With a win or a draw against Panama in the 2017 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship on March 3, 2017, Costa Rica (pictured) with qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. (Photo: Straffon Images)

2017 CONCACAF UNDER-20 CHAMPIONSHIP
Costa Rica
February 17-March 5, 2017

MARCH 3, 2017
Estadio Nacional – San Jose, Costa Rica 

Qualification Stage

GROUP D
USA v El Salvador, 6:30 p.m. ET
All-Time CU20 series (8 games played) – Wins: USA-4, SLV-3; Draws: 1; Goals: USA-11, SLV-11 

- Last CU20 Meeting: January 24, 2015 (at Montego Bay, Jamaica) – USA 2, El Salvador 0 … Ben Spencer (36’) & Paul Arriola (67’) scored in a as the USA qualified for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup

USA
- 2017 CU20 Group B Results: 0-1 loss v Panama; 4-1 win v Panama (Brooks Lennon 28' pen; 53, 58’; Luca de la Torre 52'); 4-1 win v St. Kitts & Nevis (Brooks Lennon 16’; Jonathan Lewis 20’; Sebastian Saucedo 41’) … Qualification Stage: 1-0 win v Mexico (Erik Palmer Brown 29’)
- Appearances: 23 (1964, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
- Best Finish: Runner-up-6 (1980, 1982, 1986, 1992, 2009, 2013)
- Record: 66W-19D-28L (227GF, 97GA)
- Qualification: automatic North American entrant
- Forward Coy Craft (FC Dallas), defenders Justen Glad (Real Salt Lake) and Erik Palmer-Brown (Sporting Kansas City), as well as midfielders Sebastian Saucedo (Real Salt Lake) and Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls), all have Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League experience
- Erik Palmer-Brown appeared in 1 game at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing the entire 90 minutes in a 3-0 loss v Ukraine
- Tyler Adams (3 games/0 goals), Fulham midfielder Luca De La Torre (3/0) and Philadelphia Union defender Auston Trusty (1/0) represented USA at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup
- Luca De La Torre scored 1 goal in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (1 v Honduras)
- USA head coach Tab Ramos played in 2 games at 1983 FIFA U-20 World Cup (then known as FIFA Youth Championship)
- 7W-0D-1L in last 8 CU20 games
- Conceded 1 goal or fewer in last 10 CU20 games
- Conceded 0 goals in last 3 CU20 games v El Salvador
- Scored at least 1 goal in 6 of 7 all-time CU20 meetings v El Salvador
- Brooks Lennon scored 3 goals in 4-1 win v Haiti, 1st USA player to score 3 goals in a CU20 match since Romain Gall netted a hat-trick in 8-0 win v Aruba on January 14, 2015
- U-20 World Cup Appearances: 14 (1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015) 

El Salvador
- 2017 CU20 Group C Results: 1-0 win v Costa Rica (Roberto Dominguez 65’); 3-1 win v Bermuda (Roberto Dominguez 21'; Fernando Castillo 65'; Josue Rivera 67'); 1-2 loss v Trinidad & Tobago (Jose Enrique Contreras 50’) … Qualification Stage: 1-6 loss v Mexico (Fernando Castillo 65’)
- Appearances: 16 (1962, 1964, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1996, 2002, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2017)
- Best Finish: Champion-1 (1964)
- Record: 27W-15D-31L (107GF, 106GA)
- Qualification: 2nd Place, Central America
- Qualification Record: W-2; D-1; L-1; GF-9; GA-4
- Qualification Results: Honduras 2, El Salvador 1; Guatemala 2, El Salvador 2; El Salvador 4, Nicaragua 0; Panama 0, El Salvador 2
- Qualification Scorers: Roberto Dominguez (2); Fernando Castillo, Jose Enrique Contreras, Marvin Marquez, Brayan Paz, Kevin Reyes, Marco Rodriguez, Denilson Rosales (1)
- One of 5 teams to win the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship title … Mexico-13, Canada-2, Costa Rica-2, Honduras-2 are the others
- Four years ago, qualified to a FIFA U-20 World Cup for first time … captured third place at 2013 CONACACF Under-20 Championship, edging Cuba in the match for third place, 1-0, on Roberto Gonzalez’s stoppage time goal.
- Defender Roberto Dominguez: appeared in 4 games as El Salvador finished third in last month’s Copa Centroamericana and earned place in the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup … named 2017 Copa Centroamericana’s best young player … started in each of Santa Tecla’s 4 games in the 2015/16 Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League
- Defender Oscar Menjivar: on El Salvador’s 2017 Copa Centroamericana roster, but he didn’t see any action.
- With 9 goals, top scoring team in Central American under-20 qualifying
- Unbeaten in 8 of last 12 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship games (5W-3D-4L), but has lost 4 of last 7
- 10 of last 11 CU20 goals have been scored in the 2nd half
- Last CU20 win v USA: 3-1 on August 20, 1994, in Puerto Cortes, Honduras
- U-20 World Cup Appearances: 1 (2013)

