The U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team learned its fate for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup on Thursday.
Raphael Wicky’s side have been paired with Senegal, Japan, and the Netherlands in Group D of this Fall’s tournament in Brazil.
Wicky’s side will find the Netherlands the toughest showdown, while Japan and Senegal are no slouches either. The team last played in May, losing to El Tri 2-1 in the Concacaf U-17 Championship Final.
Gianluca Busio and and Giovanni Reyna will be two expected leaders for Wicky’s team, while Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez and Griffin Yow are also experienced players at this level.
Fellow Concacaf representatives Mexico, Canada, and Haiti also learned their opponents for group stage play.
Canada was paired with hosts Brazil, as well as New Zealand and Angola. Mexico’s toughest match will come against Italy in Group F, while Haiti faces the likes of France and South Korea in Group C.
Group stage play begins on October 26th. A full list of all six groups can be found here.
Your #U17WC line-up! 🙌
Here's how 24 teams will line up across six groups in Brazil, with @CBF_Futebol meeting @CanadaSoccerEN in the tournament-opener on 26 October 🏟️
Which group is toughest? 🤔
🇦: 🇧🇷🇨🇦🇳🇿🇦🇴
🇧: 🇳🇬🇭🇺🇪🇨🇦🇺
🇨: 🇰🇷🇭🇹🇫🇷🇨🇱
🇩: 🇺🇸🇸🇳🇯🇵🇳🇱
🇪: 🇪🇸🇦🇷🇹🇯🇨🇲
🇫: 🇸🇧🇮🇹🇵🇾🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/w3e1y9gP8h— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) July 11, 2019
Reyna scores in his first U19 friendly and will apparently joining the first team on their US tour. Most likely just for marketing but look how well Chris Richards did with a similar opportunity last season.
Yeah he is joining dortmund’s first team for the U.S. tour
Kobe Hernandez-Foster’s breakout tourney.
prepare for the hype