USA vs. Brazil
2026 FIFA Below-20 Ladies’s World Cup – Spherical of 16
Sept. 16 | Enviornment Katowice; Katowice, Poland 

USA TO FACE BRAZIL IN ROUND OF 16 AT THE 2026 FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: After an eventful group stage during which the U.S. Below-20 Ladies’s Nationwide Crew misplaced its first sport to Italy (2-1), tied U-20 energy Japan 2-2 in its second match after which trounced New Zealand, 9-0, to complete the group, the younger Individuals now face an enormous problem towards Group B winners Brazil within the Spherical of 16.

The match will happen on Sept. 16 at Enviornment Katowice in Katowice, Poland (9 a.m. ET on FS2 and Universo). The USA superior to the knockout levels as one of many 4 finest third-place groups out of the six teams, ending with 4 factors and a plus-8 purpose distinction courtesy of the beating of New Zealand. Actually, the USA was the highest-ranked third-place crew out of the six teams. Within the quarterfinal spherical, the winner of the USA-Brazil match will play the winner of the Spain-Portugal Spherical of 16 tussle. In all of the knockout matches of the match, if matches are tied on the finish of regulation, half-hour of extra time will probably be performed adopted by penalty kicks if the match continues to be tied.

2026 FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup Spherical of 16 Matchups:
Sept. 16
Argentina vs. Korea Republic
Italy vs. China PR
Brazil vs. USA
Spain vs. Portugal

Sept. 17
DPR Korea vs. Japan
France vs. Canada
England vs. Nigeria
Poland vs. Colombia

HOW WE ADVANCED: With one level from the primary two Group video games – that being a well-earned 2-2 draw towards Japan during which the USA held two leads and had quite a few possibilities to win – the U.S. U-20 WNT wanted a win and a pleasant serving to of objectives in its last Group D match towards New Zealand to earn one of many 4 Spherical of 16 berths allotted to third-place finishers over the six teams. The USA obtained the win 9 objectives, which set a document for many objectives scored and largest margin of victory ever for a U.S. crew on the FIFA U-20 WWC, rocketing the Individuals to the highest rating of all of the third-place finishers. If Italy had crushed Japan, the USA would have completed in second place within the group, which might have meant a gathering with defending U-20 Ladies’s World Cup champions Korea DPR within the Spherical of 16. The USA was really in second place for round 20 minutes after Italy took the lead on a penalty kick within the 59^th minute within the different Group D finale, however Japan tied the sport within the 80^th minute, which implies that Japan will face Asian rival North Korea whereas Italy takes on China PR.

2026 FIFA U.S. Below-20 Ladies’s World Cup Roster by Place 

(Faculty or Membership; Hometown; U-20 Caps/Objectives)

Goalkeepers (3): Caroline Birkel (Stanford; St. Louis, Mo.; 9), Evan O’Steen (Seattle Reign FC; Grapevine, Texas; 2), Kealey Titmuss (Penn State; Grand Blanc, Mich.; 5)

Defenders (7): Aven Alvarez (UNC; New Hill, N.C.; 15/0), Ella Bard (Louisville; Wadsworth, Ohio; 9/0), Lizzie Boamah (Stanford; San Diego, Calif.; 9/0), Pearl Cecil (Virginia; Encinitas, Calif.; 2/0), Emma Johnson (Penn State; Greenfield, Ind.; 12/1), Hope Munson (UNC; Holladay, Utah; 8/0), Katie Scott (Kansas Metropolis Present; Fairview, Pa.; 13/1)

Midfielders (6): Kennedy Fuller (Bay FC; Southlake, Texas; 11/5), Lily Joseph (Notre Dame; Hamden, Conn; 4/0), Ainsley McCammon (Seattle Reign FC; Bedford, Texas; 8/1), Y-Lan Nguyen (Stanford; Fairfax, Va.; 7/0), Nyanya Touray (Florida State; Silver Spring, Md.; 6/0), Linda Ullmark (Houston Sprint; Buffalo, N.Y.; 10/7)

