Why am I posting about this now when the qualifying tournament doesn't start until the summer? Because it turns out pre-qualification, or whatever you want to call it, is happening now, with 17 teams competing across 4 groups to see which 4 will join, if I understand things correctly, the 12 that advance out of the "main" group stage (in which the U.S. is participating) into the all-important knockout rounds. You got that? I'm ... really not sure I do. But anyway, CONCACAF is tracking it here: https://www.concacaf.com/en/under-20s-men Setup story here: https://www.concacaf.com/en/under-2...to-reach-concacaf-men-s-under-20-championship Short blurbs on the qualifying nations' programs are here: https://res.cloudinary.com/concacaf...9/concacaf-prod/assets/ENG___2020CU20Mens.pdf
The standings appear to be here, though (perhaps oddly, but maybe that's just how it goes) according to them it looks like only one group has played multiple matches. Nicaragua is in the driver's seat in Group A after three games, three wins and 14 goals for, none allowed. https://www.concacaf.com/en/under-20s-men-qualifying/schedule-and-results#tab_team=standings
Based on a quick skim, it looks like either Nicaragua or Guyana will win Group A; Grenada or the Dominican Republic will win Group B; Guadeloupe has won Group C; and Barbados or the Cayman Islands will win Group D.
It seems that all the games are done and Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe and Barbados will advance. So, again, these 4 teams are waiting for the 12 teams from the group stage (in which the U.S. is participating), which will fill out the knockout stage. Of some note, perhaps, to the U.S. pool, while probably unsurprising Alec Diaz played for Puerto Rico in this round and, I assume, is therefore officially ineligible for the U.S. U20s.
So it was better to be the 17th ranked nation and get drawn into a group with teams anywhere from 18-41 in Concacaf then to be ranked 16th and end up needing to advance to the knockout against a group of teams ranked anywhere from 1-15. Or more concretely... Aruba's (16th) path to the knockout round involves having to play Canada, Mexico and El Salvador and come in 3rd while the Dominican Republic's (17th) path to the knockout was Grenada, Dominica, and Anguilla and needing to come in first. I'd probably vote the latter if I had a choice.