PREVIEW: U-20 USWYNT ready to begin 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup

WATCH FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ON FOX: All USA’s group stage matches will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 2. Each of the 52 matches of the tournament will be broadcast on either FOX Soccer Plus or FS2, with 24 group stage matches on FSP and 12 group stage matches on FS2. All the games will be available online at FOXsports.com and the FOX Sports App with corresponding authentication.

RUN-UP TO COLOMBIA: The U.S. U-20 WYNT had a bit more time together in this cycle as compared to the last, when the world was emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. The team has compiled a 9W-2L-2D record since it began its cycle in May of 2023 at the Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship. Over those games, the USA scored 32 goals and allowed 11 against eight different countries.

BIENVENIDO DE NUEVO, USA: Heading into the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, the U.S. Under-20 National Team will have the benefit of having played two matches in Colombia last February. During the trip, the USA got to experience the World Cup stadiums, training sites, altitude, weather and culture, and it proved to be a valuable preparation experience for the young Americans. Those were the first two international matches of the year for the U.S. U-20s, and both games took place in Bogota, one in each of the stadiums being used for the World Cup, the first taking place at El Campin and the second at El Techo. The USA won both games against the hosts by 1-0 scores. The game-winner in the first game came in the 90+2nd minute from forward Pietra Tordin, which was her first international score, and the second was a 13th minute score from forward Ally Sentnor.

THE U.S. ROSTER — PROS LEAD THE WAY: Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2004, are age-eligible for this World Cup, and this roster will set a record for the most professional players on a U.S. FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Team with eight. All are in their rookie years for National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) clubs with midfielder Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current) and Sentnor (the #1 pick in the 2024 NWSL draft for the Utah Royals) seeing the most minutes among their peers so far this year. Defender Gisele Thompson, who joined her older sister Alyssa at Angel City FC this season, defender Savy King (the #2 pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft for Bay FC), midfielder Ally Lemos (the #9 pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft by the Orlando Pride), former U.S. U-17 WYNT captain Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage) and forward Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign) have all seen action for their clubs this season. Adames, who signed last march, was the club’s first-ever U-18 signing. The now 18-year-old defender Jordan Bugg signed with Seattle on July 19.While Sentnor, King and Lemos were all high draft picks, the other five pros – Jackson, Adames, Thompson, Hutton and Bugg — all signed professional contracts as high schoolers under the NWSL Under-18 Entry Mechanism, opting out of college soccer.

2024 FIFA U.S. U-20 Women’s World Cup Roster by Position (College or Club; Hometown; U-20 Caps/Goals)

GOALKEEPERS (3): Caroline Birkel (St. Louis Scott Gallagher; St. Louis, Mo.; 0), Mackenzie Gress (Penn State; Lyndhurst, N.J.; 5), Teagan Wy (California; Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; 8)

DEFENDERS (6): Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign; El Cajon, Calif.; 4/1), Elise Evans (Stanford; Redwood City, Calif.; 12/0), Heather Gilchrist (Florida State, Boulder, Colo.; 6/0), Savy King (Bay FC; West Hills, Calif.; 12/0), Leah Klenke (Notre Dame; Houston, Texas; 11/0), Gisele Thompson (Angel City FC; Studio City, Calif.; 7/1)

MIDFIELDERS (6): Addison Halpern (PDA; Middlesex, N.J.; 0/0), Claire Hutton (Kansas City Current; Bethlehem, N.Y.; 5/0), Riley Jackson (North Carolina Courage; Roswell, Ga.; 8/1), Ally Lemos (Orlando Pride; Glendora, Calif.; 13/1), Yuna McCormack (Virginia; Mill Valley, Calif.; 2/0), Taylor Suarez (Florida State; Charlotte, N.C.; 8/1)

FORWARDS (6): Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign; Red Oak, Texas; 6/1), Maddie Dahlien (North Carolina; Edina, Minn.; 8/4), Jordynn Dudley (Florida State; Milton, Ga.; 9/3), Giana Riley (Florida State; Manteca, Calif.; 8/1), Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals; Hanson, Mass.; 16/9), Pietra Tordin (Princeton; Miami, Fla.; 7/2)

ROSTER BUILDING: Just 10 players on the World Cup roster were also on the roster for the 2023 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship, meaning 11 players who didn’t play in qualifying made runs to earn their World Cup roster spots. The 10 players who made the World Cup roster who were also a part of the Concacaf qualifying team are goalkeepers Teagan Wy and Mackenzie Gress, defenders Elise Evans, Gisele Thompson, Leah Klenke and Savy King, midfielder Ally Lemos, and forwards Maddie Dahlien, Ally Sentnor and Jordynn Dudley. The World Cup roster features one player still in high school and that’s 5-11 goalkeeper Caroline Birkel, who plays for St. Louis Scott Gallagher.