Forwards (5): Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign FC; Purple Oak, Texas; 20/3), Alex Buck (Washington; Medina, Wash.; 9/4), Micayla Johnson (Chicago Stars FC; Troy, Mich; 7/4), Audrey McKeen (Racing Louisville FC; Vienna, Va.; 4/0), Sealey Strawn (UNC; Prosper, Texas; 5/1)

How They Acquired Right here:

USA – Group D Third-Place Finishers
Date           End result                               USA Purpose Scorers
Sept. 6       USA 1, Italy 2                      M. Johnson
Sept. 9       USA 2, Japan     2              McCammon, Buck
Sept. 12     USA 9, New Zealand 0       Buck (2), Fuller (3), M. Johnson, Ullmark, Adames, Strawn

Brazil – Group B First-Place Finishers
Date           End result                                   Brazil Purpose Scorers
Sept. 5       Brazil 4, Tanzania 1               Vitorinha, Evelin (2), Thaynara
Sept. 8       Brazil 3, Canada 0                 Brendha, Vitorinha, Nogueira
Sept. 11     Brazil 2, England 1                 Gisele, Clarinha
 U.S. U-20 WNT vs. BRAZIL: 

• The USA and Brazil have performed thrice within the FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup with the USA profitable twice and shedding as soon as, that one coming in penalty kicks.
• Whereas Brazil, just like the USA, has participated in all 12 FIFA U-19/U-20 Ladies’s World Cup tournaments, the groups haven’t met because the 2014 match when the USA gained 1-0 within the second match of group play on a purpose from present USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps.
• The groups met in back-to-back tournaments in 2004 and 2006. The USA beat Brazil, led by an 18-year-old Marta, within the 2004 Third-Place Match by a 3-0 rating as Megan Rapinoe was one of many goalscorers. In 2006, the USA as soon as once more performed Brazil within the Third-Place Match, and after a 0-0 tie by means of regulation, fell 6-5 in penalty kicks.
• Extra lately, these two groups met in two matches in April in Missouri in an occasion hosted by the Kansas Metropolis Present, with the USA profitable the primary sport 2-0 on objectives from Linda Ullmark and San Diego Wave midfielder Kimmi Ascanio and drawing the second, 1-1, in a match that was suspended after 79 minutes as a consequence of inclement climate. Ascanio additionally scored in that sport.
• Brazil outshot the USA 9-8 within the first sport whereas the USA held a 5-4 benefit in pictures within the second earlier than it was stopped.
• The USA’s roster for these two video games featured 15 gamers on this World Cup Crew whereas Brazil’s roster featured 14 gamers who’re on their World Cup crew.
• Brazil certified for this World Cup by profitable the 2026 South American Below-20 Ladies’s Soccer Championship. Brazil really completed second in its first-round group as a consequence of a 2-1 loss to Argentina however topped the ultimate spherical group with 4 wins and a draw (to Ecuador) to earn one among South America’s 4 berths to this World Cup. Brazil scored 15 objectives throughout the group and last levels.
• Nearly all of Brazil’s roster performs domestically, except for goalkeeper Thais Lima and midfielder Clarinha, who each play for Benfica in Portugal. Ahead Gio Canali performs collegiately in the USA for the College of Virginia, the place she is teammates with U.S. defender Pearl Cecil. Canali scored two objectives with one help in three matches earlier than leaving for the World Cup.

Brazil 2026 FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup Roster by Place (Membership)

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Thais Lima (SL Benfica, POR), 12-Eluiza (São Paulo FC), 21-Ana Morganti (SC Corinthians)

DEFENDERS (4): 2-Thaynara (Botafogo), 3-Sofia Couto (CR Flamengo), 4-Ana Beatriz (São Paulo FC), 6-Bianca (SC Internacional)  

MIDFIELDERS (8): 5-Emilly Lucas (CR Flamengo), 7-Gisele (Grêmio), 8-Nogueira (Ferroviária Feminino), 10-Vitorinha (São Paulo FC), 11-Dudinha (Ferroviária Feminino), 13-Dulce (SC Corinthians), 14-Kaylane (CR Flamengo), 16-Clarinha (SL Benfica, POR)   

FORWARDS (6): 9-Brendha (Flamengo), 15-Gio Canali (College of Virginia, USA), 17-Evelin (Santos FC), 18-Carioca (Fluminense FC), 19- Tainá (Ferroviária Feminino), 20-Aninha (SC Internacional)

WATCH FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ON FOX: The entire knockout matches of the 2026 FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup will probably be broadcast on the FOX household of networks. 4 Spherical of 16 matches will probably be proven on FOX Sports activities 2 (FS2), together with the U.S. match, whereas 4 will probably be on FOX Sports activities Plus (FSP). The U.S. video games are additionally being proven in Spanish within the USA on Universo and Peacock.

THE USWNT IN POLAND – A FIRST: At this U-20 Ladies’s World Cup, the U.S. U-20 WNT has performed its first-ever matches in Poland, and actually, these are the first-ever matches by any U.S. Ladies’s Nationwide Crew within the nation. The senior USWNT has performed Poland only one time, however that match occurred in Sardinia, Italy, in 1989, a 0-0 draw. The match gave Poland a really distinctive distinction: Poland is one among simply two international locations on the earth that do not need a shedding document towards the USWNT. With the opposite nation being Czechoslovakia (additionally one match performed, additionally a 0-0 draw), a rustic that now not exists, Poland is the final remaining nation on earth that doesn’t have an all-time shedding document to the U.S. Ladies. The U.S. U-23 WNT did play the Poland U-19 WNT in 2016, however that match was performed in Croatia. Amazingly, that sport resulted in a 0-0 draw as effectively, regardless of the USA outshooting Poland, 25-0.

THE U.S. ROSTER – PROS LEAD THE WAY: Gamers born on or after Jan. 1, 2006, are age-eligible for this World Cup, and for simply the third time, a U.S. roster on the FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup options skilled gamers. This roster ties a document for essentially the most skilled gamers on a U.S. FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup Crew with eight, the identical because the U.S. roster featured in 2024. The massive distinction is that every one eight on the 2024 crew had been of their rookie yr within the NWSL. This time round, simply three gamers – Evan O’Steen of Seattle Reign FC, Linda Ullmark of the Houston Sprint and Audrey McKeen of Racing Louisville FC — are rookies. Aside from Ullmark, who performed two seasons at North Carolina and scored 13 objectives in 48 matches for the Tar Heels, and Katie Scott, who performed a part of one season at Penn State, the opposite six execs opted out of school soccer. Except for Ullmark, all signed skilled contracts as excessive school-aged gamers by way of the NWSL Below-18 Entry Mechanism.

ROSTER NOTES:

• Seventeen of the 18 area gamers on the U.S. roster have seen motion, except for Pearl Cecil, who was held out of the group finale vs. New Zealand with a minor damage.
• In her second World Cup begin, towards New Zealand on Sept. 12, ahead Alex Buck scored her second and third FIFA World Cup objectives, which had been her third and fourth U-20 objectives total.
• Buck is the tenth participant to attain a precise brace in a FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup match for the USA.
• After her hat trick towards New Zealand, Kennedy Fuller has now scored seven World Cup objectives (4 on the 2024 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup) and 5 total objectives on the U-20 stage.
• Micayla Johnson’s purpose vs. NZL was her fourth on the U-20 stage and her second of the match.
• Johnson is enjoying in her third FIFA youth World Cup over three consecutive years and has scored in all of them, having additionally tallied within the 2024 and 2025 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cups. She is the primary American participant to attain that feat. Johnson scored 9 objectives in 18 caps on the U-17 stage. Throughout the three World Cups, Johnson has scored 5 objectives: one in 2024, two in 2025 and two to this point in 2026.
• Emeri Adames’ purpose was her first World Cup purpose and her third purpose on the U-20 stage. She has eight World Cup assists throughout all ranges: one help on the 2022 FIFA U-17 WWC, 4 on the 2024 FIFA U-17 WWC, one vs. Italy within the USA’s first match and two vs. NZL.
• Linda Ullmark’s purpose vs. NZL was her first World Cup purpose and seventh purpose on the U-20 stage. She is the USA’s main scorer this yr.
• Sealey Strawn’s purpose vs. NZL was her first World Cup purpose and her first purpose on the U-20 stage.
• The 9-0 win over New Zealand was essentially the most objectives a U.S. crew has scored in a match in FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup historical past. The second most was in 2024 when the U.S. defeated Paraguay 7-0 on Sept. 7, 2024. Earlier than then, the U.S. gained 6-0 thrice in FIFA U-20 historical past, as soon as in 2018 over Paraguay and twice within the very first FIFA Ladies’s World Cup for this age group, the 2002 FIFA U-19 Ladies’s World Cup — one coming towards Chinese language Taipei and one towards Denmark.
• Fuller is the sixth U.S. participant to attain a hat trick within the FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup. The opposite 5 gamers are Kelly Wilson (Aug. 25, 2002, vs. Denmark), Sydney Leroux (July 17, 2010, vs. Switzerland), Maya Hayes (Aug. 20, 2012, vs. Ghana), Savannah DeMelo (Aug. 8, 2018, vs. Paraguay) and Pietra Tordin (Sept. 7, 2024, vs. Paraguay).
• Goalkeeper Caroline Birkel, defenders Ella Bard and Lizzie Boamah and midfielder Kennedy Fuller are the one 4 gamers who’ve performed all 270 minutes of the match to this point.
• Seven completely different gamers have scored objectives for the USA on this match, three from Fuller and Buck, two from Johnson and one every from Ullmark, Adames, Strawn and Ainsley McCammon, for a complete of 12 objectives within the group stage. The USA scored extra objectives within the group stage match than any crew  apart from Spain, which had an 11-0 win over New Caledonia. Spain additionally scored essentially the most objectives within the group stage with 16.
• Annika Paz of Argentina leads the match in scoring with 5 objectives. 5 gamers have 4 objectives whereas Fuller and Alex Buck are in a gaggle of 10 gamers who’ve three every.
• The 2026 FIFA U-20 WWC is the third FIFA World Cup for Adames, Johnson and Evan O’Steen and the second for Birkel, Katie Scott, Fuller, McCammon, Cecil, Y-Lan Nguyen and Nyanya Touray.
• The USA’s World Cup roster options eight execs, two school freshmen, seven school sophomores and 4 school juniors in Aven Alvarez from UNC, Lizzie Boamah from Stanford, Lily Joseph from Notre Dame and Buck from Washington.
• 4 gamers – Kealey Titmuss, Boamah, Alvarez and Adames – all have expertise enjoying within the 2023 Pan American Video games for the U.S. U-19 WNT. The U.S. crew, enjoying towards senior Ladies’s Nationwide Groups from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Argentina and Chile, took bronze in that match. All 4 gamers performed important roles within the competitors with Adames scoring three objectives, one every towards Bolivia, Costa Rica and Chile. Towards Chile within the semifinal, regardless that the USA fell, 2-1, Adames scored on Christiane Endler, extensively thought of one of many prime feminine goalkeepers on the earth at the moment.
• Ullmark leads the U.S. U-20s in scoring this yr with 5 worldwide objectives, three of which got here by way of a hat trick in a 5-0 win over France. Johnson and Buck every have 4 objectives, Fuller has three, all towards New Zealand within the Group D Finale, and Adames has two.
• Ullmark is the highest worldwide purpose scorer on the roster with seven objectives in her 10 U-20 caps.
• A number of of the gamers on this U-20 roster discovered nice success on the U-17 worldwide stage. Micayla Johnson completed her U-17 profession with 9 objectives in 18 caps. O’Steen racked up 13 caps as a starter in two consecutive U-17 World Cups. Touray scored eight objectives in simply 13 U-17 caps. McCammon had two objectives in her 11 U-17 caps as a holding midfielder, together with one within the Third-Place Match victory over England on the 2024 FIFA U-17 WWC. Nguyen had eight caps and one purpose on the U-17 stage. Scott performed 15 occasions for the U.S. U-17s and scored as soon as.
• Gamers born on or after Jan. 1, 2006, are age-eligible for the World Cup and the USA roster options 9 gamers born in 2006, seven born in 2007 and 5 born in 2008.
• These gamers born in 2008 are age-eligible for the 2028 FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup as effectively. They’re O’Steen, Cecil, Touray, Micayla Johnson and Audrey McKeen.
• Fuller, McCammon and Scott had been a part of the U.S. crew that gained the 2022 Concacaf Women’ U-15 Championship.
• 4 gamers on the roster performed within the 2025 NCAA Faculty Cup: Birkel, Boamah and Nguyen for runner-up Stanford and Touray for NCAA champion Florida State.
• The roster is made up of gamers from six completely different professional golf equipment and eight completely different schools with three gamers every from Stanford and UNC. Penn State has two gamers and Florida State, Notre Dame, Louisville, Virginia and Washington have one every.
• There are 4 gamers on the roster from Texas, two from Michigan, and two from Southern California, extra particularly, San Diego.
• 2026 U.S. U-20 WWC Roster – FIFA World Cup Expertise:
  • 2022 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup in India: Adames
  • 2024 FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup in Colombia: Birkel, Adames
  • 2024 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup within the Dominican Republic: O’Steen, Scott, Fuller, McCammon, Nguyen, Micayla Johnson.
  • 2025 FIFA U-17 Ladies’s World Cup Morocco: O’Steen, Cecil, Touray, Micyala Johnson.

JEPSON AT THE HELM: That is the primary World Cup for U.S. head coach Vicky Jepson, who got here to U.S. Soccer after spending 4 seasons because the senior assistant head coach with Tottenham Hotspur within the England Ladies’s Tremendous League. Jepson beforehand served as supervisor of Liverpool FC Ladies within the WSL and has additionally labored on the youth worldwide stage, the place she served as a coach educator with the English FA and coached the England U-17 Ladies’s Nationwide Crew, guiding the crew by means of qualifiers and on the UEFA Ladies’s U-17 Euros.

24 TEAMS VIE FOR 12^th U-20 TITLE: This yr marks the 12^th version of the FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup, FIFA’s most high-profile girls’s competitors after the World Cup and the Olympic Video games. The biennial competitors started because the FIFA U-19 Ladies’s World Championship in 2002 and was held as a U-19 occasion in 2004 earlier than transferring to its present Below-20 format in 2006. The 24 taking part nations for the 2026 version of the match had been drawn into six teams of 4 groups. The highest two finishers in every group and the 4 finest third-place finishers superior to the Spherical of 16 happening on Sept. 16 and 17. The quarterfinals will all be performed on Sept. 19 and 20 with the semifinals being contested on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup Closing will probably be held on Sunday, Sept. 27 and the Third-Place Match will probably be held on Saturday, Sept. 26. That is the second time the FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup will function Spherical of 16 matches. With three-time champions Germany remarkably having didn’t qualify for this match, the USA is one among three groups to have certified for each FIFA WWC at this age stage, together with Brazil and Nigeria.

THE VENUES: The 52 matches of this match will happen at 4 stadiums and in 4 cities spanning three metropolitan areas: Enviornment Katowice in Katowice (15,500 capability), Stadion Miejski Bielsko-Biala in Bielsko-Biala (14,963), Stadion Miejski LKS Lodz in Lodz (18,029) and Enviornment Sosnowiec in Sosnowiec (11,600). Katowice and Sosnowiec are adjoining cities in southern Poland. Lodz is in central Poland whereas Bielsko-Biala is 40 miles south of Katowice and Sosnowiec.

