Spain hammered Tahiti 8-0 and Venezuela won on their tournament debut by beating Nigeria 1-0 at the under-20 World Cup on Friday.
Rampant Spain achieved their biggest ever under-20 win against Tahiti and were 4-0 up at halftime after Aaron Niguez and Emilio Nsue grabbed two each.
Substitute Kike added another two in the second half, while Ander Herrera and midfielder Fran Merida sealed the Group B rout.
Brazil holds the tournament record, beating Belgium 10-0 in 1997.
Before the tournament in Egypt, Venezuela had never qualified for any of FIFA’s world championships.
Yonathan Del Valle struck in the 45th minute of the South Americans’ Group B opener, shortly after Nigeria were reduced to 10 men. Lukman Haruna was sent off for stamping on a Venezuelan player’s leg.
“We’ve given Venezuela their first victory,” Del Valle said. “[Everyone] thought we were going to lose. That was a big mistake.”
Nigeria coach Samson Siaisa made no secret of his disappointment.
“Who can be pleased with defenders who can’t even defend?” Siaisa said. “I told them in the dressing room: ‘What is going on? ... How come you keep leaving strikers wide open?’”
In Group A, Italy goalkeeper Vincenzo Fiorillo spared his team an opening defeat, holding off Paraguay 0-0.
Italy’s Andrea Mazzarani struck the post with a free-kick in the ninth minute, but the Paraguayans controlled the rest of the game, forcing Fiorillo to make impressive saves.
“I’m happy with the performance, but not the result ... we had four or five chances to score, so I’m a little upset,” Paraguay coach Adrian Coria said.
“The main goal was to stand up to Italy and we did that really well. We had an outstanding day in midfield.”
Paraguay beat Brazil and helped eliminate six-time winners Argentina in qualifying for Egypt.
Hosts Egypt trounced Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 on Thursday to lead Group A with three points, while Italy and Paraguay have a point each.
Venezuela share the lead with Spain in Group B.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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