PREVIEW: U-20 MYNT Ready to Kickoff Concacaf U-20 Championship

U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team
2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship
Estadio Miguel Alemán Valdés; Celaya, Mexico
July 19 – Aug. 4, 2024

U-20 MYNT KICKS OFF CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP: The U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team starts its journey at the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship on Friday, July 19 vs. Jamaica (10:06 p.m. ET). The match is USA’s first step towards qualification for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.

The U-20 MYNT continues Group A play on Monday, July 22 when it faces Cuba (10:06 p.m. ET) and finishes the group stage on Thursday, July 25 against Costa Rica (10:06 p.m. ET).

All three of the USA’s group stage matches will be broadcast on Fox Sports channels in English. The first two matches will air on FS2 and the final group stage match will air on FS1. All three of the USA’s group stage matches will be broadcast in Spanish on ViX.

2024 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP
GROUP A - SCHEDULE

TOURNAMENT FORMAT:

The biennial Concacaf U-20 Championship will qualify four teams to the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile and crown a confederation champion for North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

This year’s tournament will be the first using the new format approved by Concacaf’s Council in February 2023 for future U-17 and U-20 tournaments. Three major changes were made:

• The number of automatically qualified teams for the final tournament was reduced from 16 to six. Teams ranked 7-41 in the CONCACAF Men’s Under-20 Rankings had to participate in a qualifying stage.
• The group stage is now just three groups of four teams instead of four groups.
• The round of 16 was eliminated.

Twelve teams from across the Concacaf region will compete at the tournament. The top six ranked U-20 Concacaf teams automatically qualified:

1. USA
2. Honduras
3. Mexico
4. Panama
5. Costa Rica
6. Dominican Republic.

The six remaining teams (Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, Haiti, and Jamaica) qualified for the main tournament through the qualifying round which took place from February 23 to March 2 in five different host countries.

The group stage is made up of three groups of four teams playing a round-robin format. Eight teams, the top two teams in each group and the two best third-place teams, advance to the quarterfinals to begin the knockout stage. The teams then play a single-elimination format to crown the champion.

The four quarterfinal winners will qualify for the 2025 U-20 FIFA World Cup in Chile.

All 25 tournament matches will take place at two venues in Celaya and Irapuato in Mexico.

The U.S. has participated in 25 of 28 Concacaf U-20 Championships, including each tournament since 1974, and qualified for the World Cup in 16 of 23 attempts. After missing the 2011 tournament, the U.S. has played in the last four U-20 World Cups and is the only nation to reach the quarterfinals in the last three competitions/meetings.

2024 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER BY POSITION (COLLEGE OR CLUB; HOMETOWN)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Adam Beaudry (Colorado Rapids; Castle Pines, Colo.), Julian Eyestone (Brentford FC/ENG; Dallas, Texas), Duran Ferree (Orange County SC; San Diego, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6): Luca Bambino (Los Angeles FC; Saugus, Calif.), Noah Cobb (Atlanta United FC; Chattanooga, Tenn.), Aiden Harangi (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Reston, Va.), Stuart Hawkins (Seattle Sounders FC; Fox Island, Wash.), Ethan Kohler (Werder Bremen/GER; Campbell, Calif.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew; Columbus, Ohio), Cruz Medina (San Jose Earthquakes; San Francisco, Calif.), Sergio Oregel Jr. (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, Ill.), Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo FC; Chicago, Ill.), Pedro Soma (UE Cornella/ESP; Coconut Creek, Fla.), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes; Saratoga, Calif.)

FORWARDS (6): NimfashaBerchimas (Charlotte FC; High Point, N.C.), Keyrol Figueroa (Liverpool/ENG; Warrington, England), Zavier Gozo (Real Salt Lake; Eagle Mountain, Utah), Ruben Ramos Jr. (LA Galaxy; La Puente, Calif.), David Vazquez (Philadelphia Union; Los Angeles, Calif.), Marcos Zambrano (Vitoria Guimaraes/POR; Parkland, Fla.)

ROSTER NOTES

• The 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship is open to players born on or after Jan. 1, 2005. Nsien selected seven players born in 2005, 11 players born in 2006, two born in 2007 and one born in 2008.
• The roster features players from 20 clubs, including 14 from Major League Soccer.
• Six players are based abroad in England (two players), Germany (two), Portugal, and Spain.
• Eleven states are represented on the roster, with seven players coming from California, two players each coming from Florida, Illinois and Texas, and the rest of the roster hailing from Colorado, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
• Midfielder Niko Tsakiris helped the U.S. qualify for the last FIFA U-20 World Cup at the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship, netting three goals, and also represented the USA at the World Cup in Argentina.
• Nine players were a part of the USA’s strong showing at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup last fall in Indonesia: goalkeeper Adam Beaudry, defenders Aiden Harangi and Stuart Hawkins, midfielders Taha Habroune, Cruz Medina, and Pedro Soma plus forwards Nimfasha Berchimas, Keyrol Figueroa and David Vazquez.
• Three players helped the U.S. take fourth at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile, its best finish since 1999: defender Nolan Norris plus midfielders Sergio Oregel Jr. and Brooklyn Raines.
• Forward Ruben Ramos Jr. and goalkeeper Duran Ferree are receiving their first U-20 MYNT call-up for World Cup qualifying.
• Every other player has appeared in at least one training camp since the cycle kicked off in March 2024 in Morocco.

