USA facing Netherlands tonight in final group stage match at FIFA U-17 World Cup

U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team
2019 FIFA Under-17 World Cup – Group D
Estadio da Serrinha; Goiania, Brazil
6:50 p.m. ET (FS2, Universo)
Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019

EVERYTHING ON THE LINE FOR U-17 MNT: After earning an important point in a 0-0 draw with Japan, the U-17 USMNT will face Netherlands in its final group stage match with a chance to advance to the knockout round.

The USA (0-1-1, 1pt) currently sits in third place in Group D but is well-positioned to qualify for the Round of 16 with a victory against the Dutch. The Netherlands (0-2-0, 0pts) has dropped its first two matches to open the tournament but remain alive for advancement with a win. Saturday’s match will be broadcast on FS2 and Universo. Follow the U-17 MNT throughout the tournament on ussoccer.com,Twitter,Instagram and Facebook.

USA GROUP D SCHEDULE

KNOCKOUT ROUND QUALIFICATION SCENARIOS: The top two teams in the group advance automatically to the Round of 16, while the four best third-placed teams in the six groups also advance. A win would likely see the USA through to the knockout round. In 21 past FIFA tournaments with this format, 101 teams finished the group stage with exactly four points, and 98 advanced (97 percent).

The USA is still alive for second place in the group with a win, but it would need Senegal to defeat Japan and to finish with a better goal differential than the Asian champions.

A win would guarantee the USA at least a third-place finish in the group and put it in solid contention to advance. Entering the final round of group play for all six groups, the ranking of third-placed teams is as follows. The top four-ranked third-placed teams advance to the Round of 16.

The USA could advance with a draw vs. Netherlands pending results of other matches. If the Group A match between Canada and New Zealand ends in a draw plus Nigeria beats Australia and Ecuador beats Hungary in Group B, the third-placed teams in those groups will finish with one point, guaranteeing U.S. advancement with only a draw.

USA VS. NETHERLANDS:

• The Netherlands will be without defender Melayro Bogarde and midfielder Ian Maatsen due to suspension from a red card and yellow card accumulation, respectively. Both players started both of the Netherlands’ first two games.
• The USA has faced the Netherlands twice this cycle, splitting the series 1-1-0.
• At September’s 4 Nations Tournament in the Netherlands, the USA’s final tournament before heading to Brazil, the U.S. topped the host 3-1 with goals from Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Andres Jasson and Gilbert Fuentes.
• The U.S. has faced the Netherlands once at the U-17 World Cup, a 0-2 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2005 tournament in Peru.
• The USA is 5-11-2 all-time vs. UEFA teams at this tournament.
• Sixteen plyers compete domestically in the Netherlands, with the most players, eight, coming from Dutch power Ajax. Fourteen are on the books at Eredivise clubs in the Dutch first division.
• Five players are based domestically in England (three), Belgium (one) and Germany (one).

GROUP D STANDINGS AND RESULTS

Date Match-up Venue
Oct. 27 Senegal 4, USA 1 Estadio Kleber Andrade; Cariacica, Brazil
Oct. 27 Japan 3, Netherlands 0 Estadio Kleber Andrade; Cariacica, Brazil
Oct. 30 Senegal 3, Netherlands 1 Estadio Kleber Andrade; Cariacica, Brazil
Oct. 30 Japan 0, USA 0 Estadio Kleber Andrade; Cariacica, Brazil

USA MOVES FORWARD VS. JAPAN: The USA needed and result against Japan, and the team responded, battling the Asian champion to a 0-0 draw. While both teams had their chances down the stretch, the USA wasn’t able to find the back of the net. Goalkeeper Chituru Odunze and the U.S. defense held strong against a well-organized Japan side to keep a clean sheet. the 6-8 was called into action a number of times late in the second half, making three crucial saves to preserve the shutout.

TOUGH START FOR THE DUTCH: Entering the World Cup as European champions, the Netherlands has gotten off to a slow start in Brazil. After spending most of the first half locked up 0-0 with Japan, the Samurai Blue netted a goal in the 36th and added two more in a 10-minute span after the break to defeat the Netherlands 3-0.

The Oranje got off on the right foot vs. Senegal, netting a goal in the 10th minute and carrying its lead into the break. However, the African debutants struck back right after halftime to equalize and then downed the Dutch in devastating fashion, scoring on a penalty in the 87th and adding an exclamation point with a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time.

