Cuba Aims for Round of 16 Spot Against Australia in U-20 Soccer World Cup

The Cuban men's U-20 soccer team will play its third match of the 2025 World Cup in Chile next Saturday, October 4th, against Australia, competing for a place in the tournament's Round of 16.

The match between the Caribbean Lions and the Australians, for Group D of the youth world tournament, is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM Cuban time at the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos in Santiago.

The Cuban squad, which lost its debut match 3-1 against six-time category world champion Argentina, achieved a historic 2-2 draw against Italy, the current world runner-up, on Wednesday. The match was played at the Elías Figueroa Brander stadium in Valparaíso.

With two penalty goals from forward Michael Camejo in the 70th and 87th minutes, the Cubans earned their first-ever point in a U-20 World Cup. Italy played with one man down after striker Jamal Iddrissou was sent off in the 45th + 3rd minute of the first half.

The Cubans came from behind 0-2 to secure the 2-2 draw against one of the squads favored to win the tournament.

The Azzurri squad, the runner-up in the last World Cup in Argentina 2023, won by Uruguay, had taken the lead thanks to goals from Andrea Natali in the 14th minute and Jamal Iddrissou in the 31st.

*This marks Cuba's best performance in a U-20 soccer World Cup*, after losing all three of its matches with only one goal scored in its first participation in Türkiye 2013.

The Cubans still have a chance to secure a spot among the four best third-place finishers from the World Cup's six groups to advance to the next phase of the tournament.

Argentina leads Group D with six points, Italy (4) is in second place, and Cuba (1) is third, ahead of Australia (0).

The U-20 World Championship in Chile, running from September 27 to October 19, features 24 national teams. From Latin America and the Caribbean, besides Cuba and Argentina, are Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Mexico, Panama, and Chile.