Buenos Aires (dpa) – Argentina is hosting the soccer World Cup for U20 juniors and is thus stepping in for Indonesia at short notice.
As the world association FIFA announced, the tournament will take place from May 20th to June 11th, the draw is planned for April 21st in Zurich. The Argentinian selection, which initially did not qualify for the tournament, can now also participate as hosts.
In March, FIFA had withdrawn the World Cup from the originally intended host Indonesia. FIFA left it open whether a critical attitude in Indonesia towards World Cup participants Israel played a role in the decision. The only justification given was “the current circumstances”. There is said to have been political resistance to Israel’s participation. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country and has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
Five months after the World Cup triumph of Lionel Messi’s national team in Qatar, Argentina is the 24th team to take part in the Junior World Cup. With six title wins so far, the South Americans are the most successful nation at the U20 World Cup, which the country hosted back in 2001. The German team did not qualify.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:230417-99-350323/3
