U.S.Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team vs. Mexico
2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship Final
August 4, 2024
Estadio León; León, Mexico
5:06 p.m. ET (FS1 and ViX)
For the fourth consecutive tournament, and the eighth time overall, the U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team will play in a Concacaf U-20 Championship Final when it faces regional rival Mexico on Sunday, August 4, at Estadio León (5:06 p.m. ET; FS1 and VIX).
The U.S. set up the chance for its fourth-consecutive Concacaf U-20 title following a thrilling 2-1 semifinal win over Panama on Friday. A 40th-minute goal from David Vazquez and a stunning 30-yard game-winner from Brooklyn Raines in the 86th minute powered the team into the final.
Mexico got off to a hot start in its semifinal match against Cuba, getting goals from Mateo Levy and Diego Ochoa just seven minutes in and coasted to a 2-0 win.
This will mark the fourth time in the tournament’s history that the two regional giants will square off in a championship final. The USA is 1W-2L-0D in those matches.
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. MEXICO
- The USA is 3W-8L-0D vs. Mexico all-time at the Concacaf U-20 Championship. The nations last squared off in 2018, a 2-0 win in the final.
- The U.S. has won its last two meetings with Mexico at the Concacaf U-20 Championship.
- The USA and Mexico have combined to win each of the last six Concacaf U-20 Championship tournaments.
- Mexico is making its 28th appearance in the Concacaf U-20 Championship, the most among participating countries. The country is a 13-time winner of this tournament (1962, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1990, 1992, 2011, 2013, 2015).
- Mexico was the No. 3-ranked country in the region coming into the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship. The team finished first in Group C with a 2W-0L-1D record following wins against Guatemala and Haiti and a draw with Panama. Because El Tri were even on points, goal difference, and goals scored with Panama, Mexico’s final place was determined by disciplinary points.
- At the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship, Mexico finished first in Group F with a 2W-0L-1D record and advanced to the knockout round. The team advanced out of the Round of 16 after defeating Puerto Rico 6-0, but was upset in the quarterfinals when it drew with Guatemala 1-1 and fell in penalties 2-1.
- Nineteen of Mexico’s 21 players are based domestically, with one player based in Uruguay and one player based in the United States. The U.S.-based player, goalkeeper Emmanuel Ochoa, plays for MLS side San Jose Earthquakes.
PATHWAY TO THE NATIONAL TEAM
Nine MLS players have combined for 22 of the USA’s 29 goal contributions during the tournament: Taha Harboune (1 goal/2 assists), Cruz Medina (1/0), Sergerio Oregel (0/1), Niko Tsakiris (2/1), Nimfasha Berchimas (1/1), Zavier Gozo (1/2), Ruben Ramos Jr. (2/1), Brooklyn Raines (1/0) and David Vazquez (3/2). As a team, the U.S. has 17 goals and 12 assists; MLS players have accounted for 12 goals and 10 assists.
GOLDEN BOOT CHASE
David Vazquez notched his team-leading third goal of the tournament in the 40th minute of the USA’s 2-1 win over Panama. He is now in a six-way tie for the tournament golden boot. The other five players have been knocked out of the tournament, giving Vazquez a chance to separate himself from the pack and finish with the most goals of the tournament. Mexico’s Amaury Morales leads his team with two tournament goals.
FINALS HISTORY
The USA is 2W-4L-1D all-time in a Concacaf U-20 Championship final. In its last three appearances, the U.S. has won two finals in regulation and one via penalty kicks. This will also be the fourth time the USA has faced Mexico in a championship final. The first came on Aug. 17, 1980, a 2-0 loss in Washington D.C. The two regional rivals met again on Mar. 3, 2013, with Mexico winning 3-1 in Puebla, Mexico. The U.S. finally got the better of Mexico on Nov. 21, 2018, beating El Tri 2-0.
TOUGH ROAD ENVIRONMENT
This will be the third time the USA faces Mexico in Mexico during the Concacaf U-20 Championship. The U.S. lost its last two meetings in 1996 and 2013.
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END
The USA’s clean sheet streak in the Concacaf U-20 Championship ended at 903 minutes with Panama’s Rafael Mosquera’s 72nd-minute penalty kick. The streak spanned ten matches across two tournament (2022 and 2024).
HOW WE GOT HERE
The U.S. opened its 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship with a 9-0 drubbing of Jamaica in its group-stage opener. The team followed that up with a 4-0 win over Cuba to set up a group-stage finale for first place. The USA sealed first place in Group A with a tough 1-0 win over Costa Rica. Then the USA clinched a spot in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile with a 1-0 win over Guatemala in the quarterfinals. The U.S. followed up with a 2-1 win over Panama in the semifinals.
MEXICO ROSTER (CLUB):
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Emmanual Ochoa (San José Earthquakes), 12-Pablo Lara (UNAM), 21-Javier Orantes (Necaxa)
DEFENDERS (6): 2-Francisco Méndez (Guadalajara), 3-José Pachuca (Puebla), 4-Diego Ochoa (Guadalajara), 5- César Bustos (Monterrey), 15-Ricardo Juárez (Juaréz), 18-Efraín Contreras
MIDFIELDERS (8): 6-César Garza (Monterrey), 8-Elías Montiel (Pachuca), 10-Yael Padilla (Guadalajara), 11-Heriberto Jurado (Necaxa), 14-Amaury Morales (Cruz Azul), 16-Brandon Tellez (Tapatío), 17-Diego Sánchez (UANL), 20-Xavier Biscayzacú (Defensor Sporting)
FORWARDS (2): 7-Alexéi Domínguez (Pachuca), 9-Stephano Carrillo (Santos Laguna),13-Jonathan Villal (Atlético San Luis), 19-Mateo Levy (Cruz Azul)
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:
- 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:
- USA
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Panama
- Costa Rica
- 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.