As the dust settles on the , attention in the Concacaf region has quickly turned to qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2027™, which is being jointly hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
After reaching the quarter-finals of the previous five tournaments, USA will be looking to secure their place in the global finals via the Concacaf U-20 Championship, which is taking place in Mexico from 24 July until 9 August.
The four semi-finalists will qualify for the U-20 World Cup, while the tournament winners will also punch their ticket to the Men's Olympic Football Tournament at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, a competition the Stars and Stripes have already reached as hosts.
Under U-19 coach Gonzalo Segares, the USA will take on Cuba, El Salvador and Haiti in Group A of the continental showpiece.
Segares, who led USA at the , spoke to FIFA about high-altitude training in Utah, the Stars and Stripes' opponents and the impact of the new US Soccer National Training Center.
Gonzalo Segares: For us, we want to make sure we take it step by step and qualify first [for the knockout rounds], and as we keep advancing our goal will be to hopefully make the final and then win. We don't want to look too far, we want to care of business first, which is winning our first game against Haiti. We will then take it game by game until we reach our goals.
We went to Utah because of the altitude to try to adjust ourselves to what we are going to be facing in Puebla. We had a couple of days over there. This is a different situation compared to previous [tournaments] because of the time in the calendar. All the clubs have had time off or are just starting their pre-seasons so it has been interesting to see where the players are at... and all of them are in different stages. That is something we needed to navigate beforehand to understand the fitness levels of the players.
It is going to be a great challenge for us. We see Haiti as a very dynamic team with a lot of energy going forward. They have very good players in one v one situations and are very athletic. At the senior team level they made it to the World Cup so you can see how much Concacaf is advancing and it's not going to be an easy game. We take everyone very seriously, we believe all these teams will be a great challenge.
It gives you an extra boost and motivation to experience that opportunity. I was fortunate enough to be there as a player and that feeling when you walk into the pitch and hear the fans and how loud it is... it's one of the best experiences I've had. Beforehand, we have to make sure we take care of business and earn that chance to be there. We'll definitely use it as another opportunity to motivate the guys.
It is awesome to see, and how can we keep building that momentum from what the World Cup has left us? These guys want to make sure that they keep developing, and their goals and dreams are to one day represent the national team at the highest level. My job is to help them on the way. When we talk about that, we understand that they are the ones who are representing our country in an event like Concacaf and that they are role models... there are kids who are looking up to them going into this event. They are carrying the torch in a sense to the next generation that are going to be watching. It's their goal and now it's their turn to carry that momentum and represent our nation in the best way possible.
It's an incredible facility. For us, it is an opportunity for us to have camps over there and invite other nations to come and play tournaments and friendlies. It helps us a lot. We were one of the first age groups to have a camp there and the senior team was also there right before they left to California for the World Cup. It was inspiring for our boys to see the send-off for the senior team... it makes them dream and gives them even more desire to keep improving and keep working harder because that is where they want to be. Those are the little things that having a training centre brings, and it goes a long way to motivate the next generation and also for us as coaches to learn from one another. It's amazing and we're really enjoying it.
Sources: FIFA Official
