U-20 USMYNT defeats Costa Rica 1-0, completing sweep of Group A at Concacaf Championship

LEÓN, Mexico – The U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team used Niko Tsakiris’ 37th minute goal to earn a physical 1-0 win against Costa Rica at Estadio León on Friday night. (HIGHLIGHTS)

With the win, the USA collected a perfect 3W-0L-0D record to finish atop Group A in the 2024 Concacaf U-20 Championship, and will now face a third-place finisher from either Group B or C in the quarterfinal on Tuesday, July 30, with the winner qualifying for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile.

The evening’s lone goal came in the 37th minute as Tsakiris found himself on the receiving end of a pass from Marcos Zambrano, then weaved his way through the defense before blasting a shot past Costa Rica goalkeeper Berny Rojas.

The U.S. defense did well to hold Costa Rica to zero shots on goal, collecting its third-straight clean sheet of the group stage. The shutout was also the U.S. U-20 MYNT’s eighth consecutive in Concacaf U-20 Championship play, a streak that extends 741 minutes back to June 20, 2022 against Canada.

The USA will now await Saturday’s Group C results to confirm its opponent for Tuesday’s quarterfinal. The team could face either El Salvador, who finished third in Group B, as well as Guatemala or Haiti, who will play for third place in Group C on Saturday evening.

GOAL SCORING RUNDOWN

USA – Niko Tsakiris (Marcos Zambrano), 37th minute: After creating a turnover, midfielder Brooklyn Raines found Ruben Ramos, Jr. along the left touchline, where he sent a ball to Zambrano near the top of the penalty area. Zambrano laid it off for Tsakiris, who danced around a couple defenders before firing a shot past Berny Rojas into the top left corner. USA 1, CRC 0 FINAL.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• The USA is now 7W-3L-4D vs. Costa Rica at the Concacaf U-20 Championship.
• Niko Tsakiris notched his second goal of this tournament and his sixth career goal in the U-20 Concacaf Championship
• Marcos Zambrano is the third U.S. player to tally two assists in the group stage.
• Goalkeeper Adam Beaudry earned his second clean sheet of the group stage
• The USA notched its eighth-straight clean sheet in Concacaf U-20 Championship play. The U.S. currently has a clean sheet streak of 741 minutes. The last goal conceded was an own goal in the 69th minute of the USA’s 2-2 draw with Canada on June 20, 2022.
• The USA scored 14 goals and allowed none in its three group stage matches. Four different players have scored two goals in the tournament: Pedro Soma, Niko Tsakiris, David Vazquez, and Marcos Zambrano.

-U.S. UNDER-20 MEN’S YOUTH NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-

Match: U.S. Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team vs. Costa
Date: July 26, 2024
Competition: Concacaf U-20 Championship – Group Stage Match 3
Venue: Estadio León; León, Mexico
Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. local (8:30 p.m. ET)
Weather: 67 and cloudy

Scoring Summary:   1          2          F
USA                            1          0          1
CRC                            0          0          0

USA – Niko Tsakiris (Marcos Zambrano)                  37th minute

Lineups:

USA: 12-Adam Beaudry; 2-Aiden Harangi, 4-Noah Cobb, 5-Stuart Hawkins, 3-Nolan Norris; 8-Brooklyn Raines, 6-Pedro Soma (14-Taha Habroune, 65), 10-Niko Tsakiris (13-Cruz Medina, 78); 11-David Vazquez (18-Zavier Gozo, 46), 20-Ruben Ramos Jr. (7-Nimfasha Berchimas, 82), 9-Marcos Zambrano (17-Keyrol Figueroa, 65)

Substitutes Not Used: 1-Julian Eyestone, 21-Duran Ferree, 15-Luca Bombino, 16-Ethan Kohler, 19-Sergio Oregel

Head coach: Michael Nsien

CRC: 1-Berny Rojas; 4-Farbod Samadian, 5-Alberth Barahona (c), 6-Andry Naranjo, 8-Bryanon Rodriguez; 10-Claudio Montero (19-Leonardo Alfaro), 15-Deylan Aguilar (12-Julian Gonzalez, 81), 20-Jose Pablo Aguero (3-Alenjandro Arenas, 46); 11-Andy Rojas, 16-Walter Ramirez (7-Jorge Morejon, 88), 9-Estenban Cruz (2-Kenay Myrie, 52)

Substitutes Not Used: 13-Pablo Quesada, 18-Marcelo Lacayo, 14-Dylan Masis, 17-Dylan Ramirez, 21-Matias Wanchope

Head coach: Cristian Vela

Stats Summary: USA / CRC
Shots: 9 / 1
Shots on Goal: 2 / 0
Saves: 0 / 1
Corner Kicks: 3 / 2
Fouls: 15 / 13
Offside: 0 / 3

Misconduct Summary:
CRC – José Agüero (caution)                         24th minute
USA – David Vazquez (caution)                    28
CRC – Alberth Barahona (ejection)               50
USA – Pedro Soma (caution)                         60
CRC – Andy Naranjo (caution)                       90+6

Officials:
Referee: Jefferson Escobar (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Bare (DOM)
Assistant Referee 2: Roney Salinas (HON)
Fourth Official: Adonis Carrasco (DOM)
VAR: Dilia Bradley (GUA)
AVAR1: Benjamin Whitty (CAY)