This is a WWC year for both the U17 and U20 teams, so we probably need a new thread for that. (From my search, the last thread on the YNTs I saw was in 2021.) The U17 team is currently at the CONCACAF WWC qualification tournament. They won their first game 13-0 against Panama. Their next game is against Puerto Rico on Sunday, and they will finish the group stage against Canada on Feb. 6. The U17 roster at the CONCACAF U17 Championship: Goalkeepers (3): 12-Franky Dunlap (NC Courage Academy; Raleigh, N.C.), 1-Molly Vapensky (Chicago FC United; Evanston, Ill.), 21-Kennedy Zorn (SC del Sol; Peoria, Ariz.) Defenders (7): 4-Trinity Armstrong (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), 3-Lexi Coughlin (Legends FC; Corona, Calif.), 5-Kiara Gilmore (FC Dallas; Allen, Texas), 2-Jordyn Hardeman (Solar SC; Midlothian, Texas), 15-Daya King (Legends FC; Moreno Valley, Calif.), 13-Katie Scott (Internationals SC; Fairview, Penn.), 16-Jocelyn Travers (FC Bay Area Surf; Santa Cruz, Calif.) Midfielders (6): 7-Kimmi Ascanio (Florida United SC; Doral, Fla.), 11-Melanie Barcenas (San Diego Wave FC; San Diego, Calif.), 8-Riley Cross (PDA; Chatham, N.J.), 10-Kennedy Fuller (Solar SC; Southlake, Texas), 7-Ainsley McCammon (Solar SC; Bedford, Texas), 19-Y-Lan Nguyen (Virginia Development Academy; Fairfax, Va.) Forwards (5): 9-Carrie Helfrich (Virginia Union FC; McLean, Va.), 18-Rylee McLanahan (FC Dallas; Edmond, Okla.), 17-Alex Pfeiffer (Kansas City Current; St. Louis, Mo.), 14-Leena Powell (Tudela FC; Culver City, Calif.), 20-Mya Townes (TSJ FC Virginia; Aldie, Va.) The U20 team had a January camp with the following roster: Goalkeepers (3): Mackenzie Gress (Penn State; Lyndhurst, N.J.), Jordan Nytes (Colorado; Aurora, Colo.), Teagan Wy (California; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) Defenders (7): Elise Evans (Stanford; Redwood City, Calif.), Gracie Falla (South Carolina; Hattiesburg, Miss.), Nicki Fraser (Real Colorado National; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Heather Gilchrist (Florida State; Boulder, Colo.), Savannah King (North Carolina; West Hills, Calif.), Leah Klenke (Notre Dame; Houston, Texas), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; Studio City, Calif.) Midfielders (7): Sam Courtwright (Texas Tech; Dallas, Texas), Danielle Davis (Clemson; Port Washington, N.Y.), Shae Harvey (Stanford; Hermosa Beach, Calif.), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; Bethlehem, N.Y.), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; Roswell, Georgia), Ally Lemos (UCLA; Glendora, Calif.), Lauren Martinho (North Carolina Courage Academy; Cary, N.C.) Forwards (7): Madeline Dahlien (North Carolina; Edina, Minn.), Jordynn Dudley (Florida State; Milton, Ga.), Kat Rader (Duke; Stuart, Fla.), Giana Riley (Gonzaga; Manteca, Calif.), Ally Sentnor (North Carolina; Hanson, Mass.), Taylor Suarez (Charlotte Soccer Academy; Charlotte, N.C.), Pietra Tordin (Princeton; Doral, Fla.) The U20 team has already qualified for their WWC (placed 2nd at the CONCACAF tournament last summer). The U20 WWC is in early September. The U17 WWC will be in October.
The U17 team defeated Puerto Rico 3-1, with an almost completely different lineup (9 changes to the starting lineup from the Panama game) and with Puerto Rico bunkering. They'll play Canada on Tuesday. https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...-u-17-match-recap-stats-standings-goals-score
Canada easily won their first two group matches, 5-0 over Puerto Rico and 5-1 over Panama. If my math is correct, the US is +15 and Canada +9, allowing the US to remain in first place with a draw v Canada on Tuesday. Both teams have qualified for the semifinals. Mexico and Haiti have qualified from Group A, so the final group stage matches are about positioning, not advancement. So what’s the bad news? “The biennial Concacaf Women’s U-17 Championship usually qualifies three teams to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. This year, because the Dominican Republic, a fellow Concacaf participant, is the World Cup host, only two berths are for the taking this tournament, so the two teams that win the semifinals will qualify for the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. There will be no second chances usually afforded by the third-place match.” So we will cross over and play Mexico or Haiti in one of the semifinals, and only the two semifinal winners will go to the World Cup.
This U17 tournament is in Toluca, Mexico, outside Mexico DF at 8700 feet altitude so a real challenge for all teams except Mexico.
The two favorites took care of business to complete group play: Mexico 4-0 Haiti (yesterday) USA 5-0 Canada (today) So the semifinals are set: USA v Haiti Mexico v Canada Again, the semifinals are crucial, with just the winners advancing to the World Cup. {If we beat Haiti, I’m sure we’ll be motivated to win the Final, but a bit of squad rotation then wouldn’t surprise me.} First things first, let’s beat Haiti on Friday and qualify!
