LEÓN, Mexico (July 26, 2024) – 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. With the win, the USA collected a perfect 3W-0L-0D record to finish atop Group A, 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.
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.
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)