FISU launched its University World Cup Team Challenge on May 14 on social media, bringing together the top eight teams that had participated in the inaugural real edition in Jinjiang in China last November.

The "replay" tournament exchanges football matches for football juggling compilation videos, with fans able to vote for their favourite sequence.

Those taking part shot their videos separately from their individual homes.

The closest match came when the International University of Language and Media (IULM) in Italy edged out the University of Malaga in Spain with a 51 per cent to 49 per cent victory.

They will now take on Germany's Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, who displayed exceptional skill to make it through to the next round.

This is in contrast with IULM, who opted for humour in their video.

Tim Lorenz, of Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, said: "Putting this video together was a welcome change and a great opportunity to have a little chat amongst ourselves.

"Everybody was missing those talks in the dressing room and the time together on the pitch.

"Now we hope that we have enough support and can reach the final."

In the other semi-final, the University Republic of Uruguay will play the Autonomous University of Mexico State with the Mexicans looking to go past the same stage they were knocked out in last year.

Uruguay captain and tournament MVP Santiago Pallares has said the challenge has helped him and his opponents come together during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pallares said: "We had a great time getting this video together.

"Some of the guys are a little bit rusty due to the quarantine and that made it funny to watch their clips.

"We are a big group of friends and we chat on WhatsApp almost every day, this gives us the chance to change our daily topic of conversation."

Voting for the semi-finals will take place on Instagram today and on May 28 respectively, with a champion being crowned on May 31.