World U20 Championship results: Child prodigy Paez makes history

In Group B, Ecuador defeated Fiji 9-0 to take second place in Group B and qualify for the knockout round of the 2023 World U20 Championship.

Prodigy Kendry Paez opened the scoring early, becoming the youngest goalscorer in tournament history. In fact, at the age of 16 years and 22 days, Paez broke the record held by Mohamed Al Kharraz when the Bahrain player 11 days more in the match against Scotland in Chile 1987.

Ecuador scored five more goals in the second half, all from substitutes, including a brace from Alan Minda and Cristopher Zambrano and a late Tommy Chamba goal.

Also in this group, Cade Cowell's superb goal and Niko Tsakiris's excellent late-game individual effort helped the US beat Slovakia to the knockout stage with maximum points.

In Group A, the home team Argentina easily overcame New Zealand with a bold score of 5-0. In an overwhelming match, coach Javier Mascherano's students scored 5 goals in turn from Ignacio Puch, Gino Infantino, Luka Romero, Brian Aguire and Alejo Veliz, thereby winning all 9 absolute points.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan with a 2-0 victory over Guatemala has the same 4 points as New Zealand but is ranked above thanks to a better goal difference. New Zealand will wait to see if it makes it to the list of 4 best third-placed teams.

Table A

New Zealand U20 0-5 Argentina U20

Scores: Puch (14), Infantino (17), Romero (35), Aguirre (50 penalties), Veliz (87)

Uzbekistan U20 2-0 Guatemala U20

Scorer: Nematjonov (9, 20)

Table

Ecuador U20 9-0 Fiji U20

Scores: Paez (9), Klinger (34), Cuero (36, 45+5), Minda (66, 85), Chamba (89), Zambrano (90+6, 90+10)

Slovakia U20 0-2 U20 USA

Scoring: Cowell (38), Tsakiris (90+6)