U-17 MYNT FACES HOST GUATEMALA FOR U-17 WORLD CUP BERTH IN CONCACAF U-17
New York — WORLD CUP SPOT AT STAKE: The U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team will take on host Guatemala in the Concacaf U-17 Championship Quarterfinals for a ticket to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup on Tuesday, Feb. 21 (8 p.m. ET; FS2, ViX+).
The USA is aiming for a record 18th U-17 World Cup berth after a dominant 7-0 victory against the Dominican Republic in the Round of 16. Guatemala has matched its best-ever performance at the Concacaf U-17 Championship by reaching the quarterfinals as Los Chapines finished 3rd in Group E and downed Jamaica 2-1 in the Round of 16.
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.
USA VS. GUATEMALA:
The USA is 6-0-0 against Guatemala at the Concacaf U-17 Championship with all six match-ups coming in the knockout round.
The teams last met at the 2019 tournament, a 3-0 win for the U.S. Forward Griffin Yow bagged a brace.
Appearing in its 12th Concacaf U-17 Championship, Guatemala has never qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Reaching this year’s quarterfinals matches its best finish at the tournament, also making the final eight in 2013.
Guatemala’s roster features six U.S.-based players in addition to 14 playing in Guatemala. Midfielder Matthew Evans is teammates with U.S. defender Christian Diaz at LAFC. Three other players are currently with Major League Soccer clubs.
STRONG START TO KNOCKOUT STAGE: After topping Group F, the USA got the knockout round off to a flying start with a 7-0 victory against Dominican Republic. Three players netted braces for the U.S. against DR, which qualified directly to the Round of 16 via pre-tournament qualifying held last summer. Midfielder Chris Aquino started things off with an impressive strike from the top of the box in the 22nd and a penalty in the 30th. Forward Keyrol Figueroa netted his team-leading third and fourth goals on either side of halftime, while a fine finish from Micah Burton made it 5-0 just five minutes later. Substitute forward Ezekiel Soto polished off the scoring in the final eight minutes, tapping in two well-played crosses.
GUATEMALA TO QF ON HOME SOIL: Tournament host Guatemala advanced to the knockout stage after finishing third in Group E, dropping tight results to Panama and Mexico before thumping Curaçao 8-3 in its final match to secure a berth to the Round of 16. There, Los Chapines faced off with Jamaica. Midfielder Saul Sagastume opened the scoring in the 32nd minute, but Jamaica equalized after the break. Forward Gabino Vasquez netted the game-winner in the 77th to send Guatemala to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2013.
2023 CONCACAF U-17 CHAMPIONSHIP ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; U-17 CAPS/GOALS; HOMETOWN)
GOALKEEPERS (2): 12-Adam Beaudry (Colorado Rapids; 3/0; Castle Pines, Colo.), 1-Duran Ferree (San Diego Loyal; 2/0; San Diego, Calif.)
DEFENDERS (6): 15-Christian Diaz (LAFC; 8/0; San Bernardino, Calif.), 4-Tyler Hall (Inter Miami CF; 10/0; Miramar, Fla.), 13-Aiden Harangi (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; 5/0; Zwingenberg, Germany), 5-Stuart Hawkins (Seattle Sounders FC; 10/0; Fox Island, Wash.), 3-Sawyer Jura (Portland Timbers; 7/0; Bend, Ore.), 2-Oscar Verhoeven (San Jose Earthquakes; 11/0; Pleasant Hill, Calif.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): 20-Christopher Aquino (Seattle Sounders FC; 3/2; Pasco, Wash.), 16-Adrian Gill (FC Barcelona/ESP; 7/0; Denver, Colo.), 14-Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew; 4/2; Columbus, Ohio), 10-Cruz Medina (San Jose Earthquakes; 11/5; San Francisco, Calif.), 6-Edwyn Mendoza (San Jose Earthquakes; 9/0; San Francisco, Calif.), 19-Paulo Rudisill (LA Galaxy; 11/2; Irvine, Calif.), 8-Pedro Soma (UE Cornella/ESP; 10/0; Coconut Creek, Fla.)
FORWARDS (5): 9-Micah Burton (Austin FC; 10/4; Mounds View, Minn.), 17-Keyrol Figueroa (Liverpool/ENG; Warrington, U.K.; 7/5), 7-Brian Romero (Charlotte FC; 10/1; Concord, N.C.), 18-Ezekiel Soto (Houston Dynamo FC; 12/5; Menifee, Calif.) 11-David Vasquez (Philadelphia Union; 7/0; Los Angeles, Calif.)
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
The USA’s 7-0 victory against Dominican Republic was tied for its second largest margin of victory at this tournament with group stage victories against Netherlands Antilles in 1994 and Honduras in 1989. In 2019, the U-17s topped Guadeloupe 8-0 in the Round of 16.
Head coach Gonzalo Segares has heavily rotated his line-up in Guatemala, with all 20 players logging between 150 and 271 minutes across the four games. Center back Christian Diaz leads the team with 271 minutes.
Seven players have scored for the U.S. at CU17C: Keyrol Figueroa (four goals), Cruz Medina (three), Chris Aquino, Micah Burton, Taha Habroune, Ezekiel Soto (two) and Paulo Rudisill.
Figueroa’s four goals are tied for second at the tournament with Honduras’ Edwin Munguia and Panama’s Kevin Walder. Mexico’s Stephano Carrillo currently leads the Golden Boot race with five goals.
Eight players have logged an assist: Rudisill (three assists), Adrian Gill, Habroune, Romero, David Vazquez (two), Figueroa, Sawyer Jura and Ezekiel Soto.
Estadio Doroteo Guamuch Flores, the venue for all matches from the quarterfinals on, is named after legendary Guatemalan distance runner Doroteo Guamuch Flores, who won the 1952 Boston Marathon.
GUATEMALA ROSTER BY POSITION:
GOALKEEPERS (2): 1-Diego Bolaños (Juventud Canadiense), 12-John Lutin (FC Dallas/USA)
DEFENDERS (7): 15-Carlos Aguilar (Malacateco), 2-Nicolas Chinchilla (Maryland United FC/USA), 16-Elvi Ellington (Municipal), 5-Jeffrey Lopez (New York City FC/USA), 3-Daniel Merida (Municipal), 7-Hector Prillwitz (Juventud Pinulteca), 4-Christopher Raymundo (Municipal)
MIDFIELDERS (7): 19-Olger Escobar (New England Revolution/USA), 20-Matthew Evans (LAFC/USA), 8-Santiago Garzaro (Comunicaciones), 14-Kevin Illescas (Comunicaciones), 6-Ariel Lon (Guastatoya), 13-Saul Sagastume (Antigua), 17-Antony Recinos (New York City FC/USA)
FORWARDS (4): 10-Alex de la Cruz (Comunicaciones), 9-Oseas Guerra (Antigua), 18-Anthony Salama (Municipal), 11-Gabino Vasquez (Antigua)
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: Using a variety of different formats since its inception in 1985, the 2023 Concacaf U-17 Championship uses 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: Bermuda, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Puerto Rico.
The top three finishers in each group have qualified to the Round of 16, where they’re 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.
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.
