July 15 – France are celebrating their first ever under-20 World Cup title after beating Uruguay 4-1 on penalties following a goalless draw in the final in Istanbul. But Iraq’s fairytale tournament provided just as big a talking point.
Paris St. Germain keeper Alphonse Areola was the French hero as he saved Uruguay’s first two spotkicks before his country took an unassailable 4-1 lead in the shootout.
France are the sixth European champions in the 36-year history of the event, but only the second in the past 20 years to clinch the prize following Spain’s victory in 1999. Eight nations have triumphed in all.
French skipper Paul Pogba carried off the golden ball as player of the tournament while Uruguay, who had more shots on goal but failed to press home their advantage, have now suffered a second defeat in the final after losing to Argentina in 1997.
The French had an average start to the tournament with a draw against the United States and a defeat to Spain, but the team improved in the knockout stage, easing past hosts Turkey (4-1) and Uzbekistan (4-0), before edging Ghana 2-1 in the semi-finals.
Iraq earlier gave Asian football a huge boost by coming within a whisker of reaching the final as they lost 7-6 to Uruguay on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the other semi-final. Iraq then went down 3-0 to Ghana in the third-place playoff.
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