2024 CONCACAF U20 Championship: All Teams & Tournament Thread

So that horrible pitch from last night was a *new* pitch? Heaven help any teams that are used to passing on the ground.

 

With Guatemala leading Haiti 4-0 at HT and if this margin hold up they will finish with a better GD than ES who is also on three points. Some have said we'll play ES in the quarters. Wouldn't it now be Guatemala?

 

Will these dramatic twists and turns of fate never cease?!?

 

Here's hoping Mexico-Panama is 0-0 and comes down to which team gets more yellow cards in the game for the tiebreaker.

 

It's the rainy season in Central Mexico. They were nuts hosting the tournament there.

 

It is.

 

According to Guatemala, we face them on the 30th:

🇬🇹Guatemala Sub20 clasifica a ᴄᴜᴀʀᴛᴏꜱ ᴅᴇ ꜰɪɴᴀʟ ᴅᴇʟ ᴘʀᴇᴍᴜɴᴅɪᴀʟ ᴅᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴄᴀᴄᴀꜰ.

🇬🇹ɢᴜᴀᴛᴇᴍᴀʟᴀ 🆚 ᴇꜱᴛᴀᴅᴏꜱ ᴜɴɪᴅᴏꜱ🇺🇸
🗓️30•07•24
⏱️3:00ᴘᴍ#VamosGuate #ModoSelección 💪🏽💙⚽️🇬🇹 pic.twitter.com/amdGIg0TFd

— FEDEFUT GUATE (@fedefut_oficial) July 28, 2024

 

Panama are good. Really good. They are deservedly up on Mexico 1 goal at the half.

 

Mexico draws Panama at the death, 1-1, so the Quarters are set …

USA v Guatemala

Canada v Panama

Honduras v Cuba

Mexico v Costa Rica

 

Feel bad for Panama somehow, someway El Tri always seems to find a way to pull off this late game bull--- against other Central American and Caribbean foes, even Canada. So frustrating. I wonder if us vs Panama in the semifinals is actually worse than us vs El Tri.

 

Panama has an excellent record recently against Mexico in the U20s. This time, though, it's in Mexico. I was not expecting them to stay so even in the group stage results and game.

 

Will Canada have a chance anymore now that they won't be able to spy on other teams?

 

The bracket:

The #U20Championship quarterfinals are set. ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/nO2Qi5AEKt

— Concacaf (@Concacaf) July 28, 2024

 

This round is for the World Cup?

 

Yep, the top 4 make the u-20 World Cup.

 

Where is the World Cup? Its sad, but whether or not the Cuban players can defect could play a role in their level of motivation.

 

They haven't yet. Then again, even Cubans would pause at defecting in Celaya.

 

No doubt.

I read its in Chile?

 

Yup. And a bunch of the participants are already known.
The European entries are already known as they were based on the U19 Euros.

Guess who won the U19 Euros? Spain.

Like......................Spain won the U19 Euros, were a finalist at the last U21 Euros, have a shot at the Olympics, and were Euros champions.

And its France I always talk about as the best in the world.

[Spain is thus one that already qualified for the 2025 U20 World Cup. As has France.]

 

Here they come again…

 

Spain gets more from their teams than France does. France may get a reputation as under performing their talent at every level soon. Even if this Olympics is won by France they aren't really impressing are they? I guess it's easier for countries that have most of their players in their own league where they all play a similar style than those where they are spread out all over (of course Argentina just won the WC doing just that and England hasn't won in ages).

 

What France and Spain have is bulk in terms of "players in top 5 European leagues."

I think I saw somewhere that in 2023/2024, its actually Spain that has the most overall. Frace with the most U21s? Something like that.

For a tournament like the U20 World Cup, its quality that's more important than quantity. And you likely aren't bringing the top U20s like Yamine Lamal or somebody elite anyway. So its a little misleading.

[Just like some of the elite Americans like Pulisic that didn't go to the U20WC.]