U17 World Cup: Italy fall to semi-final heartbreak against Austria

The Italy U17s are out of the World Cup after a heartbreaking 2-0 semi-final defeat against Austria on Monday evening after a second-half brace from the tournament’s leading goalscorer, Johannes Moser. 

The Azzurrini had won six matches in a row to reach the semi-final of the newly-reformatted 48-team U17 World Cup. They beat hosts Qatar 1-0, Bolivia 4-0 and South Africa 3-1 in the group stages, before winning 2-0 against Czechia, 3-2 against Uzbekistan and 1-0 against Burkina Faso in the knock-out rounds. 

This was Italy’s first appearance in the final four of the U17 World Cup in 38 years. 

As has been the case for most of the U17 World Cup, it was a rotated Italy side that came out against Austria. There were two changes at the back and another two in attack. 

Italy started brightly with four shots within the first 12 minutes, but clear-cut opportunities were lacking for either side before the half-time interval. 

Moser, who has eight goals to his name at the U17 World Cup, stuck home the opener after a quick, direct ball through, applying a curling finish with his left boot from the right-hand side of the area. 

The teenager doubled his tally for the evening with a free-kick from the edge of the area in the third minute of injury time, which leaves Austria 90 minutes away from World Cup glory. Benit Bosario was shown a red card for the foul that resulted in the free-kick.

The Azzurrini will have to settle for a third-place play-off, which will be against the loser of the Portugal vs. Brazil semi-final. 

Austria (4-2-3-1): Posch; Hofmann, Pokorny, Savic, Feldinger; Markovic, Weinhandl; Moser, Werner, Deshishku; Jozepovic.

Italy (4-2-3-1): Longoni; Iddrisa, De Paoli, Reggiani, Mambuku; Steffanoni, Prisco; Elimoghale, Luongo, Inacio; Campaniello