2019 FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP USA ROSTER BY POSITION (CAPS/GOALS)
GOALKEEPERS (3): 21- Aaron Cervantes (Orange County SC; Chino Hills, Calif.; 4/0), 1- Damian Las (Fulham/ENG; Norridge, Ill.; 20/0), 12- Chituru Odunze (Leicester City/ENG; London, England; 8/0)

DEFENDERS (7): 15- Sebastian Anderson (Colorado Rapids; Highlands Ranch, Colo.; 4/0), 13- Adam Armour (North Carolina FC; Cary, N.C.; 19/0), 3- George Bello (Atlanta United FC; Douglasville, Ga.; 9/1), 4- Nicolas Carrera (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas; 4/0), 14- Tayvon Gray (New York City FC; Bronx, N.Y.; 18/0), 5- Kobe Hernandez-Foster (Unattached; Los Angeles, Calif.; 25/3), 2- Joe Scally (New York City FC; Lake Grove, N.Y.; 21/1)

MIDFIELDERS (5): 18- Maximilian Dietz (Freiburg/GER; Frankfurt, Germany; 2/0), 17- Ethan Dobbelaere (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.; 5/0), 8- Bryang Kayo (Orange County SC; Poolesville, Md.; 8/1), 6- Daniel Leyva (Seattle Sounders FC; Las Vegas, Nev.; 9/0), 16- Adam Saldana (LA Galaxy; Panorama City, Calif.; 27/2)

FORWARDS (6): 7- Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City; Greensboro, N.C.; 17/8), 20- Andres Jasson (New York City FC; Greenwich, Conn.; 13/1), 19- Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez (Seattle Sounders FC; Merced, Calif.; 25/9), 9- Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; McKinney, Texas; 17/5), 10- Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; Bedford, N.Y.; 17/8), 11- Griffin Yow (D.C. United; Clifton, Va.; 14/7)

NETHERLANDS – 2019 FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB):
GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Calvin Raatsie (Ajax), 21-Tein Troost (Feyenoord), 16-Bart Verbruggen (NAC Breda)

DEFENDERS (6): 3-Melayro Bogarde (Hoffenheim/GER), 5-Anss Salah Eddine (Ajax), 2-Ki-Jana Hoever (Liverpool/ENG), 15-Yannick Leliendal (Genk/BEL), 4-Devyne Rensch (Ajax), 12-Steven van der Sloot (Ajax)

MIDFIELDERS (6): 8-Ian Maatssen (Chelsea/ENG), 14-Dirk Proper (N.E.C.), 13-Youri Regeer (Ajax), 6-Kenneth Taylor (Ajax), 10-Mohamed Taabouni (AZ Alkmaar), 11-Naci Unuvar (Ajax)

FORWARDS (6): 18-Soullyman Allouch (AZ Alkmaar), 9-Noufal Bannis (Feyenoord), 17-Jayden Braaf (Manchester City/ENG), 20-Djenairo Daniels (PSV Eindhoven), 7-Sontje Hansen (Ajax), 19-Romano Postema (Gronigen)

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

• Netherlands qualified for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup as champion at the 2019 UEFA U-17 Championship in Ireland, their second-straight title.
• In the first round of European qualifying, the Netherlands downed Liechtenstein, Montenegro and Sweden to advance to the elite round of qualifying.
• There, the Netherlands once again won all three games to qualify for the European Championship, defeating Northern Ireland, Israel and the Czech Republic.
• There, the Netherlands downed Sweden 2-0 with two goals in two minutes and beat reigning World Cup champ England 5-2 in a wild back-and-forth contest. The Dutch dropped their final Group B game 2-0 to France.
• In the quarterfinals, the Netherlands handled Belgium 3-0.
• A dramatic match-up with Spain awaited in the semifinals. The Oranje emerged victorious 1-0 on a 89th-minute goal from Mohamed Taabouni.
• In the final, the Netherlands jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Italy, and while the Azzuri put up a fight in the second half, the Dutch claimed their second-straight Euro title with a 4-2 victory.

ALREADY ADVANCED: Six teams have already clinched berths in the Round of 16: Brazil and Angola from Group A, Nigeria from Group B, France from Group C, Senegal from Group D and Italy from Group F.

TOURNAMENT GROUP STANDINGS

WATCH THE FIFA U-17 WORLD CUP: All of the USA’s matches at the U-17 World Cup will be broadcast on the Fox Sports and Telemundo platforms. The match vs. the Netherlands will be broadcast live on FS2 and Universo. The full Fox broadcast schedule can be found here.

U-17 WORLD CUP DIGITAL MEDIA GUIDE: For more on the U-17 MNT at the U-17 WC, check out the digital media guide for complete info on players, stats, results from the full cycle, team history and everything else about the squad set to take on the world in Brazil.