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France qualified for the 2017 Men's U-20 World Cup as the winner of the 2016 UEFA U-19 European Championship. Italy lost the final of that tournament, 4-0.
There's only room for one of the top two teams out of UEFA qualifying in the quarterfinals. The heavy favorite is France, because of that 4-0 win in the final of the U-19 Euros and because the depth of its squad is well illustrated by the fact that most eye-catching individual performance by a French player in this tournament so far has come from a man who isn't necessarily going to start in the round of 16.
France rested a lot of players for its final game of the group stage, since qualification for the knockout rounds as already assured. And Allan Saint-Maximin took his opportunity, beating New Zealand almost single-handed.
Italy has a strong squad too, and its players are a little older and more experienced than they were when they last ran into this France team. But the evidence of the group stage suggests that the Italians are not quite in the top tier of teams at this tournament, and France currently represents the standard the rest of the field hopes to meet.
Victory is by no means beyond Italy in this game, but France is the favorite.
The winner of this match will play Zambia in the quarterfinals.
In the knockout rounds, games tied after 90 minutes got to extra-time. If the teams are still tied after extra-time, there will be a penalty shootout.
Per livesoccertv.com, here's where to find the game if watching from the USA:
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