Today is the final, and the third place play-off, of the 21
st Dugout-Online World Cup.
Final:
This is the third consecutive World Cup that
Serbia and
Turkey play against one another - each team won once. In total they played five times, and the results were a draw (they each have two wins, and one draw).
3
rd Place Play-off:
Unsurprisingly, since both teams have a sporadic appearances in the World Cup, this is the first time
Peru and
Greece will meet in one.
Peru have been slightly more successful in the World Cup - two seasons back they managed to get all the way to the final, but unfortunately, the lost there.
Greece's best result was fourth place.
Final:
Romania face off against the reigning U21 World Champions,
Poland, today. This is not the first time the two meet in the final. They played in the final game of the fourteenth, and of the fifteenth U21 World Cup (each won once). The only other Under-21 World Cup match the two played was a group game back in the ninth U21 World Cup, and that one ended in a draw.
3
rd Place Play-off:
Germany and
Estonia already played three U21 World Cup matches, but all were a while back (the last time they met was in the fourteenth U21 World Cup). They each have one U21 World Cup trophy -
Estonia won the nineteenth U21 World Cup, and
Germany placed third in the fourteenth U21 World Cup.
Final:
Poland and
Switzerland met twice in the U19 World Cup, and surprisingly, the
Swiss won both matches. Will
Switzerland win the third time and finally become the U19 World Champions (they have two second places), or will
Poland get their revenge (and become the U19 World Champions for the second time)?
3
rd Place Play-off:
Since neither
Finland nor
Rep. of Montenegro make it to the U19 World Cup, it is slightly surprising the two met before. They drew their group stage match in the eleventh U19 World Cup. For
Rep. of Montenegro this is already their best result in the U19 World Cup, but
Finland already finished fourth once (in the fourteenth U19 World Cup). The question now is, which one of them will take the bronze, and their first trophy?
Final:
Unsurprisingly
Netherlands and
Serbia met in the U17 World Cup, including once in the final. What is surprising is that
Serbia are the only ones that won (the two also drew twice in the group stages of the fourth, and seventh U17 World Cup). Can
Netherlands finally defeat
Serbia? Or wil
Serbia become the U17 World Champions for the third time?
3
rd Place Play-off:
Turkey and
Brazil played against one another in the last three U17 World Cup competitions - this is the fourth consecutive time they will meet.
Turkey won the first two times, but
Brazil won last season (they went on to win the U17 World Cup).
Turkey are the tentative favorites today -
Brazil's defence is not as strong as the rest of their team.
