New Zealand will play Colombia in the round of 16 at the FIFA U20 World Cup in Poland, after losing to Uruguay 2-0 in their final group C match on Friday (NZT).
Both sides entered their final group encounter at Lødz Stadium already assured of playoff berths and sought to rest players.
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New Zealand coach Des Buckingham made nine changes to his team that beat Norway on Tuesday, with centre backs Nando Pijnaker and George Stanger the only starters to back up from the first two games.
Meanwhile, Uruguay made eight changes from their team that beat Honduras.
The South Americans looked more threatening in the first half and their pressure was rewarded five minutes before the break, when Darwin Nunez's shot beat Kiwi goalkeeper Cameron Brown to ensure the Uruguay led 1-0 at halftime.
Buckingham started to bring on New Zealand's big guns, with captain Joe Bell coming onto the field in the first half, while Gianni Stensness and Sapreet Signh came off the bench in the second half.
But New Zealand couldn't find an equaliser and Uruguay then sealed the deal in injury-time through Brian Rodriguez to secure top spot in their group, while the Kiwis finish second on six points with two wins and a loss.
"It was disappointing not to get the win, but the boys have done extremely well and I'm very proud of them," Bell said.
"We're the first New Zealand team to win two games at this World Cup and I think we put a great shift in today. It was unlucky, but that's football sometimes.
"We have to move on now and obviously the next game is extremely important for us, so we're going to be fully focused on that. We'll prepare, and make sure we recover well and can go into that fully fit."
New Zealand will now face Columbia at 6:30am Monday (NZT), while Uruguay will play their round-of-16 match against a third-placed team from group A, B or F.
Columbia also finished second in their group, with two wins and one loss on their record. They beat Poland 2-0 and Tahiti 6-0, while falling to Senegal 2-0.
New Zealand have never made it past the round of 16 at the U20 World Cup, while Columbia's best finish at the tourament was in 2003, where they finished third.
Meanwhile, Norway striker Erling Braut Håland created U20 World Cup history, as he scored nine goals in his countary's 12-0 win over Honduras.
The win also marked the largest margin of victory in a U20 match.
Newshub.
