Bookmakers at odd sover favorite

SEOUL — The FIFA Under20 World Cup kicks off in South Korea on Saturday and looks wide open after 2015 champion Serbia and runner-up Brazil failed to qualify.

Some of the world’s top young talent will be on display with more than 500 players in 24 teams taking part, but the bookmakers are split on which side is favorite.

Bet365 makes 2013 winner and 2016 Under-19 European champion France 6/1 favorite, followed by Germany at 7/1 and Uruguay and Argentina, both at 9/1. But Bwin have Germany 4/1, with Argentina 5/1, France 7/1 and Italy 9/1.

France’s Bleuets will be without Monaco prodigy Kylian Mbappe, who misses out at the insistence of his club and senior France coach Didier Deschamps, whose team has three matches to play early next month.

Saturday’s opening game sees Venezuela — which boasts four full internationals, including the 12-capped Malaga forward Adalberto Penaranda — take on Germany in a Group B encounter in Daejeon.

It is followed in Jeonju by one of the most eagerly anticipated clashes – England against six-time winner Argentina.

The two old rivals were drawn together in Group A by Argentina’s legendary former captain Diego Maradona — whose infamous “Hand of God” goal set England on the way to elimination in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal — and countryman Pablo Aimar, one of the most gifted playmakers of his generation.

The two countries’ fabled history of senior World Cup clashes includes England’s David Beckham being vilified for his red card in France 1998 and his redemption as captain when he scored the winner against Argentina in Sapporo, Japan, four years later.