SCENARIOS
- With draw or win, USA will qualify for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup and to the CU20 final
- El Salvador needs to win by 3 goals in order to qualify for FIFA Under-20 World Cup. If this happens, Mexico will join Honduras in the CU20 final 

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GROUP E
Panama v Costa Rica, 9:00 p.m. ET
All-Time CU20 series (1 game played) – Wins: PAN-0, CRC-0; Draws: 1; Goals: PAN-1, CRC-1 

- Last CU20 Meeting: January 12, 2005 (at Carson, California, USA) – Costa Rica 1, Panama 1

Panama
- 2017 CU20 Group B Results: 1-0 win v USA (Leandro Avila 37’); 4-0 win v St. Kitts & Nevis (Andres Andrade 39'; Leandro Avila 46'; Ricardo Avila 57' pen, 65'); 3-1 win v Haiti (Ricardo Avila 12’ pen, 73’ pen; Leandro Avila 88’) … Qualification Stage: 0-2 loss v Honduras
- Appearances: 10 (1962, 1964, 1984, 2002, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
- Best Finish: Runner-up-1 (2015)
- Record: 20W-6D-10L (56GF, 41GA)
- Qualification: 4th Place, Central America
- Qualification Record: W-1; D-1; L-2; GF-7; GA-4
- Qualification Results: Panama 6, Nicaragua 0; Panama 0, Guatemala 1; Panama 1, Honduras 1; Panama 0, El Salvador 2
- Qualification Scorers: Leandro Avila (3); Isidoro Hinestroza (2); Ricardo Avila, Cesar Blackman (1)
- Ronaldo Cordoba: with 6 goals, top scorer in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship
- Oliver Beckles: scored 3 goals in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship
- Leandro Avila: scored 2 goals in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship
- Justin Simons; made 1 appearance in the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing the entire 90 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Ghana
- Went unbeaten in the 2015 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship, posting a 5W-1D-0L record
- Prior to Monday’s 0-2 loss v Honduras, conceded 1 goal or fewer in previous 9 CU20 games, including 7 shutouts
- Prior to Monday’s 0-2 loss v Honduras, scored at least 1 goal in each of previous 12 CU20 games
- 9-game CU20 unbeaten streak ended in Monday’s 0-2 loss v Honduras (8W-1D-1L)
- U-20 World Cup Appearances: 5 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2015) 

Costa Rica
- 2017 CU20 Group C Results: 0-1 loss v El Salvador; 1-0 win v Trinidad & Tobago (Randall Leal 54’); 2-1 win v Bermuda (own goal, Tevahn Tyrell 43'; Randall Leal 50') … Qualification Stage: 1-2 loss v Mexico (Andy Reyes 47’)
- Appearances: 19 (1962, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017)
- Best Finish: Champion-2 (1988, 2009)
- Record: 48W-15D-21L (181GF, 83GA)
- Qualification: Host
- 11 players saw action in run to 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup quarterfinals
- Forward Andy Reyes: with 5 goals, second leading scorer in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship; netted in 2-1 win over South Africa in 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
- Midfielder Luis Hernandez played every minute of Costa Rica’s U-17 World Cup campaign; scored 1 goal in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship
- Goalkeeper Alejandro Barrientos and defender Pablo Arboine also played every minute in 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup
- Forward Kevin Masis: scored 1 goal in 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup; scored 2 goals in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship
- Midfielder Diego Mesen: scored 1 goal in 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup goal
- Forward Jostin Daly: scored 3 goals in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship
- Forward Jonathan Martinez: scored 1 goal in 2015 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship
- Midfielder Roberto Cordoba: appeared in all 5 games in 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup
- In last CONCACAF Under-20 Championship appearance in 2013, lost two games, which was the same number suffered in its previous three participations combined
- Prior to losing 2 games in the 2013 CU20, lost 1 match or fewer in previous 11 appearances
- U-20 World Cup Appearances: 8 (1989, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2011) 

SCENARIOS
- Panama needs win v Costa Rica to qualify for 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup
- With draw or win v Panama, Costa Rica will qualify for 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup