USA facing Costa Rica on Tuesday night in Concacaf U-20 Championship Quarterfinals

U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team
2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship – Quarterfinal
Tuesday, June 28
7 p.m. ET (FS2, TUDN)

WORLD CUP BERTH AT STAKE: The U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team will face off with Costa Rica in the Concacaf U-20 Championship Quarterfinals for a spot in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup on Tuesday, June 28 (7 p.m.; FS2 and TUDN).

After topping Group E and defeating Nicaragua 5-0 in the Round of 16, the USA will continue the knockout stage against Los Ticos, aiming for one of four tickets to the U-20 World Cup in Indonesia and a spot in the tournament semifinals, which will qualify two teams to the 2024 Olympics. Costa Rica finished 2nd in Group H and downed Trinidad & Tobago 4-1 in the Round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals.

USA VS. COSTA RICA:

The U.S. is 5-3-4 all-time vs. Costa Rica at the Concacaf U-20 Championship.
The teams last met in the 2018 tournament during the qualification group stage as the USA topped Los Ticos 4-0. Golden Ball winner Alex Mendez scored the opening goal.
This year marks Costa Rica’s 21st appearance at the Concacaf U-20 Championship. The Central American nation has won the confederation crown twice, in 1988 and 2009.
Los Ticos have qualified nine times for the FIFA U-20 World Cup, including four of the last seven tournaments. The nine appearances are good for third-most in Concacaf behind the USA and Mexico.

USA ADVANCES VS. NICARAGUA: As the first-place team in Group E, the U-20 MYNT faced Nicaragua in the Round of 16, who qualified directly to the knockout stage after topping its pre-qualifying group last November. The USA won 5-0 to advance to the quarterfinals, led by a brace from forward Quinn Sullivan and goals from midfielder Diego Luna and defender Jalen Neal.

Los Pinoleros put up a spirited effort in the first half, but the U.S. broke through in stoppage time just before the break when a nice run from Luna set up Sullivan to head home the opening goal. The floodgates opened after the half, as Luna scored from the spot and Sullivan netted his tournament-leading fifth goal. Second-half sub Caden Clark helped cause a Nicaragua own goal, while Neal was in the right place at the right time to tally his first U-20 international goal off a deflection to close things out.

COSTA RICA INTO FINAL EIGHT: Costa Rica qualified for the knockout stage by finishing second in Group H. In pool play, Los Ticos drew Jamaica 1-1, topped Antigua and Barbuda 3-0 and fell 1-0 to host Honduras on a second-half penalty kick.

In the Round of 16, Costa Rica defeated Trinidad and Tobago 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals. After taking a 1-0 lead into half on a penalty, the Central Americans put the game away in the second with three goals in 15 minutes. Forward Dorian Rodriguez bagged a brace and leads Costa Rica with four goals at the tournament.

2022 CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; HOMETOWN; U-20 CAPS/GOALS)

GOALKEEPERS (2): Christopher Brady (Chicago Fire FC; Naperville, Ill.; 4/0), Antonio Carrera (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas; 1/0)

DEFENDERS (6): Noah Allen (Inter Miami CF; Miramar, Fla.; 3/0), Brandan Craig (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.; 3/0), Mauricio Cuevas (Club Brugge/BEL; Los Angeles, Calif.; 5/1), Marcus Ferkranus (LA Galaxy; Santa Clarita, Calif.; 4/0), Michael Halliday (Orlando City SC; Apopka, Fla.; 4/0), Jalen Neal (LA Galaxy; Lakewood, Calif.; 6/1)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Paxten Aaronson (Philadelphia Union; Medford, N.J.; 7/3), Alejandro Alvarado Jr. (FC Vizela/POR; Los Angeles, Calif.; 3/0), Caden Clark (New York Red Bulls; Wayzata, Minn.; 7/2), Daniel Edelman (New York Red Bulls; Warren, N.J.; 5/0), Jackson Hopkins (D.C. United; Fredericksburg, Va.; 1/0), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; Sunnyvale, Calif.; 7/2), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union; Middle Village, N.Y.; 7/1), Rokas Pukstas (Hajduk Split/CRO; Sillwater, Okla.; 6/1), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes; Saratoga, Calif.; 2/2)

FORWARDS (3): Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes; Ceres, Calif.; 6/2), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.; 6/6), Tyler Wolff (Atlanta United FC; Braselton, Ga.; 5/1)

ADDITIONAL NOTES

Midfielder Jackson Hopkins replaced midfielder Obed Vargas on the U.S. roster and joined the team prior to the Round of 16. The 17-year-old made his U-20 debut vs. Nicaragua.
Forward Quinn Sullivan’s five goals are tied for the tournament lead with Haiti’s Steevenson Jeudy.
Eleven players have scored for the U.S. at the tournament: Sullivan (five goals), Paxten Aaronson, Cade Cowell, Niko Tsakiris (two goals each), Caden Clark, Mauricio Cuevas, Diego Luna, Jack McGlynn, Jalen Neal, Rokas Pukstas and Tyler Wolff.
Six players have registered an assist for the U.S.: Diego Luna (four assists), Clark (three), Sullivan (two), Aaronson, Alejandro Alvarado Jr. and Cowell.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT: This year marks the 28th edition of the Concacaf U-20 Championship. The tournament began in 1962 as the Concacaf Youth Tournament, qualifying two teams to the FIFA U-20 World Cup from 1976-1994 and four teams from 1996 to now.

Following a myriad of different formats over the years, the 2022 competition introduces a new 20-team tournament akin to Concacaf’s most recent U-17 Men’s and U-20 and U-17 Women’s Championships. Sixteen countries are drawn into four groups of four, while four countries advance directly to the Round of 16 via a pre-qualifying tournament: Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua.

The top three finishers in each group qualify to the Round of 16, where they will be joined by the four teams from pre-qualifying. From there, it’s a knockout bracket to the tournament final. The four winners of the quarterfinal matches will qualify to the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia, while the two winners of the semifinal matches will qualify to the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The U.S. has participated in 25 of 28 Concacaf U-20 Championships, including each tournament since 1974, and qualified for the U-20 World Cup in 16 of 22 previous attempts. After missing the 2011 U-20 World Cup, the U.S. has played in the last four tournaments and is the only nation to reach the quarterfinals in the last three editions.