USYNT U17s Breeze Through World Cup Qualifying

Over the past week, the star-studded USA U17s traveled to Costa Rica and won all three of their games in the CONCACAF U17 Championship to punch their ticket to the World Cup, which will take place from November 5-27 in Qatar. This competition has traditionally been a regular tournament, but due to the expansion to a 48 team World Cup the format changed. The 35 nations were drawn into 8 groups, with each group winner qualifying for the World Cup and the knockout stage being scrapped. The CONCACAF nations that won their groups and will compete in Qatar are Haiti, the USA, Panama, El Salvador, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Honduras. This marks the 19th U17 World Cup that the USA has qualified for, the most of any nation in the world.

USA U17 22-0 US Virgin Islands U17

The Americans started their qualification campaign with a bang, setting multiple records with a 22-0 win over the US Virgin Islands. This was the largest margin of victory by any USA team in World Cup qualifying (previously 13-0 over USVI at the U20 level) and the largest margin of victory in the CONCACAF U17 Championship (previously 12-0). San Jose Earthquakes homegrown winger Chance Cowell got the scoring started in the 2nd minute after being teed up by Chase Adams. The lead was doubled in the 5th minute as LAFC homegrown midfielder Jude Terry found captain Máximo Carrizo for another tap-in. The next few minutes were the Chase Adams show, as the Columbus Crew academy striker scored a quickfire hat trick with goals in the 8th, 9th, and 13th minutes. Captain Carrizo got his brace in the 15th minute with a great run through several USVI defenders and a perfectly placed finish into the bottom left corner. The NYCFC homegrown then turned provider as he found Chase Adams in the 19th minute for the striker’s 4th goal of the game. Carrizo wasn’t done yet, as he completed his hat trick in the 28th minute to make it 8-0. Not satisfied with his tally, Chase Adams then scored another 3 goals in the 31st, 33rd, and 38th, with both Jude Terry and Lorenzo Cornelius picking up their 2nd assists of the game in the process. The rapid goals continued for the rest of the first half as Chance Cowell got his brace in the 40th, Pedro Guimaraes scored a beauty in the 41st, and Jude Terry scored his first in the 43rd. The score was 14-0 at halftime. In the 2nd half, the Americans took their foot off the gas a little bit but still ran up the score as Ramiz Hamouda (51st), Jude Terry (52nd), and Chase Adams (55th) made it 17-0 with quick goals. Carrizo scored his 4th in the 67th and Adams netted his 9th in the 75th before the Philadelphia Union academy contingent came off the bench and contributed. Winger Jamir Johnson beat his man and sent in a cross that found Chase Adams for a mind-blowing 10 goal game, reminiscent of Erling Haaland’s famous 9 goal performance for Norway’s U20s just a few years ago. Johnson then got on the scoresheet himself after a beautiful through ball from Union teammate Jordan Griffin in the 79th minute. Finally, the scoring was capped off by the final Union sub Kellan LeBlanc, who slotted it past the keeper after a through ball from Pedro Guimaraes. Overall, an incredible performance from the USA U17s in a match where they outshot their opponents 53-0.

USA U17 7-0 St. Kitts & Nevis U17

Next up on the path to qualification was a match against St. Kitts & Nevis just two days after the 22-0 win. The short turnaround meant heavy rotation, with 9 of the 11 starters from the first match being replaced. With mainly the backups in, it took the USA a little longer to open the scoring but still found a breakthrough relatively quickly through Real Salt Lake academy winger Axel Uriostegui in the 11th minute thanks to a mistake trying to play it out from the back from St. Kitts & Nevis. The lead was doubled in the 19th minute as a cross from Kellan LeBlanc found Tanner Rosborough, who managed to redirect it to a wide-open Cristiano Oliveira for an easy finish. New York Red Bulls academy striker Rosborough had a chance to get on the scoresheet himself in the 23rd minute as he won a penalty, but saw his effort from the spot saved well by the opposing keeper. However, he made up for it just 2 minutes later by getting to a long ball from Ramiz Hamouda and finishing well. Play was stopped for a while in the 34th minute due to lights in the stadium going out, which led to 11 minutes of stoppage time. In the last of those 11 minutes, Jamir Johnson beat 2 defenders and tried a shot, which was saved but fell right to Rosborough who put away the rebound for a brace to close out the half. The US dominance continued into the 2nd half, as a corner kick eventually fell to LA Galaxy academy center back Enrique Martinez’s head and ended up in the back of the net. Rosborough completed his hat trick in the 69th minute with a great header off a LeBlanc corner and brought his goal tally to 4 in the 84th following a cross from Uriostegui. Ultimately, the 7-0 scoreline wasn’t as dominant as some hoped, but it was still a comprehensive victory from a rotated team.

USA U17 2-0 Cuba U17

The final nation standing in the way of the USA U17s in their quest to qualify for the World Cup was Cuba, who had also won their first 2 matches. The Americans only needed a draw in this match to advance due to a much higher goal differential, but a win was still the expectation as the strongest possible lineup was named by head coach Gonzalo Segares. Cuba’s game plan was clear from the start as they defended in a low block, giving the USA attack issues. After chances from Cowell and Guimaraes went begging, the opening goal finally came for the USA in the 23rd minute. Good wing play from Jamir Johnson got the ball to captain Máximo Carrizo, who found Chase Adams for the Crew product’s 11th goal of the tournament. Johnson and Carrizo were involved again just a few minutes later, as the Union winger beat his defender on the right side and put in a pinpoint cross for the NYCFC starlet to double the USA advantage. The threats didn’t stop there, but the finishing touch was missing as chance after chance was wasted by the USA. The game did not end without controversy, as a horrible tackle in the 89th minute from Cuba Jennier Batista on Kellan LeBlanc saw Batista shown a straight red. LeBlanc avoided major injury, but there should still be further punishment by CONCACAF. Luckily, a strong defensive performance led by Chicago Fire center back Christopher Cupps allowed the Americans to comfortably hold on for a 2-0 victory and qualify for the U17 World Cup without conceding a single goal.

USA U17 GOAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Chase Adams: 11 goals, 1 assist

Máximo Carrizo: 5 goals, 2 assists

Tanner Rosborough: 4 goals, 1 assist

Jude Terry: 2 goals, 2 assists

Chance Cowell: 2 goals, 1 assist

Jamir Johnson: 1 goal, 2 assists

Pedro Guimaraes: 1 goal, 2 assists

Ramiz Hamouda: 1 goal, 2 assists

Lorenzo Cornelius: 0 goals, 3 assists

Kellan LeBlanc: 1 goal, 1 assist

Axel Uriostegui: 1 goal, 1 assist

Cristiano Oliveira: 1 goal, 0 assists

Enrique Martinez: 1 goal, 0 assists

Jordan Griffin: 0 goals, 1 assist