SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – The 2022 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship in Honduras is done and dusted following Sunday’s Final in which the United States captured their third straight CMU20 crown with a 6-0 victory over the Dominican Republic.

It was an outstanding tournament performance from the U.S., who completed an unbeaten group stage with two wins and a draw, followed by an impeccable display in the knockout rounds, with four clean sheet victories while outscoring opponents 16-0 in the process.

But the legacy of this edition of the CMU20 will be the history made by several teams.

One of those teams was the Dominican Republic, who reached the Round of 16 of the Championship by advancing from last November’s CMU20 Qualifiers.

Paired against El Salvador in the Round of 16, the Caribbean side and Cuscatlecos delivered one of the most thrilling CMU20 encounters ever, as the Dominican Republic rallied from two second half deficits to claim a 5-4 win.

They then followed that up by becoming the first ever Dominican Republic team to qualify for a World Cup at any age level when they defeated Jamaica 1-0 in the quarterfinals to reach the 2023 FIFA Men’s Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia.

Not to be outdone, more history was made in the semifinals when they survived a penalty shootout against Guatemala, winning 4-2 following a 2-2 draw to secure a first ever Olympic berth for Paris 2024.

While the Chapines fell just short in reaching a first ever Olympics of their own, they did obtain just their second ever U20 World Cup berth (2011) when they eliminated Mexico in the quarterfinals. The hero was GK Jorge Moreno, who saved a penalty in the 88th minute while the game was locked in a 1-1 draw. Moreno them made another three saves in the shootout, giving him a total of five penalty saves during the CMU20.

Another team to accomplish their World Cup goal was Honduras, whose 2-1 victory against Panama in the quarterfinals punched their ticket to Indonesia next year. It never could have happened without the efforts of Marco Aceituno, who finished tied as the second-leading scorer in the CMU20 with six goals.

The aforementioned Moreno and Aceituno were among the top individual performers, but the player who stood tallest was U.S. attacker Paxten Aaronson. The Philadelphia Union man’s brace in the Final not only earned him the Top Scorer Award, but also clinched his standing as the Best Player of the tournament.

Whether it was a star individual performance or a great team accomplishment, history won’t soon forget what was a memorable CMU20.