MIAMI, Florida – This Friday at 7:00 PM ET, Concacaf will be airing a re-broadcast of two matches from the 2018 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship: The Qualification Stage Group H match between Panama and Mexico and the Final between the United States and Mexico. The matches can be seen on Concacaf’s YouTube and Facebook pages, plus the Concacaf App.
The Qualification Stage saw the U.S., Honduras and Costa Rica placed into Group G with the top two sides looking to punch their ticket to the 2019 FIFA Men’s Under-20 World Cup.
Honduras taking on Costa Rica was the first clash of the group and the Catrachos struck first with a fine left-footed finish from Josue Villafranca off a corner kick in the 20’ to hand Honduras a 1-0 lead.
But a red card later in the half for Honduras gave Costa Rica a needed lift and the Ticos took advantage to pull level in the 47’ through Andres Gomez, whose right-footed strike made for a 1-1 finish between the two teams.
Next up for Costa Rica was a date with the U.S. and 2018 CMU20 Golden Ball winner Alex Mendez broke the deadlock in style for the North Americans with a left-footed rocket into the top left cornet of net for a 1-0 lead in the 15’.
Four minutes later in the 19’, Uly Llanez doubled the U.S. lead to 2-0 with a strong right-footed shot, which was followed by Juan Pablo Torres scoring in the 49’ to extend the U.S. advantage to 3-0. The night was then capped by Ayo Akinola’s spinning header off a free kick to seal the 4-0 victory.
The victory punched the U.S.’s ticket to the World Cup, but they were hungry for a place in the Final and looked to take down a Honduras side that had World Cup aspirations of their own.
It was a tight, physical contest between the two teams, but in the end Akinola’s right-footed shot in the 51’ off a pass from Brandon Servania was the difference in a 1-0 win for the U.S.
The result earned the U.S. a place in the Final, while Honduras advanced to the 2019 Men’s Under-20 World Cup with a second-place finish based on a superior goal difference with Costa Rica.
