U-20 World Cup 2017 Results: Italy, England Progress to Semi-Finals with 10 Men

Ten-man Italy twice came from behind to beat Zambia 3-2 in extra time as they booked their place in the semi-final of the 2017 FIFA Under-20 World Cup on Monday in Suwon, South Korea.

They will play England in the next round after they beat Mexico 1-0 on Monday, despite also having a man sent off.

Uruguay and Venezuela round out the final four after beating Portugal and the United States, respectively, on Sunday.

Monday Recap

Zambia took the lead after just four minutes when Patson Daka latched on to Emmanuel Banda's slide-rule pass and coolly finished past Andrea Zaccagno.

Things got worse for Italy before half-time when Giuseppe Pezzella was sent off, via the video assistant referee, for a push on Edward Chilufya, despite contact between the pair appearing to be minimal at best.

The Azzurrini pulled level five minutes after the restart, though, when Riccardo Orsolini met Giuseppe Panico's cross with a superb back-post header.

Orsolini's goal was his fourth of the tournament, as was Fashion Sakala's when he looked to have sealed the win for Zambia with his 84th-minute strike.

Federico Dimarco hit back four minutes later with a sensational free-kick, however, per Squawka's Jake Entwistle:

Luca Vido's close-range header from Dimarco's corner proved decisive in extra time as the Italians booked their place in the final four.

Football writer James Horncastle believes this current crop of youngsters could have a bright future ahead, without getting carried away:

Meanwhile, England made a bright start against Mexico with Everton's Ademola Lookman standing out as a threat in particular, though it took some time for either side to have a real chance of note.

It came for the Young Lions as Dominic Solanke slipped in Adam Armstrong, and the Newcastle United striker held off Edson Alvarez before forcing a save from Abraham Romero. At the other end, Paolo Yrizar's shot from distance was well kept out by Freddie Woodman.

Solanke broke the deadlock two minutes into the second half when he escaped the attentions of El Tri's defence on the edge of the area before advancing and firing past Romero.

England almost doubled their lead three minutes later when Joaquin Esquivel had to clear Kieran Dowell's effort off the line, before Josh Onomah rattled the post with a curling long-range strike.

ESPN FC's Tom Marshall noted their improvement:

The Young Lions were put under plenty of pressure in the latter stages of the contest after Onomah picked up an extremely harsh yellow card. The midfielder, who had the ball, accidentally stood on the heel of Juan Aguayo while dribbling and received his marching orders as a result.

Mexico were rejuvenated after being handed the one-man advantage, and both Manuel Mayorga and Ronaldo Cisneros sent chances begging in a tense finish, while at the other end Dominic Calvert-Lewin had two efforts saved as England caught El Tri on the break.

England will take on Italy in Thursday's semi-final having now gone unbeaten in 11 matches, of which they've won nine.