USA facing Canada in Group F finale at Concacaf U-17 Championship

USA FINISHES GROUP STAGE VS. CANADA: After two strong performances to clinch a spot in the knockout round of the Concacaf U-17 Championship, the U.S. U-17 Men’s Youth National Team will finish Group F play against regional rival Canada on Wednesday, Feb. 15 (8 p.m. ET; FS2, ViX+). With both teams on six points, the winner will top the group and face Dominican Republic in the Round of 16.

Both the U.S. and Canada secured places in the knockout round with their second victories in as many games on Monday. Playing a heavily rotated squad, the USA topped Trinidad & Tobago 3-1 as three different players scored, while Canada took down Barbados 2-0.

All tournament matches are being broadcast in English on Fox Sports platforms and on the Fox Sports app with corresponding authentication. All matches are available in Spanish on ViX+, TelevisaUnivision’s streaming service. Fans can sign up for a one-month subscription for just 99 cents.

Fans can follow all of the action from Guatemala on ussoccer.com as well as U.S. Soccer Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

#U17MYNT ???'? ?? ?

Take to the training ground with midfielder Paulo Rudisill ?? pic.twitter.com/HqVPXN9rDZ

— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) February 14, 2023

2023 CONCACAF U-17 CHAMPIONSHIP
USA SCHEDULE – GROUP F

USA VS. CANADA

• The USA is 9-1-0 vs. Canada all-time at the Concacaf U-17 Championship and has won nine straight since dropping the first meeting in 1988.

• The nations faced off twice in the 2019 tournament, in the group stage and the semifinals. In the group stage opener, the U.S. roared back from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 as current USMNT players Gianluca Busio and Gio Reyna scored.

• In the semis, a strong second half boosted the USA to a dominant 4-0 win. Reyna scored again, while current USMNT forward Ricardo Pepi bagged a brace.

• USMNT midfielder Sebastian Lleget scored against Canada in 2009, while forward Eddie Johnson netted two in 2001.

• Appearing in their 18th Concacaf U-17 Championship, Canada has qualified to seven FIFA U-17 World Cups. The Reds are seeking back-to-back World Cup appearances for the first time since 2011-2013.

• Canada finished runner-up to the United States in the 2011 tournament, its best-ever finish.

• Canada defender Victor Fung plays alongside U.S. defender Tyler Hall at Inter Miami CF.

• Sixteen of Canada’s 20 players are based at the country’s three MLS clubs: eight at Toronto FC plus four each at CF Montreal and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

• Three Canadian players are based overseas in Germany, Portugal and Spain.

2023 CONCACAF U-17 CHAMPIONSHIP
GROUP F STANDINGS

The top three teams in each group advance to the Round of 16.

GROUP F RESULTS

Saturday, Feb. 11
USA 5, Barbados 0
Canada 3, Trinidad and Tobago 2

Monday, Feb. 13
USA 3, Trinidad and Tobago 1
Canada 2, Barbados 0

THREE POINTS VS. T&T: Sporting eight changes in its starting XI from the tournament opener, the U-17 MYNT picked up where it left off against Trinidad and Tobago as three different players scored first-half goals to boost the USA to a 3-1 victory. All three U.S. tallies came from close range, as midfielder Taha Habroune teed up forward Micah Burton near the six in the 11th minute and defender Sawyer Jura set up midfielder Paulo Rudisill just three minutes later. Rudisill provided the assist on the final U.S. goal of the evening, sending a ball to Habroune in front of goal, which he calmly finished for his second U-17 international goal in as many appearances.

CANADA STARTS TWO FOR TWO: Canada has also started its Concacaf U-17 Championship campaign with two straight wins. In its tournament opener, the Reds held off a comeback effort from Trinidad and Tobago, winning 3-2 while playing much of the game up a man after a Trinidadian red card. Two first-half goals, including a penalty, were enough to put Barbados away 2-0 in the Reds’ second game of the tournament. Four players have scored at CU17C for Canada: Kyler Vojvodic (two goals), Alessandro Biello, Liam MacKenzie and Chimere Omeze (one each).

2023 CONCACAF U-17 CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; U-17 CAPS/GOALS; HOMETOWN)

GOALKEEPERS (2): 12-Adam Beaudry (Colorado Rapids; 2/0; Castle Pines, Colo.), 1-Duran Ferree (San Diego Loyal; 1/0; San Diego, Calif.)

