MIAMI, Florida – Both the United States and Guatemala kick off their respective campaigns in the 2023 FIFA Men’s Under-20 World Cup in Argentina on Saturday.
2022 Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championship winners U.S. begin their journey in Group B against Ecuador at the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario in San Juan.
Ironically, the last time the U.S. played a U20 World Cup match, it was also against Ecuador, coming in the quarterfinals at Poland 2019.
The South Americans emerged victorious on that day, 2-1, but now a chance to avenge that defeat is presented to a fresh crop of U.S. players.
Philadelphia Union attacker Quinn Sullivan, author of six goals in last summer’s CMU20, will be one of the players to watch for the U.S., as will San Jose Earthquakes man Cade Cowell and Austin FC winger Owen Wolff.
The U.S. have reached the knockout stage of the last three U20 World Cups and a positive result in their opener on Saturday would go a long way to extending that streak.
Guatemala will be playing in their first U20 World Cup match since 2011 when they face New Zealand to open Group A at the Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero.
FW Arquimides Ordonez is one of the rising stars in the Concacaf region and will be leaned on to supply much of the scoring for the Chapines. The FC Cincinnati man notched five goals in the CMU20, tied for third-most in the tournament.
In the back, Guatemala boast a talented goalkeeper in Jorge Moreno, who showcased his shot-stopping skills in the CMU20.
After saving a penalty in the Round of 16 victory against Canada, Moreno then made a game-saving penalty stop against Mexico in the final minutes of their quarterfinal, and then went on to save another three penalties in the shootout against El Tricolor to help his country secure their World Cup berth.
A win would be Guatemala’s second ever U20 World Cup victory, with their first coming in a 1-0 win over Croatia in 2011.
