This Friday, the Concacaf U-20 Championship kicks off in Mexico | OneFootball

MIAMI – The 2024 Concacaf Men's U-20 Championship gets underway with a doubleheader on Friday at the Miguel Aleman Valdez Stadium in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico.

The day’s activities begin with Costa Rica and Cuba in the opening encounter of Group A. The reigning champions, the United States, who look to win for a fourth consecutive edition, meet Jamaica in the second match of the day.

Costa Rica vs. Cuba

Champions in the 1998 and 2009 editions, in addition to two runner-up finishes in 1994

and 2011, Costa Rica will be one of the strong contenders in the CMU20 in Mexico. Los Ticos will look to qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup for a tenth time after being absent since 2017.

Joel Campbell is Costa Rica’s all-time scorer in the CMU20 with six goals. Claudio Montero and Andry Naranjo are two players to watch after both had top performances in the 2023 Concacaf U-17 Championship.

After winning Group A in the 2024 CMU20 qualifiers, Cuba will seek to advance to the knockout phase and aim to return to the FIFA U-20 Men's World Cup, in which they have only participated once. David Perez and Marcos Campos each scored three goals in the qualifiers and will be players to watch.

Cuba achieved two runner-up finishes in 1970 and 1974 and finished fourth for the last time in 2013. The all-time scorer for Cuba in the CMU20 is Geobel Perez with five goals.

The two nations will face each other for the second time in the tournament's group stage. The previous encounter came on August 1, 1980, in a 3-1 win for Costa Rica. Costa Rica leads the all-time series with 4 wins to one for Cuba.

United States vs. Jamaica

The United States are the reigning champions, winning the last three consecutive editions, and have also been runners-up six times in the 26 tournament appearances. The all-time scorer for the United States in the CMU20 is Alex Mendez with 8 goals.

With 17 appearances in the FIFA U-20 Men's World Cup, the United States achieved its best position with fourth place at Saudi Arabia 1989 and reached the quarterfinals in the previous edition, losing to eventual champion Uruguay.

Keyrol Figueroa, the second top scorer in the 2023 Concacaf U-17 Championship with seven goals in 7 matches, and Cruz Medina are two top players to watch.

Jamaica will participate for the 22nd time in the final phase of the CMU20. The Reggae Boyz were tough opponents in the qualifiers and seek its second participation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

The top scorer for Jamaica in the CMU20 is Nicque Daley, with six goals. Christopher Ainsworth provided one assist and was the Jamaican player with the second most shots, with six in the CMU20 qualifiers. Taywane Lynch kept a clean sheet, provided 11 saves in the qualifiers, and will be another player to watch.

The United States and Jamaica have only faced each other in the first phase of the CMU20 on eight occasions, with the U.S. holding an undefeated record. The last time they faced each other was in Group A on January 18, 2015, in Jamaica, with a 2-0 win for the United States.