U20s vs. Morocco, Oct. 12, 2025 (Pre-/PBP/Post-Match Thread)

I would be surprised if Marko changed much from the XI against Italy.

There are only two question marks: 1) Campbell or Brennan and 2) Habroune or Zambrano

Campbell is capable of being a game changer, but he has had a poor tournament. Marko would be justified in benching him. But if he feels Campbell might turn things around, then Campbell remains in the XI. Campbell had 2 assists in the 4-1 win over Morocco during the September window. Meanwhile at this World Cup, Brennan has assists against both France and Italy in limited minutes. It's a tough call

Habroune vs. Zambrano comes down to a tactical question of whether you want a true No. 9 or a false nine.

Besides that, Marko should roll with the same group.

Beaudry
Westfield
Wynder
Kohler
Norris
Raines
Cremaschi
Tsakiris
Gozo
Habroune/Zambrano
Campbell/Brennan

 

A lot Campbell's problems at this tournament are mental. But his lack of a right foot is not. You can't be that one-footed at high levels.

 

Brian - Do you have any info on how the friendlies against Morocco last month went/are you expecting a lot of the same players on both sides?

 

I have to look at the lineups for Morocco.

The U.S. team played their best XI in the first game where they won 4-1. They rotated heavily in the 0-0 draw. Marko told me he was happy with the performances. But he didn't comment on Morocco's lineups. He only talked about his own team.

But I have to see the Morocco lineup. Did they have an best XI in either game or was it a mix for both games? Not sure

 

The two teams played each other just last month, giving us an unusual reference point for comparison.

U-20 MNT Earns Win and Draw vs. Morocco in Final Matches Before World Cup

Gozo, Wynder, Corcoran and Zambrano Tally to Give USA 4-1 Win on Sept. 5; Teams Played to 0-0 Draw on Sept. 7

Lineups - Match one

USA: 1-Diego Kochen, 22-Frankie Westfield (2-Reed Baker-Whiting, 70),16-Ethan Kohler (13-Noah Cobb, 70), 4-Josh Wynder, 3-Nolan Norris (18-Luca Bombino, 70), 19-Matthew Corcoran (15-Pedro Soma, 70),6-Brooklyn Raines (14-David Vazquez, 70), 10-Niko Tsakiras (8-Benjamin Cremaschi, 61), 7-Cole Campbell (11-Luke Brennan, 70), 20-Zavier Gozo (23-Mykhi Joyner, 70), 17-Serge Ngoma (9-Marcos Zambrano, 61)

Subs not used: 5-Matai Akinmboni, 12-Adam Beaudry; 21-Duran Feree

Head Coach: Marko Mitrovic

MAR: 22- Gomes Ibrahim; 3-Mamaar Ali; 19-Bakhty Small; 20-Mesbahi Julien, 25-Habri Issa; 13-Chaikhoun Ayoub, 6-Tajaquart Anas, 26-El Houary Ali, 11-Boumassaoudi Ilias, 17-Yassine Gessime, 21- Zabiri Mohamed Yassir

Subs: 1-Benchaouch Yanis, 12-Mesbahi Abdelhakim; 14-Aouad Ismail, 9-Arguigue Ayman, 23-Boayar Benaisa Adam; 18-Khalifi Yassine, 2-Koutoune Hamza, 7-Maama Othmane, 24-Saad El Haddad, 28- El Bahraoui Younes, 27-Hamony Mohamed, 10-Dahak Mouad; 8-Essadak Hossam; 4-Mahsoubi Ilyass, 15-Zahouani Fouad 26 - Hamdaoui Youssef, 5-Majni Mohamed Taha; 16-Salim Laghzaoui

Head Coach: Mohamed Ouahbi

US Lineup - Match 2

USA: 12-Adam Beaudry (21- Duran Ferree, 59); 2-Reed Baker-Whiting (22-Frankie Westfield, 69); 13-Noah Cobb (16-Ethan Kohler, 59); 8- Benjamin Cremaschi (10-Niko Tsakiris– 59); 5-Matai Akinmboni(3-Nolan Norris, 45); 18-Luca Bombino, 15-Pedro Soma(6-Brooklyn Raines, 72); 14-David Vazquez (19-Matthew Corcoran, 59); 23-Mykhi Joyner(7-Cole Campbell– 59); 9-Marcos Zambrano (17-Serge Ngoma, 59); 11-Luke Brennan (20- Zavier Gozo, 69)

Morocco Lineup - Match 2 - subs (if any) not recorded

MAR: 1-Benchaouch Yanis; 2- Koutoune Hamza; 4-Mahsoubi Ilyass; 5-Majni MohamedT aha 15-Zahouani Fouad, 8-Essadak Hossam; 18-Khalifi Yassine, 24-Saad El Haddad; 7-Maama Othmane; 10-Dahak Mouad

Match report -

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2025/09/u-20-mnt-draw-morocco-final-matches-world-cup

 

Thanks, appreciate it.

