Match Preview: Australia U20 v Saudi Arabia U20 - AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2025 Final™
The Subway Young Socceroos will be determined to create history when they meet Saudi Arabia in the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2025 Final™ on Saturday, 1 March at 10:30pm AEDT.
Trevor Morgan's men reached the decider following their impressive 2-0 Semi-Final win over Japan U20 on Wednesday evening, while playing a scintillating brand of football throughout the tournament.
Never before has this age group in Green and Gold won the competition. The team's best finish was as runners-up in the 2010 iteration.
Australia U20 topped Group A with nine points after defeating Kyrgyz Republic 5-1, Qatar 3-1 and hosts China PR 2-1.
In the Quarter Final, the Aussies twice came from behind to overcome Iraq 3-2 and qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup™ for the first time since 2013, with that event taking place in Chile later this year in September.
Trevor Morgan confirmed to reporters in a press conference that he has all 23 players available for selection.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia finished top of Group B with six points which consisted of 1-0 and 2-1 wins over Jordan and North Korea respectively. They suffered a 1-0 loss to Iraq on matchday two.
The Green Falcons scored a 95th minute to eliminate host nation China 1-0 in the Quater Final before prevailing 3-2 in a dramatic penalty shootout in the last four against Korea Republic following a 0-0 stalemate after 120 minutes.
The two sides were also in the same group during qualification, with the match ending goalless.
It certainly shapes up to be an intriguing contest for the showpiece event with contrasting playing styles set to be on display. Australia's attacking philosophy juxtaposed against a more pragmatic Saudi side, who has conceded just twice en route to the final.
How To Watch
After Australia U20 advanced to the decider, Network 10 announced on Thursday the Final will be broadcast LIVE, EXCLUSIVE and FREE on 10 Bold following Saturday night's A-League coverage.
The match will also continue to be made available on 10 Play, where all the preceding Subway Young Socceroos games have been shown.
Tune in from 10:15pm AEDT on 10 Bold or 10 Play.
Sign up to create a 10 Play account here.
What they said
Daniel Bennie
Mentality heading into the Final
I think we've just taken each game as it comes, and we've gotten better each game. I think that's shown in our results and our performances. So there's one game left and we just have to put everything into it and win the tournament.
Happy with achievement but job not finished
I think already we've done something really special, getting to a World Cup. But the job's not done. We want to win the tournament and the way we're going and the group we have, I think we're totally capable of doing that.
No drop off after qualifying for FIFA U-20 World Cup
I think it's quite easy once you've qualified for a World Cup, to relax a little bit and take the next two games a little lightly. But I think the boys knew we couldn't do that and the staff knew that as well. So I think we showed against Japan that we went out there to win and to get to the final, and we knew no one was going to stop us if we played our football and worked hard. So I think there's been no drop off. I think everyone knows what we have to do, and everyone knows we want to win the tournament really badly.
Positives to winning matches in different ways
You're going to have games like Iraq, where we probably weren't at our best and we had to find a way to win. Some of the goals we scored were outrageous, but that's what you've got to do in a tournament. I think even we've shown in the group stage games and also against Japan, that as a team we can create some really nice-looking goals as well. So I think that's going to help us big time in the final. I think a team like Saudi will want to keep the score at zero. I think that we've got so many ways of scoring to make it really difficult for them.
Trevor Morgan
Anticipating against Saudi Arabia
Obviously, our objective in that qualifier was to win the match. We tried to play in that way, if you see the chances that we missed from good positions, we certainly made it very clear we wanted to win that game. And then okay, the goals don't go in, and the game turned out how it did. Saudi won't change. They're not going to change their playing style. What we've seen from them over the last six months is what they will be. So we know what to expect. Certainly, our mindset is to try to win the match and that's the only objective for us, is just to keep trying to play our football as the moments go by, and keep creating situations we want to see and let the rest take care of itself.
Tough to play against
I think the fact that we've scored from set pieces, we've scored from counter-attacks, we've scored from build-ups, we've scored from crosses, and from individual goals. That's what we want to look like, because if you're analysing us, then you have some problems to deal with. You don't have 'oh they're a set piece team, they're a counter-attacking team.' So that's actually how we really want to tell the story. If you play against us, however you set up, we're going to find a way.
What win would mean for future of Australian football
I think they've already proven that they can play really good football under pressure, and they've proven that they're committed to their country. They play with heart and character as well as some quality. So all of those things can be an exclamation mark put at the end of it when you win a match like a final, because people do tend to look at those history books.
But the way the boys have been playing, if I look at my job, which is to try to prepare the team to win, then they've done a good job of that already. They've already proven that they're a really top team in Asia. For them to take the scalp of being the number one team in Asia and that achievement, we've got a group of competitive players here, so I can't hold them back from that. That's what they're going to be going for. It's an obvious goal, and in terms of if we can put something in the record books for Australia, I think that's a great thing.
But regardless of the outcome, if you look at the football, we didn't get here just by scrapping through and just getting results. We got here by going on the front foot. And I think if the football you play reflects the culture of your nation, then you've got something to be proud of anyway.
Match Details
Subway Young Socceroos v Saudi Arabia
Saturday, 1 March 2025
Bao’an Sports Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
Kick-off: 7.30pm Local / 10.30pm AEDT
Broadcast: Live on 10 Bold and 10 Play
Match Results
Subway Young Socceroos 5-1 Kyrgyz Republic
Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Bao’an Sports Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Qatar 1-3 Subway Young Socceroos
Saturday, 15 February 2025
Shenzhen Youth Football Training Base Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS
China PR 1-2 Subway Young Socceroos
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Bao’an Sports Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Subway Young Socceroos 3-2 Iraq
Saturday, 22 February 2025
Bao’an Sports Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Subway Young Socceroos 2-0 Japan
Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Bao’an Sports Centre Stadium, Shenzhen
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS