The U.S. Under-20 men’s national team finished off group stage play at the FIFA U-20 World Cup on Friday, using a first-half goal from Cade Cowell to claim its third victory in Argentina.
Cowell’s opening goal in the 38th minute proved to be the difference as Mikey Varas’ squad edged Slovakia 2-0 in their group stage finale. Niko Tsakiris added a late stoppage-time insurance goal for the Americans while Gabriel Slonina registered four saves to earn his third clean sheet.
Caleb Wiley and Cowell both had early opportunities denied by Slovakia goalkeeper Adam Hrdina before Justin Che and Obed Vargas were also repelled in the opening 25 minutes.
However, after Slovakia registered its first warning shot of the watch, the Americans hit back with the opening goal. Cowell’s low left-footed drive nestled past Hrdina into the bottom-left corner for a 1-0 USMNT U-20 advantage.
It marked Cowell’s second goal of the U-20 World Cup.
Cowell and Slovakia’s Dominik Snajder traded shots in the second half as both teams tried to find the net.
Diego Luna rattled the right post in the 67th minute, coming close to finding the back of the net for the second-consecutive match.
Slovakia pushed for a tying goal, but couldn’t find one as the USMNT U-20’s hung on to end the group stage unbeaten. Timotej Jambor’s long-range effort in stoppage time was denied by Slonina in the final stages of the match.
Niko Tsakiris finished off Quinn Sullivan’s assist in the 96th minute to celebrate his first goal of the competition.
The Americans will now face a third place finisher in either Group A, C, or D on May 30.