The French U20 team has gone through a mouse hole. Qualified for the round of 16 among the best third-placed teams in the group, the Bleuets suffered a thousand pains against Japan before scoring the only goal of the match in the very last moments of extra time.
And Bernard Diomède’s men can thank the VAR. Because qualification for the quarter-finals was acquired thanks to a penalty awarded by the referee after viewing the video. A penalty converted by Monaco striker Lucas Michal with a beautiful shot into the top corner.
Until this hand of a Japanese defender, the French had been struggling. If they had possession of the ball, the Blues conceded many chances and were sometimes lucky. Because among the 24 shots suffered, eight of which were on target, two hit the uprights while Lisandru Olmeta was beaten.
France has a meeting with Norway
Japan came out on top of their group with three victories on the clock, against Egypt, Chile and New Zealand respectively, and had not conceded a single goal. The distress was palpable at the final whistle in the Japanese ranks.
As for the Bleuets, they will face Norway in the quarter-finals, who won 1-0 against Paraguay in the round of 16 thanks to a goal scored there also at the very end of overtime. During the group stage, although they had dominated Nigeria (1-0) in their first match, they were however only able to draw against Colombia (0-0) and Saudi Arabia (1-1).
The quarter-final between France and Norway will be played on the night of Sunday to Monday.