EYES ON THE FOUR-PEAT:

The USA enters the Concacaf U-20 Championship as defending champion after taking home the last three titles at this age level in 2017, 2018, and 2022.

In Costa Rica in 2017, the U.S. won its first U-20 Concacaf title in dramatic fashion. After edging Mexico and El Salvador in the classification stage, the U.S. topped Honduras in penalties, 5-3, in the tournament final. Current USMNT midfielder Luca de la Torre netted one of the penalties, while defender Erik Palmer-Brown won the Golden Ball as the tourney’s best player. Midfielders Tyler Adams and Eryk Williamson also represented the U.S.

In 2018, the USA ran the gauntlet in a 34-team qualifying tournament, Concacaf’s largest ever. Scoring 46 goals in seven games, USMNT defenders Sergiño Dest, Mark McKenzie and Chris Richards all played for the U.S. in Florida, with Dest and McKenzie being named to the tournament’s Best XI. The USA took home its second Concacaf title by defeating Mexico 2-0 in the final on a brace from Golden Ball winner Alex Mendez.

In 2022, the USA had a dominating run through its seven matches, outscoring opponents 31-2 and not allowing a goal in the knockout stages (four matches) enroute to a third-straight title. Paxten Aaronson won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and the Golden Ball as the tournament’s top player. Chris Brady won the Golden Glove as the tournament’s best goalkeeper. Current U-20 player Niko Tsakiris notched a goal and assist in the U.S.’s 6-0 win over the Dominican Republic in the final.

SPRINGBOARD TO SENIOR USMNT:

A number of players in the current senior USMNT player pool have played in the last seven editions of this tournament, including Paxten Aaronson, Kellyn Acosta, Tyler Adams, Paul Arriola, Cade Cowell, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Luca de la Torre, Sergiño Dest, Ethan Horvath, Sean Johnson, Sebastian Lletget Diego Luna, Mark McKenzie, Jack McGlynn,Shaq Moore, Erik Palmer-Brown, Chris Richards, Zack Steffen, Caleb Wiley and Eryk Williamson.

A number of players who have scored for the USA in this tournament have also gone on to appear for the full USMNT at the World Cup. Chris Albright, Desmond Armstrong, Marcelo Balboa, DaMarcus Beasley, Gregg Berhalter, Bobby Convey, Neil Covone, Brad Davis, Landon Donovan, Eddie Johnson, Ben Olsen, Hugo Perez and Tab Ramos have all tallied goals in this competition and represented the U.S. at the highest international stage.

ROAD TO MEXICO:

Head coach Michael Nsien had two training camps to prepare for World Cup qualifying. The team traveled to Morocco in late March and then traveled to South America for matches in Argentina and Uruguay.

In Morocco, the team beat England 3-2, followed by a tough 1-0 lost to host Morocco. In South America, USA swept its two matches, blanking Argentina and Uruguay in a pair of 1-0 wins.

USA VS. JAMAICA:

Friday marks the eighth meeting all-time between USA and Jamaica at the Concacaf U-20 Championship. In their last meeting, USA beat the Reggae Boyz 2-0 during group play in Jamaica. Romain Gall scored both goals for USA. In seven previous meetings in the Concacaf U-20 Championship, USA has never lost, going 5-0-2 and winning the last five matchups.

Thirteen of Jamaica’s 21-player roster are based domestically and Defender Romain Blake and forward Nyle Waugh currently play in Major League Soccer.

TOURNAMENT NOTES:

• Each team will be allowed to make a maximum of five substitutions in a maximum of three opportunities throughout the match, not including halftime, before the start of extra time, or halftime of extra time.
• If both teams make a substitution at the same stoppage, both teams will be charged an opportunity.
• Beyond the five normal subs, each team will be permitted to make up to two additional concussion substitutes when there is a possible or suspected concussion.
  • Concussion subs are permitted at any time during the game and can be made regardless of normal subs or opportunities that remain.
• If teams are tied on points at the conclusion of the group stage, the following tiebreakers will be used:
  • Goal difference in all group matches
  • Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches
• If teams are still tied, the following tiebreakers will be used:
  • Greater number of points in matches between the tied teams
  • Greater goal difference in matches between the tied teams (if more than two teams finish equal on points)
  • Greater number of goals scored in matches among the tied teams (if more than two teams finish equal on points)
  • Lower number of points based on yellow and red cards in all group matches (First yellow - 1 point, second yellow/indirect red - 3 points, direct red - 4 points, yellow and direct red - 5 points)
  • Drawing of lots
• Two yellows received in different games during the competition will result in automatic suspension for the next game. Single yellow cards will be eliminated at the end of the group stage.
• In the knockout stage, if teams are tied at the end of regulation, extra time will be played with two periods of 15 minutes.
  • In extra time, teams have the option to make one additional substitution.
• If the score is tied at the end of extra time, the match will go straight to kicks from the penalty mark.
• The U.S. will play all three of its group stage matches at Estadio Miguel Alemán Valdés in Celaya, Mexico.
• This will be the third time the U-20 Concacaf Championship will be played in Mexico. The last time Mexico hosted was in 2013.