The U.S. Under-20 men’s national team has learned its opponents for this spring’s 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina.
Ecuador, Fiji, and Slovakia will face off with Mikey Varas’ side in Group B of the upcoming youth tournament. The FIFA U-20 World Cup will run from May 20 to June 11 in Argentina after FIFA pulled the hosting rights from Indonesia.
The USMNT U-20’s are the only team to reach the quarterfinals of the last three FIFA U-20 World Cups. The Americans are also one of three countries to qualify to each of the last five U-20 World Cups alongside New Zealand and Uruguay.
The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup features 24 countries divided into six groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group, as well as the four best third-place teams advance to the Round of 16.
A knockout bracket will be used for the remainder of the tournament.
The USMNT U-20’s will square off with Ecuador for the third-consecutive edition of the tournament. Ecuador eliminated the Americans from the 2019 tournament with a 2-1 defeat in the quarterfinals.
Ecuador clinched South America’s final World Cup spot with a fourth-place finish in the final group stage at the 2023 CONMEBOL U-20 Championship.
The USMNT U-20’s have never faced Fiji or Slovakia in U-20 World Cup play as both are appearing in their second tournaments. Fiji finished as runner-up at the 2022 OFC U-19 Championship and Slovakia won a playoff match against Austria to secure UEFA’s fifth and final World Cup berth.
Kevin Paredes, Paxten Aaronson, Quinn Sullivan, and Jack McGlyn headline the top talent in the USMNT U-20 player pool ahead of the tournament.