ROSTER NOTES

• The USA’s World Cup roster features eight pros, one rising college freshman, three rising college sophomores, one redshirt college sophomore, seven rising college juniors and high schooler Caroline Birkel. Florida State leads all colleges with four players on the roster.
• Defender Gisele Thompson is the only player on the roster who has seen training time with the senior U.S. Women’s National Team, that coming during the USA’s February training camp this year ahead of the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup.
• All players on the roster have been capped at the U-20 level except for Birkel and midfielder Addison Halpern, who was a late addition to the World Cup Team replacing Sam Courtright, who tore her ACL just days before the team’s departure for Colombia.
• Forward Ally Sentnor, who is in her second U-20 cycle, is unsurprisingly the most experienced player on the roster with 16 U-20 caps heading into the World Cup and is also the USA’s leading scorer with nine international goals.
• Earlier this NWSL season, forward Emeri Adames, a veteran of the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, became the youngest scorer in Seattle Reign history. In her final game before joining the USA in Colombia, Adames sent a header on goal that snuck into the net for the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over the North Carolina Courage on a night that club and USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe had her jersey retired. Adames then celebrated the goal by pulling out Rapinoe’s iconic celebration pose.
• Adames also played for the USA at the 2023 Pan American Games, where she scored in the 2-1 semifinal loss to the senior Chile Women’s National Team, getting the ball past one of the world’s best goalkeepers, Christiane Endler.
• Defender Jordyn Bugg, Hutton and Thompson also played in the Pan Ams, giving them excellent experience against senior National Teams.
• Five-foot-11 forward Jordynn Dudley, along with college teammate Heather Gilchrist, had a big 2023 college season, helping Florida State win the NCAA Championship. Dudley was named ACC Freshman of the Year after scoring a remarkable 14 goals with nine assists, including a goal and an assist in the NCAA Championship Game. Gilchrist, as a sophomore, started all 21 matches for the Seminoles.
• Forward Maddie Dahlien, who tied with Sentnor for leading scorer in qualifying with four goals, is a former Minnesota state track champion in the 100M and 200M.
• Forward Giana Riley, who has since transferred to Florida State, led the West Coast Conference in scoring for Gonzaga last season with 12 goals to go along with six assists.
• Princeton forward Pietra Tordin, a rare Ivy Leaguer on a U.S. World Cup Team, made a dramatic U-20 WYNT debut in February, scoring a late game-winner in a 1-0 victory over Colombia in Bogotá. The USA won the second game of that trip 1-0 as well, on a goal from Sentnor.
• There are eight players on the roster from California — six from SoCal and two from NorCal – two from Texas and two from Georgia.
• Six players on this U-20 WWC roster played for the USA in the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup: Thompson, Savy King, Bugg, Adames, Leah Klenke and Jackson.

SENTNOR MARKING THE SCORESHEET: Forward Ally Sentnor is one of the front-runners for NWSL Rookie of the Year (an award that seems to be firmly in the grasp of 2024 Olympic gold medalist Croix Bethune), and has scored three goals during league play, two more in the NWSL x LA LIGA Summer Cup and two more in an Aug. 16 friendly against Women’s Super League side Crystal Palace F.C. Women in a 3-0 victory. She also has four assists in all matches for a team that is struggling at the bottom of the NWSL. Sentnor was named the NWSL Rookie of the Month and Player of the Month for the month of July and is only the second player to win both of the awards in the same month. Sentnor has started every Royals match for which she has been available.

NWSL MINUTES FOR U.S. U-20S: Midfielder Claire Hutton (KC Current) and forward Ally Sentnor (Utah Royals) have played the most NWSL minutes this season for their clubs, but all of the USA’s pros have seen some playing time so far this season. Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign) played in her first NWSL regular season match on Aug. 25.

