Qualifying adventures in store for U.S. youth teams

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Later this year, the FIFA Under-20 World Cup will be played in Egypt and the FIFA Under-17 World Cup will be played in Nigeria.

Getting there is going to be an adventure for the U.S. teams.

Coach Thomas Rongen’s under-20 squad will travel to Bacolet, Tobago, this spring to play Jamaica, El Salvador and either Honduras or St. Vincent and the Grenadines. If the U.S. finishes in the top two, it will not only advance to the tournament’s final four in Jamaica but will clinch a place in the Sept. 25-Oct. 2 world championship in Egypt.

Also playing in the tournament are Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago.

Coach Wilmer Cabrera’s under-17 team will play its qualifying tournament closer to home -- in Tiajuana, Mexico, where it will take on Canada, Cuba and Honduras at the Estadio Caliente between April 21 and May 2.

A top-three finish in the tournament, which also includes Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago, would secure a place in the world championship in Nigeria on Oct. 24-Nov. 15. The U.S. is the only team to qualify for every under-17 World Cup since the first in China in 1985.

-- Grahame L. Jones