DEFENDERS (6): 15-Christian Diaz (LAFC; 6/0; San Bernardino, Calif.), 4-Tyler Hall (Inter Miami CF; 9/0; Miramar, Fla.), 13-Aiden Harangi (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; 4/0; Zwingenberg, Germany), 5-Stuart Hawkins (Seattle Sounders FC; 9/0; Fox Island, Wash.), 3-Sawyer Jura (Portland Timbers; 5/0; Bend, Ore.), 2-Oscar Verhoeven (San Jose Earthquakes; 9/0; Pleasant Hill, Calif.)

MIDFIELDERS (7): 20-Christopher Aquino (Seattle Sounders FC; 1/0; Pasco, Wash.), 16-Adrian Gill (FC Barcelona/ESP; 5/0; Denver, Colo.), 14-Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew; 2/2; Columbus, Ohio), 10-Cruz Medina (San Jose Earthquakes; 10/5; San Francisco, Calif.), 6-Edwyn Mendoza (San Jose Earthquakes; 7/0; San Francisco, Calif.), 19-Paulo Rudisill (LA Galaxy; 10/2; Irvine, Calif.), 8-Pedro Soma (UE Cornella/ESP; 8/0; Coconut Creek, Fla.)

FORWARDS (5): 9-Micah Burton (Austin FC; 9/3; Mounds View, Minn.), 17-Keyrol Figueroa (Liverpool/ENG; Warrington, U.K.; 5/2), 7-Brian Romero (Charlotte FC; 8/1; Concord, N.C.), 18-Ezekiel Soto (Houston Dynamo FC; 10/3; Menifee, Calif.) 11-David Vasquez (Philadelphia Union; 5/0; Los Angeles, Calif.)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

• Midfielder Chris Aquino earned his first U-17 cap with his start vs. Trinidad and Tobago.

• Head coach Gonzalo Segares made eight changes to the starting XI for the match against Trinidad: goalkeeper Adam Beaudry, defenders Christian Diaz, Aiden Harangi and Sawyer Jura, midfielders Aquino, Taha Habroune and Pedro Soma, plus forward David Vazquez all earned their first starts of the tourney.

• Five players have now scored for the U.S. at CU17C: Cruz Medina (three goals), Habroune (two), Micah Burton, Keyrol Figueroa and Paulo Rudisill.

• Eight players have logged an assist: Keylor Figueroa, Adrian Gill, Habroune, Jura, Brian Romero, Rudisill, Soto and Vazquez.

CANADA ROSTER BY POSITION:

GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Nathaniel Abraham (Toronto FC), 18-Alexander O’Brien (Toronto FC)

DEFENDERS (8): 13-Richard Chukwu (Toronto FC), 3-Gaël de Montigny (CF Montreal), Aidan Fong (Vancouver Whitecaps), 15-Victor Fung (Inter Miami CF/USA), 16-Etienne Godin (CF Montreal), 17-Liam MacKenzie (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), 5-Chimere Omeze (Toronto FC), 6-Lazar Stefanovic (Toronto FC)

MIDFIELDERS (6): 8-Jeevan Badwal (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), 4-Alessandro Biello (CF Montreal), 14-Ruben de Sa (Vitoria Guimaraes/POR), 20-Andrei Dumitru (Toronto FC), 10-Antoine N’Diaye (CF Montreal), Theo Rigopoulos (Toronto FC)

FORWARDS (4): 7-Ibrahim Higazy (Rayo Vallecano/ESP), 11-Lucas Ozimec (Toronto FC), 9-Erik Pop (Karlsruher/GER), 19-Kyler Vojvodic (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)

ROAD TO GUATEMALA: World Cup qualifying marks the eighth training camp for the U-17 MYNT since its cycle kicked off in November 2021. Since then, they’ve been challenged against top tier international opposition, including Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Uruguay.

In May, the U-17s topped the table at a UEFA Development Tournament in Castelo Branco, Portugal, topping Belgium, 3-0, and the host, 2-1, to clinch first place. Most recently, they played three international matches against U-18 opposition at the Vaclav Jezek Tournament in the Czech Republic, finishing with a 4-1 win against the host nation.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT: Using a variety of different formats since its inception in 1985, the 2023 Concacaf U-17 Championship will use the same 20-team tournament format introduced for the 2019 edition and since used for all of Concacaf’s Youth World Cup qualifying 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.

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-17 World Cup in Peru.

After the Oceania Football Confederation, Concacaf is the second confederation to host its qualifying tournament for the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup.