2017 Seeding & Draw
The seeing for the tournament saw the nations split up into four pots, with hosts South Korea joining the first pot of top seeds. The seeding pots then determined the draw for the Under 20 world Cup 2017 (one team from each pot being drawn per group), and the seeding itself was based on respective results over the last five FIFA U-20 World Cups with more recent tournament weighing more heavily. Unfortunately for England, that left them down in Pot 3 along with the likes of Venezuela and Zambia.
Pot 1: South Korea, Portugal, Uruguay, France, United States, Germany
Pot 2: Mexico, Argentina, new Zealand, Senegal, Japan, Costa Rica
Pot 3: Zambia, Honduras, England, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Venezuela
Pot 4: Ecuador, South Africa, Iran, Vietnam, Guinea, Vanuatu
Group A: South Korea, Guinea, Argentina, England
Frankly, the draw could have been a little worse for England because out of Pot 1 they managed to get the weakest side in the form of hosts South Korea. So that should leave Argentina as their biggest threat to winning the group. England, who have Paul Simpson has the head coach, carded their best ever finish at an Under 20 World Cup all the way back in 1993 when they finished third. So it has been a while since they really performed. They aren’t really a force at this level. This being young players, of course, they aren’t particularly household names yet, but there is a strong contingent from the likes of Chelsea and Everton in the squad, including Ademola Lookman and Dominic Solanke, while Liverpool’s Sheyi Ojo is with the squad. Argentina finished fourth at this year’s South American Youth Football Championship, behind Uruguay, Ecuador and Venezuela, so England have a real chance in this group.
Prediction: England win, Argentina qualify
Group B: Venezuela, Germany, Vanuatu, Mexico
Germany are one of the front runners for the tournament and there is going to be nothing to trip them up in this tournament. Their trickiest challenge will probably come in their opener when they go up against Venezuela, who finished third at the 2017 South American Youth Football Championship. But Germany are a class, class act with plenty of depth running through their squad and they will have an impact. Vanuatu, making their first appearance at the tournament will probably just make up the numbers, leaving Mexico, who didn’t make it to the second group stage of the 2017 CONCACAF U20 Championship the dark horse. Forward Ronaldo Cisneros could be one to watch out for in the goalscorer markets.
Prediction: Germany win, Venezuela qualify
Group C: Zambia, Portugal, Iran, Costa Rica
Portugal did get to the semi-finals of the 2016 UEFA European U-19 Championship where they lost out to France. They only look average at best though and this is a wide open group here. Costa Rica were underwhelming in their 2017 CONCACAF U-20 campaign, while you have the unknown quantities of Iran and Zambia in the mix. A tough group to call, but perhaps it will be the pragmatism of Portugal who wins through.
Prediction: Portugal win, Costa Rica qualify
Group D: South Africa, Japan, Italy, Uruguay
This will be in an interesting group to watch because it looks to be wide open. Uruguay will take the role as favourites though after winning the 2017 South American Youth Football Championship, so they will be a threat in this one. Japan are always enterprising, but perhaps just lack the overall quality, while Italy aren’t a tremendous force at this level, but they did get to last year’s UEFA U-19 Championship Final where they lost to France.
Prediction: Uruguay win, Italy qualify
Group E: France, Honduras, Vietnam, New Zealand
The French will be delighted with such an easy looking group ahead of them. They are the outright favourites and can boast some tremendous talent. Les Bleus won the 2016 UEFA Under 19 Championship, thumping Italy 4-0 in the final. With the likes of Jean-Kevin Augustin And Kylian Mbappe around the squad, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with and they are justifiable outright favourites for this tournament. The rest of this group aren’t going to get close to them, and you’ll have a toss up between the Kiwis and Hazardous for the second spot. The Central Americans are probably the best shot to take it.
Prediction: France win, Honduras qualify
Group F: Ecuador, United States, Saudi Arabia, Senegal
Well, pick a winner out of this bunch. The United States will probably be the ones who edge top spot in this somewhat uninspiring group. That having been said though, this is a good chance for an underdog nation to really come through and make a bit of a splash in the tournament. As to which one that would be, that’s a hard call, but Senegal may just have the edge to muscle their way through to the round of sixteen.
Prediction: USA win, Ecuador qualify
Round of Sixteen Set Up
It’s good for your U-20 World Cup 2017 betting at Bet365 to look ahead to the knockout stages and see what path your team could be taking. For England, coming from Group A as winners would give them a nice tie against one of the third-placed teams in the round of sixteen. If they finish second, they would go up against the Group C runner-up, which probably wouldn’t be a disaster. All in all, it’s about avoiding big guns like France And Germany for as long as possible.
Runner Up Group A v Runner Up Group C
Winner Group D v Third Place Finisher
Winner Group B v Third Place Finisher
Winner Group F v Runner Up Group E
Winner Group E v Runner Up Group D
Winner Group C v Third Place Finisher
Runner UP Group B v Runner Up Group F
Winner Group A v Third Place Finisher
U20 World Cup 2017 Predictions
Well, France are the front-runners at Bet365 and they are well worth a punt. They are such a strong side and have some of the best youth in the world running in their squad at the moment. They are going to be a hard, hard side to stop. Germany should be in the mix at the business end of the tournament but aren’t quite as well rounded out as the French. England should be a solid quarter final lock for this one, and Italy will be looking to push on from progress at the U-19 Championships. Our outside wager would be Uruguay because they are carrying some very good attacking talent at the moment and won’t be easy to break down either. They impressed this year at the South American Youth Football Championships.
