- Saudi Arabia’s next game in the tournament is against Mali on Tuesday
- The U-20 Green Falcons are making their ninth appearance at the event
GDYNIA, Poland: Saudi Arabia’s U-20 World Cup campaign got off to a faltering start on Saturday as the young Green Falcons lost 2-0 to France at the Stadion GOSiR in Gdynia, Poland.
Khaled Al-Atwi’s young guns made the worst possible start as they went down to ten men when Faraj Al-Ghashayan was given his marching orders after just 12 minutes.
However, France labored for their first goal as the Green Falcons stayed resolute in defense. But with two minutes of the first period remaining Strasbourg player Youssouf Fofana, who had come on for the injured Boubakary Soumare midway through the first half, found the net to break the deadlock.
The man advantage was clear for all to see in the second half as Saudi Arabia struggled to make an impact on the match. And France extended their advantage with fifteen minutes left when Lyon’s Amine Gouiri scored to take the game away from Al-Atwi’s side.
Saudi Arabia’s next game in the tournament is against Mali on Tuesday. The African side opened their tournament with a 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia's other Group E opponents Panama.
The U-20 Green Falcons are making their ninth appearance at the World Cup. In 2017’s edition in South Korea, they were knocked out at the Round of 16 stage by Uruguay, while the Kingdom hosted the event in 1989.