Argentina, the reigning senior World Cup champions, had high hopes for their youth team at the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar, the same country where Lionel Messi lifted the trophy. The young Albiceleste were aiming to continue the nation’s golden legacy, but their journey ended prematurely.
After a thrilling 2-2 draw with Mexico in regulation time, they were eliminated in a penalty shootout, losing 5-4. The knockout-stage defeat ended their campaign and dashed hopes of another World Cup triumph for the nation.
Argentina’s Early Lead Fails to Secure Victory
Diego Placente’s side started strongly, with Ramiro Tullian giving Argentina the early advantage. However, Mexico quickly regained control, with Luis Gamboa scoring twice to turn the match in their favor. Fernando Kloster equalized for the team, sending the game to penalties.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑴𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒄𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍,”
said Placente after the match.
Argentina had a strong group stage performance, winning all three matches: 3-2 against Belgium, 1-0 over Tunisia, and a dominant 7-0 win against Fiji. Despite this promising start, the U-17 World Cup dream ended in the knockout round.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.”
Placente added.
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