We said: USA Under-20s 2-0 New Zealand Under-20s
Demonstrating excellent defensive nous in the group stage, the USA will be firm favourites to get the job done over an unspectacular New Zealand side and may be licking their lips at the prospect of a few goals after watching Argentina's performance against the Junior All Whites.
The Yanks should not score at a similar rate to their South American counterparts, but we still expect Varas's side to encounter few roadblocks en route to the quarter-finals.
Read more.Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a USA Under-20s win with a probability of 80.1%. A draw had a probability of 13.2% and a win for New Zealand Under-20s had a probability of 6.71%.
The most likely scoreline for a USA Under-20s win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.83%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 3-0 (11.43%) and 1-0 (9.6%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (6.27%), while for a New Zealand Under-20s win it was 0-1 (2.35%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that USA Under-20s would win this match.