Five things you need to know about the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship

The United States U-20 Men's Youth National Team is set to return to official international competition this weekend at the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship. Only four teams will qualify for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.

As the US aims for a fourth straight Concacaf title, here are five things to know about CU20:

A NEW FORMAT FOR 2024

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

This year’s tournament is the first to use the new format approved by the Concacaf Council in February 2023 for future U-17 and U-20 tournaments. Three key changes have been introduced:

• The number of automatically qualified teams for the final tournament was reduced from 16 to six. Teams ranked 7-41 in the CONCACAF Mens Under-20 Rankings were required to participate in a qualifying phase.
• The group stage now consists of only three groups of four teams instead of four groups.
• The round of 16 have been eliminated.

Twelve teams from the Concacaf region will participate in the tournament. The six highest-ranked U-20 Concacaf teams qualified automatically:

1. US
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 that took place from February 23 to March 2 in five different host countries.

The group stage consists of three groups of four teams playing a round-robin format. Eight teams, the top two teams in each group and the top two 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 winners of the quarter-finals will qualify for the 2025 U-20 World Cup in Chile.

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

US SCHEDULE

The U-20 MYNT will begin World Cup qualifying on Friday, July 19 against Jamaica, play Cuba on Monday, July 22 and conclude Group A play against Costa Rica on Thursday, July 25.

Fans can follow all the action from Mexico on ussoccer.com as well as US Soccer Facebook, XAnd Instagram.

All matches will be broadcast in the US in English on the FOX Sports networks and in Spanish on the TelevisaUnivision networks.

ABOUT THE U-20 MYNT

Head coach Michael Nsien has called up a sharp 21-man squad to try to win a fourth consecutive Concacaf title. The squad includes players from 20 clubs, including 14 from Major League Soccer. Six players are based abroad, namely in England (two players), Germany (two), Portugal and Spain.

Midfielder Niko Tsakiris helped the U.S. qualify for the last FIFA U-20 World Cup at the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship with three goals and also represented the U.S. at the World Cup in Argentina. Nine players were part of the U.S.'s strong performance at the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Indonesia last fall: 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. to a fourth place finish at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile, its best finish since 1999: defender Nolan Norris and midfielders Sergio Oregel Jr. and Brooklyn Raines.

Sixteen of the 20 players have played in both MLS NEXT and MLS NEXT Pro during their careers. These 16 have appeared in over 400 MLS NEXT Pro games, with half of them (eight) progressing to MLS. Forwards Ruben Ramos Jr. (LA Galaxy) and Berchimas (Charlotte FC) faced off in the 2024 U17 MLS NEXT Cup Final on June 23, which the Galaxy won 4–1 thanks to a hat trick from Ramos Jr. He was also named the MLS NEXT Cup Top Scorer with a tournament-high eight goals.

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

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

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

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

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

EYES ON THE FOUR-PEAT

The United States enters the Concacaf U-20 Championship as the reigning champion, having won the last three titles in this age category in 2017, 2018 and 2022.

In Costa Rica in 2017, the U.S. won its first U-20 Concacaf title in dramatic fashion. After beating Mexico and El Salvador in the classification phase, the U.S. defeated Honduras 5-3 on penalties in the tournament final. Current U.S. national team midfielder Luca de la Torre scored one of the penalties, while defender Erik Palmer-Brown won the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player. Midfielders Tyler Adams and Eryk Williamson also represented the U.S.

In 2018, the U.S. ran the gauntlet in a 34-team qualifying tournament, the largest ever for Concacaf. USMNT defenders Sergio Dest, Mark McKenzie and Chris Richards scored 46 goals in seven games, all playing for the U.S. in Florida, with Dest and McKenzie named in the tournament’s best XI. The U.S. won its second Concacaf title by beating Mexico 2-0 in the final, with a brace from Golden Ball winner Alex Mendez.

In 2022, the U.S. dominated in seven games, outscoring opponents 31-2 and not conceding a single goal in the four-game knockout stage en route to a third consecutive title. Paxten Aaronson won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player. Chris Brady won the Golden Glove as the tournament’s best goalkeeper. Current U-20 player Niko Tsakiris scored a goal and provided an assist in the U.S.’ 6-0 win over the Dominican Republic in the final.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY

The Concacaf Under-20 Championship was launched in Panama in 1962 as the Concacaf Youth Tournament and this year marks the 29th edition of the competition. The first five tournaments were played as regional championships before the introduction of the FIFA Youth Championship (now the FIFA U-20 World Cup) in 1977 and since then have served as qualification for the biennial World Age Group Championships.

The tournament has been played in various formats and awarded two participations in the U-20 World Cup from 1976 to 1994. Since 1996, four Concacaf countries have qualified for the World Cup.

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