England gets first win in 20 years at U20 World Cup

Football

England defeated six-time champion Argentina 3-0 for its first win at the Under-20 World Cup in 20 years yesterday.

An Argentine was sent off in the second half of the Group A match after video review was used for the second time in a FIFA tournament, following the 2016 Club World Cup.

England had been winless in its last 17 games in the tourna- ment, dating to 1997. But a firsthalf strike from Dominic Calvert-Lewin followed by Adam Armstrong's score suggested the dismal record could come to an end in Jeonju.

Argentina, one of the tournament favorites, was on top for lengthy periods but was unable to match the clinical finishing of the English.

With 15 minutes remaining, referee Mohammed Abdulla Hassan stopped play to review a pitchside video of an overlooked incident. The United Arab Emirates official showed a red card to substitute Lautaro Martinez for an apparent elbow on England defender Fikayo Tomori.

In injury time, Dominic Solanke made it 3-0 from the penalty spot.

In the other group game on the opening day, South Korea defeated Guinea 3-0.

South Korea takes on Argentina on Tuesday while England meets Guinea.

Venezuela defeated Germany 2-0 in Group B with two goals in the space of three second-half minutes in Daejeon.

Ronaldo Pena rounded Dominik Reimann after 51 minutes for the first score of the tourna- ment and, shortly after, Sergio Cordova underlined Venezuela's attacking power to extend his team's lead.

Also in Group B, Mexico needed an injury-time goal to defeat Vanuatu 3-2. Mexico raced into a two-goal lead after 25 minutes, only to be pegged back by Vanuatu. Edson Alvarez struck three minutes into injury time to prevent a shock result.