A late Luciano Rodriguez goal grabbed Uruguay a 1-0 victory over Italy in the final of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Argentina.

Rodriguez returned from suspension to dramatically help Uruguay win the cup for the first time.

The right-sided attacker, who missed two games after a red card against The Gambia, bundled home a scrappy goal to make it third time lucky for his country in the final.

Uruguay, roared on by their supporters, were deserved winners in La Plata.

Anderson Duarte had their best chance in the first half, but his firm, close-range header was acrobatically palmed over by goalkeeper Sebastiano Desplanches.

There was drama in the 81st minute when Matteo Prati went in high on Fabricio Diaz, and referee Glenn Nyberg showed him the red card.

After a VAR review, however, Nyberg changed it to a yellow card, maintaining numerical balance.

The Uruguayan players felt aggrieved, but they managed to put it to the back of their minds and find that elusive goal.

Alan Matturro did brilliantly to keep the ball in a congested box, and when it fell to Rodriguez, yards out, he fired it home in the 86th minute.

Randall Rodriguez became just the third goalkeeper to keep six clean sheets in the competition after Chiles Cristopher Toselli in 2007 and Mika of Portugal in 2011. (NAN)