U-20 World Cup Final 2015: Brazil vs. Serbia Date and Live Stream Schedule
Brazil and Serbia will meet in the final of the 2015 Under-20 World Cup on Saturday after mowing their way through some of the finest youth teams on display in this year's tournament.
It's the third time in four tournaments that Brazil have managed to make the curtain-call clash after losing to Ghana on penalties in 2009, before then emerging as champions over Portugal two years later.
On the other hand, Serbia have broken new ground after making their maiden appearance in the Under-20 World Cup as an independent nation, getting to the last fixture at the first attempt.
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Read on for a look at how each team came to take their place in the Auckland final, along with full details on Saturday's meeting, complete with streaming information.
Date: Saturday, June 20
Time: 6 a.m. BST/1 a.m. ET
Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
Live Stream: Eurosport Player (UK), beIN Sports Connect (US)
Brazil
| W | 4-2 vs. Nigeria |
| W | 2-1 vs. Hungary |
| W | 3-0 vs. North Korea |
| D | 0-0 vs. Uruguay (Win 5-4 on Pens) |
| D | 0-0 vs. Portugal (Win 3-1 on Pens) |
| W | 5-0 vs. Senegal |
The Selecao Sub-20 have been rampant en route to a record ninth appearance in the Under-20 World Cup final and remain the only team not to have lost a fixture in this year's contest.
Manager Rogerio Micale has been blessed with a remarkable talent pool, admittedly, but the coach also has this team promoting the kind of entertaining, fluent football Brazil has become so renowned for.
A spotless record of three games from three in the group stage has been followed by less confident displays, however, as Micale's side needed penalty shootouts to beat Uruguay and Portugal in the round of 16 and quarters, respectively.
The 5-0 thrashing of Senegal in the semi-finals showed the South Americans once again at their smoothest, but Sky Sports' South American correspondent Paulo Freitas acknowledged the team's good fortune, too:
Brazil Stats also illustrated what a unified, team-centric outfit Brazil are at present as well, with no one player among them having netted more than two goals:
"Brazil top 2 scorers in world cup sub 20 are Judivan and Boschilia with just 2 goals. Shows how much collective this team is. Non dependent.
— Seleção Brasileira (@BrazilStats) June 17, 2015"
That being said, it may be that an individual hero is needed to see them past the threat of Serbia who, like Brazil, have conceded only three goals on their way to the Auckland crescendo.
Serbia
| L | 1-0 vs. Uruguay |
| W | 2-0 vs. Mali |
| W | 2-0 vs. Mexico |
| W | 2-1 vs. Hungary (AET) |
| D | 0-0 vs. United States (Win 6-5 on Pens) |
| W | 2-1 vs. Mali (AET) |
It might have required the closest of extra-time victories, but Serbia booked their place in the 2015 Under-20 World Cup final on Wednesday in their first tournament appearance, an astonishing achievement for the European youngsters.
After scoring just four goals in the group stage and qualifying as the least prolific of any team to top a pool, not many may have predicted Veljko Paunovic's men would be capable of going so far.
However, seeing off Mali in their semi-final was no small triumph considering the African powerhouse overcame the likes of Germany and Ghana earlier in the tournament, neither of whom are slight opposition.
Greg Beacham of the Associated Press made sure to take note of the Serbians' physical presence during their penalty-shootout victory over the United States in the quarter-finals:
In many ways, Serbia's clash with Brazil will be a meeting of vast contrasts; while the Selecao Sub-20 have been fluid and free-scoring at times, Serbia have had to rely on stubborn, direct play to grind out results.
The newcomers will be hoping to spoil Brazil's parade just as Ghana did six years ago, but David will require one more victory over Goliath in order to do so.
