U-20 Men's Youth National Team

The United States has qualified for 17 of 23 all-time U-20 World Cups, tied for second-most in the world with Argentina. The USA has made it out of the group stage 11 times at the competition with the high watermark coming in 1989. Led by future legendary MNT goalkeeper Kasey Keller, the U.S. finished fourth place in Saudi Arabia that year. Keller took home the Silver Ball at the tournament, while fellow future senior team players Mike Burns, Neil Covone and Chris Henderson also played key roles. While the U-20s advanced from group play with just one win, the USA took down Iraq in the quarterfinals before falling in extra time to Nigeria in the semis.

A who’s who of MNT all-timers have played in the U-20 World Cup. In total, 43 players have represented the USA in both a U-20 and senior World Cup tournament. Former U-20 MNT head coach Tab Ramos was a part of the USA’s second U-20 World Cup squad in 1983 at just 16 years old. Jeff Agoos, Marcleo Balboa, Tony Meloa and Keller all played the 1987 edition in Chile. In 1999, Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo and Tim Howard were part of the USA team in Nigeria, while Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Oguchi Onyewu represented the red, white and blue in 2001 in Argentina. Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey took the field for the U.S. in Saudi Arabia in 2003.