The US Under-20s kept their World Cup qualification hopes alive on Wednesday, beating Trinidad & Tobago 1-0 in Montego Bay, Jamaica to progress at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.
Tab Ramos’ side finished the group stage with a 3-1-1 record, good for second-place in Group A. They’ll be the top seed in a four-team playoff that will yield two U-20 World Cup spots, taking on one of Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba or Canada on Saturday for a berth at this summer’s tournament in New Zealand.
Panama – which beat the US 1-0 earlier in the tournament – and Mexico qualified directly for the U-20 World Cup by virtue of winning their groups at the CONCACAF U-20 Championship.
- CONCACAF U-20 Championship: Check out the full schedule, results and standings
Guatemala finished third in Group A, and will join the US in this weekend’s four-team playoff. El Salvador, Honduras and Cuba are in contention for the playoff spots from Group B, which will conclude play on Thursday.
LA Galaxy forward Bradford Jamieson IV had the game’s lone goal in the 78th minute, giving the Americans – which needed a win or a draw to advance to the playoff – more than enough to move on.
The US had the better of the play in the first half, creating good chances in the sixth, 30th and 42nd minutes. Columbus Crew SC midfielder Romain Gall had the best look, controlling defender John Requejo’s low cross in the left side of the area before dragging a 10-yard effort wide of the far post at the half hour mark.
Trinidad & Tobago’s lone chance of the first half came in the 11th minute, when forward Aikim Andrews rolled one wide of the far post from an open position in the right side of the area.
Jamieson came agonizingly close to putting the US ahead in the 49th minute. Midfielder Emerson Hyndman lofted a free kick in from the right side, with forward Ben Spencer nodding a header down to Jamieson at the top of the six. The Galaxy attacker put his shot past T&T and Houston Dynamo academy ‘keeper Johan Welch, only to have it cleared off the line by a T&T defender.
Jamieson had yet another look in the 60th, cutting in from the right wing on his left foot and lashing a 20-yarder inches wide of the near post.
The US’s inability to find the net kept things on edge, as a Trinidad & Tobago win would have eliminated the Americans and propelled the Soca Warriors to the four-team playoff.
T&T made things very interesting in the 74th and 75th minutes, when Virginia Tech forward Ricardo John sent a free header of a corner kick just wide and unmarked defender Leland Archer forced goalkeeper Zach Steffen into a save.
Jamieson scored the winner soon after, putting the exclamation point on a counterattack to give the US the 1-0 lead. Substitute Junior Flores led the break, playing Tijuana midfielder Paul Arriola through on the right side. Arriola dribbled into the box, rolling a cross to the top of the six, where his former LA Galaxy academy teammate finished with his first touch.
Flores had a chance to make it 2-0 in the 85th minute, but Welch came up with a big save to deny the Borussia Dortmund youth player.
The US will learn its U-20 World Cup fate on Saturday, taking on the fourth-seeded playoff team in a winner-take-all match at 5 p.m. ET in Montego Bay.
