Things are getting serious: FIFA U-20 World Cup, Round of 16

As the tournament rattles on, we rattle through the interesting permutations and prospects of the first round of knockout games

Can you believe that we’re already at the quarter-final stage of this U-20 World Cup? We can’t. After waiting a long four years for this tournament, it feels like its flown by in a flash. The non-stop deluge of games – up to four a day, crammed into as many hours – has definitely contributed to that.

As we’re at the quarter-final stage, the Round of 16 has obviously been and gone. We were particularly excited for England-Italy but that turned out to be one of the worst games of the tournament. Tired minds and bodies slogged cross a terrible pitch under the stewardship of a poor officiating team, all combining to produce a truly dismal spectacle.

Elsewhere, Israel continued their resilient push in their maiden U-20 World Cup by squeezing out a valiant Uzbekistan with another last-minute goal. Colombia crushed Slovakia, owing to their difference-makers in attack and rock-solid prospects throughout the team.

But which individuals impressed in the first round of knockout games? Here are six that Llew Davies and Stephen Ganavas picked out…