 

I think we can beat Morocco. Our team is in good form, we know them well and we beat them before.

 

Morocco has a pretty killer front 4. Yassir Zabiri up top has 3 goals on 1.65 xG in the tournament (he also had the shot that ricocheted for the SK own goal). Saad El Haddad is the attacking midfielder. Gessime Yassine plays all over but is primarily a winger, one of the best players in the tournament so far. Othmane Maama been very good on the opposite wing.

Three of them minus Maama started in the 4-1 defeat to the USA (per Transfermarkt). Yassine scored Morocco's lone goal. Maama, El Haddad, and backup striker Younes Al Bahraoui started in the 0-0 match.

Midfielders Yassine Khalifi and Hossam Essadak appear to be first choice; they started in the 0-0 but were on the bench for the 4-1 game. Essadak started the tournament very well, but may be hurt; he only saw 10 minutes against Mexico and did not play against South Korea.

The defense has seen some turnover since the friendlies - Ismael Baouf is their leading CB and he did not play in either friendly, along with backup LB Mohammed Kebdani. Their starting FBs and other CB both played in the friendlies, but not in both games.

Edited to add: Starting GK Yanis Benchaouch has been outstanding this tournament as well, probably the best individual shotstopper. He was the starter for the 0-0 and DNP in the 4-1. At this level, a good keeper can absolutely be a huge difference maker.

So in short, the team will have seen most of these players before but not at the same time. Neither game had what would be considered a first choice lineup. I think Morocco is the best opponent we will have faced, but still very winnable.

 

IMO the gravity of this game is being severely underplayed. The main talking point about why the USMNT isn't popular is that the USA loves exceptional winners, and the USMNTs/YNTs aren't that.

If the U20s win this quarterfinal game, a US men's team will have a chance to win a medal for the first time in... how long?

If they win this game, this team will start to ever-so-slightly leak into the mainstream sports media. The opportunity for the U20s in a semi-final match will be something regular sports fans will be vaguely aware about, and if they win that game... expect a new level of press for the YNTs.

And to add on top of that, winning these games will lead to offers/transfers for many of these players to Europe. It's career changing for these guys to have performed the way they are.

This is a really big game. I find it easy to forget that.

 

I don't think Habroune was even playing false nine. Pretty sure that he was behind Tsakiris most of the time. Besides he is consistently worse than Zambrano. His attacking contribution just doesn't exist. Zambrano, on another hand, is a strange player. He always looks totally exhausted, 20 feet between the bench and a sideline and his face shows so much suffering that you want to sub a poor kid out instantly.
And then he plays well.
Campbell might be one of those players who are really dangerous if defenders have never seen them before, but easily marked out otherwise. He also refusing to pass the ball period, ether he doesn't want to or has no clue of what's going on on the field. When he wasted 2 straight chances to pass to Gozo who was standing all alone in front of the open net, and went for chipping the keeper (or whatever that was) instead, Gozo's face expression was just funny like he always knew that would happen.

 

We, btw, had our starters (except for Cremaschi) plus Kochen in the first game. As of now the average quality of our players was much higher than opponents and if Beaudry holds on we must win this game even if Campbell has another stinker.

 

Ok, but quarterfinals every cycle for more than a decade is a pretty high baseline. Breaking through and having a single top performance would provide more buzz at this point.

 

Gravity doesn't care if you're convinced or not. It's proportional to the product of the masses, and a U20 Championship would be massive. I guess a quarterfinal victory would not be quite as massive, but the point still stands.

 

I think it's largely meaningless in terms of the senior team big picture.

I think it's amazing for the players. Many of them will never even get a senior team call; to make the semis of any World Cup is fantastic.

As fans, the same is somewhat true. We can simply enjoy it in and of itself as opposed to a signal to some other good.

 

If it was an Olympic medal, I think it’d have an impact.

for a youth tournament like this, as football is going full bore, baseball is halfway through the postseason, the NHL has just started up, and the NBA is right behind…it’s a pretty crowded time for all the McAfees and Stephen A’s. IMO we’d at least have to make the final to get much traction.

 

There was an impact in 2000, but there was also some impact in 1999 when u-17 team had more talent than anything assembled before or after.