The Peninsula
A sublime 76th-minute Timothy Weah goal earned USA a 1-0 win that advanced them to the knockout phase of the FIFA U-20 World Cup as Group D runners-up and extinguished opponents Qatar’s faint hopes yesterday.
The Asians surprisingly had the better of the first half. Hashim Ali had their best chance, going clean through, but David Ochoa, making his first start in Poland, made a fine block and Yusuf Abdurisag couldn’t convert the rebound.
The US assumed control after the break, and were finally rewarded when Alex Mendez found Weah, who nutmegged his marker before finishing with aplomb.
It should have been 2-0 in the 85th minute, but Shehab Mamdouh made a superb save from Mendez’s penalty, before the crossbar denied the Americans deep into injury time.
USA will face the winners of Group E - either France or Mali - in Bydgoszcz in the Round of 16.
Also yesterday, Erling Haland scored nine times to shatter the record for goals in a U-20 World Cup match and help Norway thrash Honduras 12-0 in the biggest victory in the competition’s history. He outranked Adailton, who scored six for Brazil in a 10-3 win over Korea Republic in 1997.
Haland’s first came in the seventh minute, and by half-time he already had four to his name. The pick of the bunch was when Tobias Borkeeiet found Haland with a looping through ball, and the hulking centre-forward did the rest.
Two red cards for Honduras made matters worse as Los Catrachos crashed out of Poland 2019 emphatically. Norway will have to wait to find out their fate in the competition.
They hope their goal difference will be enough to see them finish as one of the top four third-placed sides.