Uruguay clinch maiden Under-20 World Cup title

Luciano Rodriguez scored in the 86th minute as Uruguay beat Italy 1-0 in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup final in La Plata, Argentina on Sunday.

The Celeste's maiden Under-20 World Cup crown ended a streak of four consecutive titles for European teams.

Uruguay lost the final of the tournament in 1997 and 2013. Brazil was the last winner from South America in 2011.

More than 40,000 people, mostly cheering for Uruguay, attended the match at the Diego Maradona Stadium. FIFA President Gianni Infantino was also present.

"This is crazy, crazy, crazy and we deserve it," a tearful Rodríguez said after the match. "We are living a dream."

Italy's Cesare Casadei, the top tournament's top scorer with seven goals, had a disappointing performance in the final.

Italy coach Carmine Nunziata recognised Uruguay played better, but said the pitch condition affected his players.

"The pitch has penalised any player who has more skills," Nunziata said. "We had an incredible run. This match doesn't cancel what we have done, playing all these matches is not easy. They were better than us today."

Neither Uruguay nor Italy were among the favorites when the U20 World Cup kicked off on May 20, but unlike Brazil, Argentina and England they faced less resistance from clubs about releasing players for the tournament.

The title for the Celeste came in the wake of Argentina's World Cup title in December, which also ended a sequence of wins of European teams.

Earlier, debutant Israel beat South Korea 3-1 to secure third place in the same stadium in La Plata.