• Adames (NWSL: 16 games, 291 minutes, 1 goal; SUMMER CUP: 3 games, 171 minutes)
• Bugg: (NWSL: 1 game, 90 minutes; SUMMER CUP: 2 games, 180 minutes)
• Hutton (NWSL: 17 games, 1406 minutes, 1 assist; SUMMER CUP: 4 games, 213 minutes, 1 goal)
• Jackson (NWSL: 14 games, 180 minutes; SUMMER CUP: 4 games, 197 minutes, 1 goal)
• King (NWSL: 16 games, 1051 minutes, 1 assist; SUMMER CUP: 2 games, 111 minutes)
• Lemos (NWSL: 11 games, 286 minutes; SUMMER CUP: 3 games, 212 minutes)
• Sentnor (NWSL: 17 games, 1508 minutes, 3 goals, 3 assists; SUMMER CUP: 2 games, 175 minutes, 2 goals, 1 assist in Summer Cup)
• Thompson (NWSL: 11 games, 617 minutes; SUMMER CUP: 1 game, 38 minutes)

RUNNING IT BACK: Two players in Colombia were a part of the last U-20 cycle: goalkeeper Teagan Wy, who did not play in Costa Rica in 2022, and forward Ally Sentnor, who was coming back from a major knee injury, but scored once – against Ghana – and had a goal called back against the Netherlands by the slimmest of offside margins. Sentnor, a long-time Youth National Team standout, scored two goals for the U-18 WYNT, both against England, six international goals at the U-17 level and one goal at the U-16 international level, that coming against Switzerland.

KEVINS AT THE HELM: This will be the second World Cup as U.S. head coach for Tracey Kevins, who took over the program in October of 2021 after previously leading the U.S. U-17 WYNT. She coached the USA at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and served as head coach for the U-17 and U-19 England Women’s National Teams during tournaments and training camps. She was an assistant coach for the England team that finished second at the 2007 U-19 Women’s Euros and for the team that finished in the top four in 2008. She was also an assistant coach for England at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Chile. After this event she will step down to focus on her new job as the Head of Development for the U.S. Women’s Youth National Teams (Technical & Leadership), and a new U-20 WYNT head coach will be appointed.

MORE ON THE U-20 WNT

• 2024 U.S. Under-20 Women’s World Cup Roster Release
• 2024 U.S. U-20 Women’s World Cup Roster
• Maddie Dahlien Mic’d Up
• Pickup in the Park – Colombia Style
• Claire Hutton’s First Pro Goal
• Ally Sentnor First Pro Goal
• Video Feature: NWSL Rookies
• U.S. U-20 WYNT Arrives in Colombia
• Ally Lemos Mic’d Up
• Savy King Mic’d Up

24 TEAMS VIE FOR 11TH U-20 TITLE: This year marks the 11th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA’s most high-profile women’s competition after the World Cup and the Olympic Games. The biennial competition began as the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship in 2002 and was held as a U-19 event in 2004 before moving to its current Under-20 format in 2006. The 24 participating nations for the 2024 edition of the tournament were drawn into six groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group along with the four best third-place teams will advance to the first-ever Round of 16 in this tournament, to be played on Wednesday, Sept. 11 and Thursday, Sept. 12. The winners of those matches advance to the Quarterfinals on Sunday, Sept. 15, from which the winners will advance to the Semifinals on Wednesday, Sept. 18. The Third-Place Match will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21 with the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Final taking place on Sunday, Sept. 22.

The USA is one of four teams to have qualified for every FIFA WWC at this age level, along with three-time champions Germany, as well as Brazil and Nigeria.

THE VENUES: All the matches will take place at four stadiums in three cities in soccer-crazed Colombia: Bogotá’s El Campin Stadium (Capacity: 35,129) and El Techo Stadium (Capacity: 7,707), Cali’s Pascual Guerrero Stadium (Capacity: 37,000) and Medellin’s Atanasio Girardot Stadium (Capacity: 44,826).

2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Groups

HOW WE GOT HERE – CONCACAF QUALIFYING IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: The USA qualified for the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup at the 2023 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship in the Dominican Republic. The USA handily won its group, defeating Panama, 6-0, Jamaica, 4-0, and Canada, 5-2, before downing Costa Rica in the semifinal to earn its berth. Jasmine Aikey and Lauren Martinho, neither of whom are in the World Cup squad, scored in that semifinal. In the championship game, the USA fell to Mexico, 2-1, despite a goal from Onyeka Gamero, and the Americans also missed a penalty kick in that game. Forwards Maddie Dahlien and Ally Sentnor led the USA in scoring in the qualifying tournament with four goals each. Martinho and Gamero were both ruled out of the World Cup as they recover from serious knee injuries

HISTORY OF SUCCESS AT THE U-20 WWC: The USA has qualified for every edition of the U-20 WWC and has won three of the 10 previous tournaments, compiling a 32W-9L-9D overall record. At the inaugural FIFA U-19 Women’s Championship in 2002, the USA took home the title by defeating host Canada 1-0 on a golden goal in overtime from Lindsay Tarpley in front of nearly 50,000 fans.

