2025 U20 World Cup Japan VS France: Advantages and challenges coexist, can the top eight barriers be broken through?

At 7:00 a.m. on October 9, the 2025 U20 Men's Football World Cup held in Chile will usher in a round of 16 knockout match, with the momentum of Japan facing the traditional European team France. Although the French team has well-known players such as Zidane's son, comprehensive analysis shows that the Japanese team has a great chance of winning in this battle.

The French team will face the Japanese team in the 16th round of the 2025 U-20 World Cup. In the middle is Zidane's son Elias.

First of all, historical confrontations are dominant and the group stage is in better shape. The Japanese team defeated the French U20 with a 3-1 score in the Spanish expedition in March this year. Although the lineups of both sides were different from those of today, this victory undoubtedly accumulated valuable psychological advantages for the Japanese team. More importantly, the Japanese team qualified from the top of the "Death Group" with a perfect record of winning all three games and not losing one goal in this World Cup, showing strong overall strength and stable competitive state. In contrast, the French team stumbled in the group stage and eventually advanced only to the third place in Group E.

, with a perfect record of winning all three games and scoring 7 goals and conceding 0 goals, the Japanese U20 team that strongly advanced to the top 16

, followed by the French team, starlight and shortcomings. The French team's lineup is indeed highlighted. Zidane's fourth son Elias Zidane is 1.95 meters tall and is an important figure in the defense line. In addition, there are many powerful players in the team. For example, Takumi Minami's club teammate, forward Mishar, who has scored 3 goals this year, and Buabra and Zeze, who may return to the team to reinforce. However, the French team also has obvious shortcomings. Due to the conflict between the U20 World Cup and international match days, many core players of the French team who played in the top league (such as Paris Saint-Germain's Emery and Douai) were absent, and their overall strength was greatly reduced and they were regarded by the outside world as a "temporary team". Some analysts pointed out that the overall level of this event has declined due to the absence of big-name players, and traditional strong teams such as France and Spain have not sent out the strongest lineup.

The 2025 U-20 Men's Football World Cup Top 16 match situation chart

For Japanese football, this is an excellent opportunity to break the "Fourth Eight Curse" for many years. Since entering the quarterfinals of the World Youth Championship in 2003, all of Japan's U20 were eliminated in the first round of the knockout round in the next five competitions. This time, facing the French team, which is not the main force, and the Japanese team has two more days of rest than their opponents, and they have more physical reserves, which is undoubtedly the best time to break through history.

This highly anticipated battle between Japan and France is no longer a simple battle to advance to the top 16, but also a key battle for the younger generation of Japan to prove its strength to the world. Although the French team has outstanding personal abilities, the Japanese team is fully capable of competing with their opponents with better team form, physical advantages of waiting for work and positive historical confrontation records. Whether Japanese football can overcome the barriers to the quarterfinals is worth looking forward to.