U.S. U-18 Men’s National Team Goes Unbeaten in First Two Matches of UEFA Friendship Cup
A PK Win Over France and Regulation Win Over Argentina Puts Team at the Top of Group A
NYON, Switzerland (June 4, 2025) – The U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team earned a draw and a win in its first two matches at the 2025 UEFA Friendship Cup. Opening the tournament on June 1 against France, the USA played Les Bleus to a 2-2 draw before earning a 5-4 win on penalties and an extra point in the standings. The U.S. then went on to defeat Argentina 2-0 on June 4, to take top spot in Group A.
Below are recaps of the first two matches. The USA will close out Group A play on Saturday, June 7 at 4:45 a.m. ET and the match will be live streamed via UEFA’s YouTube Channel.
Colton Swan opened the scoring for the U.S. early against France. His teammate Justin Ellis chested a throw in up to himself and then flicked a pass in behind the defense to Swan, who easily beat the keeper one-on-one to make it 1-0 in the first minute of the match.
Santiago Morales doubled the lead in the 37th minute. Leonardo Orejarana charged toward the box down the left side and slid a pass to Morales at the top of the area. Morales danced around a few defenders while driving toward the endline before smashing a close-range shot into the top of the net to make it 2-0.
The U.S. nearly held the 2-0 lead for the remainder of the match, but gave up two penalties in stoppage time. France’s Rayane Messi Tanfouri converted from the spot in the second and third minutes of extra time to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.
But the USA gained the extra point with its 5-4 shootout win.
-U.S. UNDER-18 MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-
Match: United States U-18 Men's National Team vs. France
Date: June 1, 2025
Competition: International Friendly – 2025 UEFA Friendship Cup
Venue: Colovray Stadium, Colovray Sports Centre, Nyon, Switzerland
Kickoff: 11 a.m. local (5 a.m. ET)
Weather: 80 degrees, sunny
Scoring Summary:
| Scoring Summary | 1 | 2 | F | PK |
| USA | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| FRA | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| USA – Colton Swan (Justin Ellis) | 1st minute | |||||||
| USA – Santiago Morales (Leonardo Orejarena) | 37 | |||||||
| USA – Rayane Messi Tanfouri (penalty) | 60 | |||||||
| USA – Rayane Messi Tanfouri (penalty) | 88 |
| Misconduct Summary |
| FRA – Robinio Vaz (caution) | 20th minute |
| USA – Jaidyn Contreras (caution) | 75 |
| USA – Zackory Campagnolo (caution) | 90+3 |
Officials:
Referee: Jonathan Jaussi
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Morf
Assistant Referee 2: François Bonjour
Fourth Official: Antoine Lehman
The U.S. remained unbeaten in the UEFA Friendship Cup following a 2-0 win over Argentina in its second Group A match. The team was led by goals from Jaidyn Contreras and Braden Dunham in the first half to secure three points and the top spot in Group A.
Just eight minutes into the match, the U.S. cashed in on an attacking throw-in, with Contreras finding Dino Klapija in the attacking third. Klapija then dribbled a few yards into the teeth of the defense before quickly slipping a ball through his defenders and finding a hard charging Contreras coming into the box. With just the goalkeeper to beat, Contreras placed his right-footed shot on the inside of the far-right post to make it 1-0.
The USA doubled its lead in the 20th minute off a corner kick. Marvin Dills sent an in-swinging kick into the center of the six-yard box and found the head of Dunham, who calmly headed the ball down and past the helpless goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
Goalkeeper Kayne Rizvanovich wasn’t challenged much over the course of play, but passed his toughest test came in the 26th minute. Off a free kick, Rizvanovich was forced to make a diving stop to his right to keep the ball out of the net. The rebound fell to an Argentine attacker, who sent another shot on frame, but it was cleared off the line by Contreras.
With the three points from the win, the U.S. now sits atop Group A with five points.
Group A Standings
| TEAM | GP | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | PTS |
| USA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 |
| FRANCE | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 4 |
| ARGENTINA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
| AUSTRALIA | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 1 |
-U.S. UNDER-18 MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-
Match: United States U-18 Men's Youth National Team vs. Argentina
Date: June 4, 2025
Competition: International Friendly – UEFA Friendship Cup
Venue: Colovray Pitch 6 Colovray Sports Centre, Nyon, Switzerland
Kickoff: 10:30 a.m. local (4:30 a.m. ET)
Weather: 65, cloudy
| Scoring Summary | 1 | 2 | F |
| USA | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| ARG | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| USA – Jaidyn Contreras (Din Klapija) | 8th minute |
| USA – Braden Dunham (Marvin Dills) | 45+3 |
Lineups:
USA: 12-Kayne Rizvanovich; 3-Dominik Chong-Qui (Capt.), 5-Kaiden Moore, 14-Braden Dunham, 15-Tyson Pearce (2-Andrew Baiera, 66), 17-Blake willey (16-Snyder Brunell, 89), 8-Marvin Dills (10-Santiago Morales, 60), 18-Nathan Worth (6-Colin Guske, 66); 11-Jaidyn Contreras (7-Leonardo Orejarena, 46), 9-Din Klapija (20-Justin Ellis, 60). 13-Santiago Pita (19-Colton Swan, 60)
Subs not used: 1-Zackory Campagnolo. 4-Jackson Platts
Head Coach: Marlon LeBlanc
ARG: 1-Lucas Cuffia; 3-Mauricio Ponce, 6-Junior Flores (14-Mateo López, 73), 2-Jonás Ravano, 15-André Maldonado (4-Ramiro Montenegro, 73); 5-Nahuel Flamenco (18-Gonzalo Vega, 66), 10-Iván Barbona (Capt.) (19-Gabriel Vaázquez, 80), 8-Facundo Yozwiak (16-Valentín Huertas, 73); 7-Luciano Leguizamón, 9-Matías Córdoba (20-Ciro Florentín, 80), 17-Tobías Pérez (11-BrunoMascheroni, 46)
Subs not used: 12- Alfonso Álvarez, 13- Mauricio Aravena
Head Coach: Cladio Gugnali
Stats Summary: USA / ARG
Shots: /
Shots on Goal: 9 / 7
Saves: /
Corner Kicks: 2 / 1
Fouls: 5 / 6
Offside: 2 / 6
| Misconduct Summary |
| FRA – André Maldonado (caution) | 20th minute |
| USA – Facundo Yozwiak (caution) | 47 |
| USA – Nathan Worth (caution) | 62 |
| USA – Andrew Baiera (caution) | 88 |
| USA – Gabriel Vaázquez (caution) | 89 |
| USA – Jonás Ravano (caution) | 89 |