In 2008, future senior WNT stars Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan helped lead the USA to the tournament title, scoring in the championship match against North Korea. Most recently, the U.S. won the 2012 tournament, downing three group winners in the knockout rounds en route to the trophy as future National Team stars and World Cup winners Crystal Dunn, Morgan Gautrat (formerly Brian), Julie Ertz (formerly Johnston) and Samantha Mewis played major roles.

Heartbreakingly, the USA has been knocked out of the tournament in penalty kicks in 2006, 2010 and 2014. The U-20s have lost just eight games in regulation in the previous 10 tournaments, including three defeats to Germany and two to Japan. The USA also lost a game in overtime to Korea DPR. In addition to three tourney titles and three PK exits, the USA finished third in 2004 and fourth in 2016.

U.S. U-20 WYNT A SPRINGBOARD TO SENIOR WNT: The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup has been a launching point for many players who have gone on to represent the full USWNT and many more who have played professionally. In fact, 56 different players who have played in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the USA have gone on to earn at least one cap for the senior side (although several players played in multiple youth World Cups). From the 2022 U.S. FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Team, Alyssa Thompson made the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Team and Korbin Albert and Jaedyn Shaw made the 2024 Olympic Team, with Albert scoring the game-winning goal vs. Australia in group play and assisting on the game-winning goal in the gold medal match.

From 2002-2022, an average of 6.9 players per U.S. U-20 World Cup Team have gone on to represent the full USWNT.

USWNT players Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Jaelin Howell, Ashley Sanchez and Sophia Smith played for the USA at the 2018 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. Mallory Swanson (formerly Pugh) captained the USA in 2016 in Papua New Guinea. FIFA World Cup champions Morgan Gautrat, Crystal Dunn, Julie Ertz and Samantha Mewis helped the U-20s lift the trophy in 2012, while Alyssa Naeher backstopped Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan’s 2008 team to the championship. Tobin Heath, Kelley O’Hara and Amy Rodriguez appeared at the 2006 tournament in Russia, while Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Rodriguez also represented the U-20s in 2004 in Thailand. Lori Chalupny, Heather O’Reilly, Lindsey Tarpley, Leslie Osborne, Ashlyn Harris and Rachel Buehler were among a record 12 future WNT players who helped the USA lift the first tournament trophy in 2002.

U.S. U-20 WYNT vs. SPAIN:

• The USA will face Spain in group play at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the third time.
• In 2004 in Thailand, the USA defeated Spain, 1-0, in its second match of the tournament.
• In 2018 in France, the USA drew Spain 2-2 in its final group match, coming back from 2-0 down to tie the game on goals from current USWNT players Sophia Smith and Savannah DeMelo, but the result was not good enough to advance to the knockout rounds.
• This is just the fourth FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in which Spain has participated, but it won the tournament in 2022 and finished second to Japan in 2018.
• Spain is the reigning European U-19 champions and qualified for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup via the 2023 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship held in Belgium, where it finished second in Group B behind France, a result that earned their World Cup berth. Spain defeated Netherlands, 1-0, in the semifinal on a goal from Julia Bartel and won the tournament with a 3-2 victory over Germany in penalty kicks in the championship match after a 0-0 draw in regulation.
• Carla Camacho led Spain in scoring during qualifying with three goals while Fiamma Benitez, Erika Gonzalez and Lucia Moral had two each.
• Spain’s debut at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup came in 2016 in Papua New Guinea, and it advanced to the quarterfinals where it lost, 3-2, to eventual champions North Korea, which had beaten the USA in the semifinals.
• Spain has four players on this year’s squad that won the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup: defender Silvia Lloris (Atletico Madrid) midfielders Maite Zubieta (Atletico Bilbao) and Julia Bartel (Chelsea FC) and forward Melia Vignola (Granada CF).
• Bartel is the only player on the Spanish roster playing outside of Spain.
• In 2022 in Costa Rica, Spain won its group with a tie with Brazil (0-0) and wins over Costa Rica (6-0) and Australia (3-0).
• Spain then beat Mexico (1-0) in the quarterfinals, Netherlands (2-1) in the semifinals and Japan (3-1) in the World Cup Final as current Spain National Team star Salma Paralluelo scored twice.

