As the under-20 squad returned home from winning their age group’s global Cup in Argentina on Monday, Uruguay was getting ready to greet their newest and long-awaited global champions.
On Sunday night in La Plata, Argentina—about 60 kilometers from Buenos Aires—Uruguay defeated Italy 1-0 on Luciano Rodriguez’s 86th-minute goal.
After losing to Argentina in 1997 and France on penalties in 2013, Uruguay made their third participation in the under-20 final.
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The last victory for Uruguay came in 1950, despite the country having won two senior World Cups and two Olympic football golds.
It was Italy’s maiden appearance in a championship that was originally held in 1977 and primarily included South American teams. Brazil has won five times, and Argentina has won six times.
The Uruguayan Football Association said on Sunday that the winning team would fly into Carrasco International Airport on Monday at 11:30 local time (1430 GMT), where they would be met by a motorcade and taken on a tour of the city.
In the championship, Uruguay pressed hard right away and produced the greatest opportunities. From a corner in the first half, Anderson Duarte caused Sebastiano Desplanches to make a diving save.
After a mostly uneventful second half, Uruguay took the lead with four minutes left when Rodriguez nodded in at the far post after a corner caused havoc in the Italian goalmouth.
Desplanches prevented a worse loss in the waning seconds when Franco Gonzalez’s shot was saved at the feet of the goalkeeper by four Uruguayans closing in on the penalty area without a defender in sight.
Cesare Casadei, a midfielder for Chelsea, was the tournament’s top player and won the golden ball after scoring seven goals, although he struggled to have an influence in the championship game.
“Uruguay champion,” tweeted Uruguay president Luis Lacalle Pou from the United States. “Congratulations to the players, coaching staff and all those who made this dream possible.”
Israel had earlier defeated South Korea 3-1 to earn their best-ever World Cup finish and move up to third place.
After Indonesia was no longer selected as the host due to local demonstrations against Israel’s participation, the competition was transferred to Argentina in April by world football’s governing body, Fifa.
In the 19th minute, Ran Binyamin scored with an amazing volley.
Five minutes later, Lee Seung-won equalized from the spot.
After 76 minutes, Omer Senior gave Israel the lead again, and Anan Khalaili put the game out of reach with a close-range shot to the far post from a corner kick in the 85th minute.
Israel stunned Brazil in the quarterfinals before falling to Uruguay on Thursday.