PREVIEW: U.S. U-20 MYNT Squares Up with Panama for a Spot in the Concacaf U-20 Championship Final

U.S.Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team vs. Panama
2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship
August 2, 2024
Estadio León; León, Mexico
5:06 p.m. ET (Fox Soccer Plus, and ViX)

U-20 SETS EYES ON EARNING SPOT IN THE FINALS

With a FIFA U-20 World Cup spot secured, the U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team now focuses on the Concacaf U-20 Championship semifinals against Panama on Friday, August 2 (5:06 p.m. ET; Fox Soccer Plus and ViX).

The USA made its way into the semifinals following a tough 1-0 win over Guatemala in the quarterfinals. Forward Ruben Ramos Jr. notched the team’s lone goal in the 49th minute and goalkeeper Adam Beaudry maintained the clean sheet with a thrilling 90th-minute penalty save to secure the win.

Panama comes into the semifinals following a 2-1 extra time win against Canada. Los Canaleros initially took the lead following a 68th-minute penaltyl from Rafael Mosquera. Canada equalized with a 76th-minute goal from Santiago Lopez and the teams finished regular time tied. But just five minutes into extra time, Panama’s Aimar Modelo tallied the game-winner.

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 Bombino (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.)

USA VS. PANAMA

• The USA is 3W-2L-0D vs. Panama all-time at the Concacaf U-20 Championship. The nations last squared off in 2017, a 1-0 loss in group stage play.
• The U.S. won its first three meetings with Panama at the Concacaf U-20 Championship, but has lost its last two meetings.
• Panama is making its 13th appearance in the Concacaf U-20 Championship. The country’s previous best performance at the tournament is a runner up finish in 2015.
• Panama was the No. 4-ranked country in the region coming into the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship. The team finished second in Group C with a 2W-0L-1D record following wins against Guatemala and Haiti and a draw with Mexico. Because Los Caneleros were even on points, goal difference, and goals scored with Mexico, Panama’s final place was determined by disciplinary points.
• At the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship, Panama finished second in Group G with a 1W-1L-1D record and advanced to the knockout round. The team advanced out of the Round of 16 after defeating Cuba 1-0 but was eliminated in the quarterfinals following a 2-1 loss to Honduras.
• Nineteen of Panama’s 21 players are based domestically, with one player based in Spain and one player based in the United States. The U.S.-based player, Rafael Mosquera, plays for MLS NEXT Pro side New York Red Bulls II.

PATHWAY TO THE NATIONAL TEAM

Eight MLS players have combined for 19 of the USA’s 26 goal contributions during the tournament: Taha Harboune (1 goal/2 assists), Cruz Medina (1/0), Sergerio Oregel (0/1), Niko Tsakiris (2/0), Nimfasha Berchimas (1/1), Zavier Gozo (1/2), Ruben Ramos Jr. (2/1), and David Vazquez (2/2). As a team, the U.S. has 15 goals and 11 assists; MLS players have accounted for 10 goals and nine assists.

WELCOME TO THE TWO CLUB

Ruben Ramos Jr. became the fifth U.S. player to notch two goals during the tournament when he scored his game-winner against Guatemala. The other four players to have two goals apiece are Niko Tsakaris, David Vazquez, Pedro Soma, and Marcos Zambrano.

SEMIFINAL HISTORY

The USA is 2W-1L-2D all-time in the Concacaf U-20 Championship semifinals. In its two draws, the U.S. advanced to the finals in penalty kicks. In the USA’s last semifinal, the team beat Honduras 3-0 in 2022.

CLEAN SHEETS

The USA notched its ninth-straight clean sheet in Concacaf U-20 Championship play in its 1-0 win over Guatemala, extending its record for most consecutive clean sheets. The previous record of six was set across two tournaments in 2007 and 2009. Unlike this current streak of nine shutouts, the previous record included three scoreless draws. The U.S. currently has a clean sheet streak of 831 minutes, with the last goal conceded coming as an own goal in the 69th minute of the 2-2 draw with Canada on June 20, 2022.

PANAMA ROSTER (CLUB):

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Ian Flores (San Francisco), 12-Cecilio Burgess (UMECIT), 21-Sean Deane (Panama City)

DEFENDERS (8): 2-Jhoamir Hill (Águilas de la U), 3-Julio Rodríguez (Plaza Amador), 4-Érick Díaz (Tauro), 5-Ariel Arroyo (Árabe Unido), 13-Martín King (Atlético Levante), 14-Juan Carlos Hall (Herrera), 16-Aimar Modelo (Independiente), 20-Antony Herbert (Árabe Unido)

MIDFIELDERS (8): 6-Blas Pérez (Tauro), 7-Kairo Walters (Potros del Este), 8-Anel Ryce (Plaza Amador), 10-Giovany Herbert (Árabe Unido), 11-Virgilio Escala (San Francisco), 15-Joseph Jones (Plaza Amador), 17-Carlos Hernández (Independiente), 18-Allan Saldaña (Universitario)

FORWARDS (2): 9-Gustavo Herrera (Sporting San Miguelito), 19-Rafael Mosquera (New York Red Bulls II)

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.

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:

1. 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.
2. The group stage is now just three groups of four teams instead of four groups.
3. 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 quarterfinals 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.