As much as it's fun to read that we've bombarded our CONCACAF foes both weak and strong, I'll wait for the World tournament (assuming we make it!) We haven't done well there for a while so let's see if this is really a special group. The recent Pan American Games where we sent a team of 17-18 year olds to play against full national teams was more impressive. We ended up running the field with the exception of losing a close game to host Chile in the semifinals who were fielding their senior team, including Olympic Lyon's starting keeper Christiane Endler. It was a rare opportunity to judge the quality of our players when they played up a level of opposition.
Kickoff is approaching, USA v Haiti in the first semifinal today at 1:00 PM (Eastern). Per US Soccer, FS2 will show the game. Then Mexico hosts Canada in the other semifinal at 4:00 PM.
Circling back to report, happily, a US victory. USA 7-1 Haiti. The game was scoreless for the first 23' and just 2-0 at halftime, but we poured it on in the second half (conceding a PK goal along the way). U17 World Cup here we come!
i am NOT impressed by this USA squad. They seem to make a LOT of bad choices and become very tentative on the ball at times. Hatti did not reall contend for the ball much and they should have had zero shots except the USA let them play a number of times. Also, before the game was won (the 4th goal did that) we were called offside at least 6 times and it felt like a lot more. That is something I see from the men a lot but, when the entire team is faster and more skilled that the opponent, there should not be a single offside unless it is just an accident and then it should be very very rare. Forwards getting caught offside without the opponent even playing a trap is a sign that the forwards are poorly trained or simply stupid. We scored a lot of goals but we should have had about double what we got. We also allowed a real bad team in Hatti to have some attacks. I do not see the USA winning this final unless Mexico is simply a LOT worse than I believe they are. We cannot beat a team that is playing at all well by being stupid and we seem to be winning the stupidity battle. We won the semi just because Hatti has no skill to speak of and we may win the final for the same reason. We are very skilled for U17 but we are not very smart for the same age group. We will have to see what happens Sunday. BTW: The Hatti goal was the direct result of CONCACAF refereeing. It was a horrible call as the GK had both hands on the ball when the contact happened. Also the Hatti GK kept getting praise but really she was horrible at everything but wasting time.
USA will play against Mexico in the Final on Sunday, Mexico defeating Canada 2-1 in extra time. Both teams have now secured advancement to the WC finals, but I expect they’ll find reserves of energy when they face each other.
A convincing first-place finish … “USA will head to the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup™ later this year as continental champions after a 4-0 victory over Mexico in Sunday’s Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship final. Both finalists have qualified for the U-17 Women's World Cup along with Dominican Republic, who will host the global finals from 16 October-3 November 2024. The Concacaf competition was hosted at the Mexican Football Federation's headquarters in Toluca, but the home side were forced to settle for silver after a clinical American display in the final. USA were 3-0 up by the half-hour mark, with Mya Townes’ smart finish, Kimmi Ascanio’s close-range effort and an Adrianna Gonzalez own goal putting them firmly in control. Alexandra Pfeiffer then tapped in just after the hour mark to seal an emphatic triumph.”
With the 2024 CONCACAF U15 Championship set for August 5-11 in Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, and Aruba, a 20-player training camp is currently being held in Europe. Promising start with a 4-0 win against Germany on goals by Deus Stanislaus (2), Caroline Swann, and Mak Whitham. Will face the Netherlands in a couple days before returning home. All are 2009s, except Whitham who's a 2010: Goalkeepers (2): Anne Fowler (Chicago FC United; Northfield, Ill.), Ella McNeal (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; Manchester, Mo.) Defenders (7): Meila Brewer (Kansas City Athletics; Overland Park, Kansas), Bristol Kersh (TopHat SC; Flowery Branch, Ga.), Chloe Miller (Mountain View Los Altos SC; Monte Sereno, Calif.), Taylor Morrell (VDA; Leesburg, Va.), Maryn Pratt (Utah Royals FC Arizona; Gilbert, Ariz.), Jorden Swain (San Diego Surf SC; Chula Vista, Calif.), Elena Vera (Davis Legacy SC; Fairfield, Calif.) Midfielders (5): Kendall Conway (Lamorinda SC; Sonoma, Calif.), Mia Corona (Legends FC; Cypress, Calif.), Deus Stanislaus (PDA; Fort Washington, Pa.), Caroline Swann (D'Feeters Kicks SC; Dallas, Texas), Daphne Van der Weide (Fairfax Brave SC; Vienna, Va.) Forwards (6): Giselle Aguilar (Solar SC; Cleburne, Texas), Maddie DiMaria (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; Fenton, Mo.), Felicity Nguyen (San Diego Surf SC; Temescal Valley, Calif.), KK Ream (Utah Avalanche; Herriman, Utah), Carolina Reyna (Sting Austin; Austin, Texas), Mak Whitham (Slammers FC HB Koge; Granite Bay, Calif.)
As @msilverstein47 reported, the 2024 U20 WC Colombia draw has taken place: The USA drawn into Group C, with Spain, Paraguay and Morocco. Tournament to be held in Colombia from 31 August to 22 September Group A: Colombia, Australia, Cameroon, Mexico Group B: France, Canada, Brazil, Fiji Group C: Spain, USA, Paraguay, Morocco Group D: Germany, Venezuela, Nigeria, Korea Republic Group E: Japan, New Zealand, Ghana, Austria Group F: Korea DPR, Argentina, Costa Rica, Netherlands