The United States U-20 national team has now completed all camps ahead of the U-20 World Cup. Coach Marko Mitrovic will next have his squad together for the final preparations before the tournament’s Sept. 27 kickoff in Chile.

But the months ahead will be an exciting time for the players as competition remains tight as to who will make the team. As MLS resumes play this week, a bulk of the U-20 player pool will look to build up their resumes to be part of the U-20 World Cup, which is one of the world’s most scouted youth tournaments.

The U.S. team was drawn into Group E with New Caledonia, South Africa, and France. Historically, France is very challenging but release issues have hurt them in recent youth World Cups. South Africa, meanwhile, qualified impressively by winning the 2025 U-20 Africa Cup of Nations. New Caledonia will make its debut in the tournament after finishing second in Oceania’ 2024 U-19 championship. 

With four third-place teams advancing, a convincing win over New Caledonia in the opening game on Sept. 27 could go a long way toward reaching the knockout stage.

Here’s a preview of the U.S. team and a look at various issues it faces in the three months ahead of the U-20 World Cup.

Form/Potential and Strengths/Weaknesses

The team qualified for the U-20 World Cup in August 2024 under Coach Michael Nsien and with mixed but ultimately successful performances.

Starting in October, Mitrovic replaced Nsien (as was going to be the case after Mitrovic finished his commitments with the Olympic team). Since then, the team has played very well and achieved impressive results including wins over Chile, South Korea, France, Mexico and Colombia along with a draw against Japan. The only losses this cycle were 1-0 to Chile with an experimental lineup and 1-0 to Norway this past month. 

As a cohesive unit, the team has played very well and if most of that unit is together in September, it could make a run. 

In terms of high-level talent, that remains to be seen. U-20 teams in the past that have omitted players from the U-20 World Cup because they were already with the senior team. There are currently no players in this pool seriously pushing through to the full national team.

Brooklyn Raines, who turned 20 in March, has made nearly 40 MLS appearances for the Houston Dynamo. (Lyndsay Radnedge/ISI Photos)

But that doesn’t mean the team is short on prospects. Several players at their clubs have made the jump from the reserve team or bench and into serious first-team minutes. Some are now playing important roles for good teams. 

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