Read our prediction for Colombia U20 vs New Zealand U20 below. This preview was written by a sport journalist who is specialised in betting tips and predictions. Use our betting tips for the match between Colombia U20 vs New Zealand U20 and you can increase your winnings!
Colombia U20 vs New Zealand U20 Prediction & Betting tips
Erling Haland scored not less than nine goals in a fulminating 12-0 victory in Norway’s third group game against Honduras on Thursday night, scoring a goal scored in 1997. The Salzburg legionary thus made headlines in the 2019 U20 World Cup group stage in Poland. Already on Sunday, the first round of 16 games are on the program. It comes in Lodz for the duel between the U20 from Colombia and New Zealand!
Both teams have finished the group stage in second place. Colombia reached second place behind Senegal in the host group with two wins and one defeat. New Zealand was in the Norway group and finished second behind Uruguay with two wins and one defeat. Although both teams have an identical record in the preliminary round, the bookies have a clear favorite. The start of the game in Lodz is on Sunday evening at 19:30.
Colombia:
At the dawn of the 21st century, Colombia’s senior national team was by no means able to attract attention with strong results. Three times in a row, the World Cup was gambled away. However, the U20 selection in 2003 caused the biggest success so far. In the World Cup Colombia reached the third place, the best result so far in this age group. The offspring of the “Los Cafeteros” in recent years could no longer build on these successes. After the team did not qualify in 2017 for the finals, the team of head coach Arturo Reyes is again in the knockout phase this year. In 2011 – before home crowd – Colombia reached the last time the quarterfinals at a U20 World Cup.
In Poland, the South Americans started with a 2-0 victory against the hosts, before the top match against the previously strong-playing Senegal was lost with the same result. In the final group match against Underdog Tahiti Colombia played great and secured with a brilliant 6-0 success, the second group place. In this game, the great strength – the offensive – was clearly visible.
With Cucho Hernandez (SD Huesca) and Luis Sinisterra (Feyenoord Rotterdam), Colombia has two promising youngsters already working in Europe. Overall, there are only five legionaries in the squad, but players like captain Carlos Cuesta (center-back) or Andres Balanta (defensive midfielder) could already earn the first spurs in Colombian professional football.
A look at the Colombia U20 national team’s latest scores shows that they have never met in the last twelve internationals.
New Zealand :
Already after the first two group matches, the New Zealand U20 national team was in the second round. Both the opening match against the overburdened Elf from Honduras (5: 0) and the game against the Northern Europeans from Norway (2: 0) could decide the team of Des Buckingham without conceding. At the sixth U20 World Cup participation New Zealand is thus for the third time in the knockout stage. For the first time New Zealand reached the knockout stage four years ago at the home World Cup. Two years ago in South Korea, this succeeded the Junior All White again.
In the last group match against Uruguay New Zealand could have fixed the group victory. However, Des Buckingham revved up and changed his starting lineup to no fewer than nine positions. Although the South Americans also had eight changes compared to the second group game, they were able to handle these changes much better. New Zealand was mostly on the defensive.
Nevertheless, Des Buckingham was quite satisfied with the performance after the game. However, he is also aware that a much better performance against Colombia will be necessary. Honduras and Norway (despite the 12-0 victory) are certainly much weaker than Los Cafeteros from South America.
Although New Zealand has six legionnaires, unlike players like Cucho Hernandez or Luis Sinisterra, none of the players in a European professional league has been able to collect minutes of practice. Despite the two opening victories, it is therefore quite understandable that in the three-way market between Colombia and New Zealand, the odds for the Elf from New Zealand are significantly higher than those for Colombia.