Spain 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Roster by Position (Club)

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Sofía Fuente (Real Madrid), 13-Andrea Tarazona (Levante UD), 21-Eunate Astralaga(Athletic Club)

DEFENDERS (6): 2-Judit Pujols(FC Barcelona), 3-Estela Carbonell(Levante), 5-Sandra Villafañe(Madrid CFF), 12-Aïcha Camara(FC Barcelona), 8-Silvia lloris(Atlético Madrid), 15-Sara Ortega(Athletic Club)

MIDFIELDERS (5): 4-Nahia Aparicio (Real Sociedad), 6-Maite Zubieta (Athletic Club), 10-Júlia Bartel (Chelsea FC), 14-Marina Artero (Deportivo La Coruña), 16-Olaya Enrique (Deportivo La Coruña)

FORWARDS (7): 7-Ornella Vignola (Granada CF), 9-Jone Amezaga (Athletic Club), 11-Ona Baradad (FC Barcelona), 17-Lucía Corrales (Sevilla FC), 18-Lucía Moral (Sevilla FC), 19-Laia Martret (FC Barcelona), 20-Erika Gonzalez (Levante UD)

IT’S NEW TO THE WWC – FOOTBALL VIDEO SUPPORT: A new system to review decisions on goals, penalty kicks, red card incidents and cases of mistaken identity will be unveiled during the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. There will be no Video Assistant Referee automatically checking incidents/decisions. Nothing is automatically checked by a VAR. Instead, each head coach will have two chances to request a review, e.g. “challenge” the call, in any of the above instances should they choose to do so.

The coach will indicate the desire to have an incident/decision checked by twirling their finger in the air and then giving a “review card” to the fourth official, followed by an explanation of what the coach wants reviewed. Players may recommend the head coach to request a review, but the head coach has the final responsibility to do so. Once a “review card” is given to the fourth official, the request cannot be withdrawn. The request to review an incident/decision must be made before play is restarted once the game is stopped or the ball is out of play for the first time after the incident/decision. A player can inform the referee that they want to recommend to the head coach to request a review, and the referee will delay the restart of the game until the player can inform the head coach and the head coach has the chance to make a decision. The referee will then go to the video monitor on the sideline to review the video footage and make a decision if there was a “clear and obvious” error.

If the coach “wins the challenge” they will keep that “challenge.” If they lose, they will lose that “challenge.” After a goal is scored, the fourth official will check the replay footage and inform the referee in the case of a clear and obvious offense committed by the attacking team, e.g., handball, offside, or ball out of play. Regardless of the outcome of the fourth officials check on goals, the coach is entitled to request a review. If teams are involved in extra time in the knockout stages, each team will get an additional (third) request and any requests for reviews that a team did not use in regulation can be carried into extra time.

BUT WHAT ABOUT OFFSIDE?: Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) will be used during the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup which means there will be 12 dedicated EPTS (Electronic Performance and Tracking System) cameras for each match that can track 29 relevant points for each player on the field and data is sent to the system 50 times per second. The system will process the data in real-time and send an automated alert to the review operator when a player is deemed offside. This theoretically leads to faster and more accurate offside decisions and improved visualization of offside incidents.

TOURNAMENT NOTES

• Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2004, are age-eligible for this tournament.
• Players also must be born on or before December 31, 2008, to be age eligible.
• Each team gets five substitutes per match.
• If a player receives two cautions in two different matches, she will be suspended for the following match.
• If a player is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card, she will be suspended for the following match.
• Single yellow cards will be wiped clean after the quarterfinal round.
• Should teams be tied on points at the end of the group stage, the tiebreakers are as follows:
  • Goal difference in all matches
  • Greatest number of goals scored
• If two or more teams are still tied on the basis of the first three criteria, the ranking will be determined as follows:
  • Greatest number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned
  • Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned
  • Greatest number of goals scored in all group matches between the teams concerned
  • FIFA Fair Play points
  • Drawing of lots
• The four best third-place teams will advance based on:
  • Greatest number of points obtained in group matches
  • Goal difference resulting from group matches
  • Greatest number of goals scored in group matches
  • FIFA Fair Play points
  • Drawing of lots
• At the end of the tournament, FIFA will present several awards. The Golden, Silver and Bronze Boots will be awarded to the three players with the highest numbers of goals scored, with number of assists serving as a tiebreaker.
• The Golden, Silver and Bronze Balls will be awarded to the best players of the tournament. The FIFA Technical Study Group will select a short list after the semifinals.
• The Golden Glove will be awarded to the top goalkeeper in the tournament, as selected by the FIFA Technical Study Group.
• In the knockout rounds, if matches are tied at the end of regulation, 30 minutes of overtime will be played followed by penalty kicks if the match is still tied.