Belgium
Belgium, who have now entered into uncharted territory at this level, and Mexico, who have previously been down this road several times, defeated Costa Rica and Ecuador respectively to advance to the semi-finals of the FIFA U-17 World Chile 2015 on Monday.
El Tri, two-time champions and finalists as recently as two years ago, secured their place in the last four courtesy of a closely contested 2-0 victory over Ecuador in Coquimbo. In the end, the major difference between the two teams was finishing ability, with the Mexicans striking at two opportune moments, despite being dominated for significant portions of the match.
The Belgians, meanwhile, reached the semi-finals in just their second appearance at the tournament. Intriguingly, they are the only one of the final quartet not to have won their group, having qualified for the knockout stage as one of the best third-placed teams.
Les Diables Rouges were also made to work hard for their win in Concepcion, Costa Rica putting up stiff resistance to the very end, in what was the Central Americans’ fourth appearance in the U-17 World Cup quarter-finals.
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