HISTORY OF SUCCESS AT THE U-20 WWC: The USA has certified for each version of the U-20 WWC and has gained three of the 11 earlier tournaments, compiling a 36W-11L-10D total document heading into this match. On the inaugural FIFA U-19 Ladies’s Championship in 2002, the USA took residence the title by defeating host Canada 1-0 on a golden purpose in extra time from future WNT star Lindsay Tarpley in entrance of almost 50,000 followers.

In 2008, future WNT stars Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan helped lead the USA to the match title, scoring within the championship match towards North Korea. The U.S. gained the 2012 match, downing three group winners within the knockout rounds en path to the trophy as future Nationwide Crew stars and World Cup winners Crystal Dunn, Morgan Brian (now Gautrat), Julie Johnston (now Ertz) and Samantha Mewis performed main roles.

Heartbreakingly, the USA has been knocked out of the match in penalty kicks in 2006, 2010 and 2014. The U-20s have misplaced simply 10 video games in regulation within the earlier 11 tournaments, together with three defeats to Germany, three to Japan and one every to Korea DRP, Spain, Netherlands and China PR. The USA additionally misplaced a sport in extra time to Korea DPR. Along with three tourney titles and three PK exits, the USA completed third in 2004 and 2024, and fourth in 2006 and 2016, giving the USA seven prime 4 finishes within the 11 tournaments.

U.S. U-20 WNT A SPRINGBOARD TO SENIOR WNT: The FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup has been a launching level for a lot of gamers who’ve gone on to signify the complete USWNT and plenty of extra who’ve performed professionally. Actually, 62 completely different gamers who’ve performed in a FIFA U-20 Ladies’s World Cup for the USA have gone on to earn a minimum of one cap for the senior aspect (though a number of gamers performed in a number of youth World Cups). From the USA’s 2022 FIFA Below-20 Ladies’s World Cup Crew, Alyssa Thompson made the 2023 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup Crew and Korbin Albert (now Shrader) and Jaedyn Shaw made the 2024 Olympic Crew, with Albert scoring the game-winning purpose vs. Australia in group play and aiding on the game-winning purpose within the gold medal match. From the 2024 FIFA U-20 WWC Crew, six gamers have already earned caps with the USWNT: Jordyn Bugg (who was age-eligible for this match), Gisele Thompson, Claire Hutton (additionally age-eligible for this match), Riley Jackson, Maddie Dahlien and Ally Sentnor.

From 2002-2024, a median of 5.6 gamers per U.S. U-20 World Cup Crew have gone on to signify the complete USWNT, which represents about 25% of every roster.

From the USA’s 2022 FIFA U-20 WWC Crew, Shrader, Michelle Cooper, Sally Menti (who didn’t play within the match as a consequence of damage), Olivia Moultrie, Ayo Oke, Lilly Reale, Ally Sentnor, Jaedyn Shaw and Alyssa Thompson went on to earn USWNT caps.

USWNT gamers Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Jaelin Howell, Ashley Sanchez, Savannah DeMelo, Mandy McGlynn, Tara McKeown (now Rudd) and Sophia Smith (now Wilson) performed for the USA on the 2018 U-20 FIFA Ladies’s World Cup in France.

Mallory Pugh (now Swanson) captained the USA in 2016 in Papua New Guinea, a squad that additionally featured future USWNT gamers Casey Murphy, DeMelo, Fox and Sanchez.

In 2014, Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan (now Heaps), Mallory Pugh (now Swanson), Margaret Purce, Andi Sullivan and Jane Campbell had been on the World Cup Crew.

FIFA World Cup champions Morgan Brian (now Gautrat), Crystal Dunn, Julie Johnston (now Ertz) and Samantha Mewis helped the U-20s raise the trophy in 2012, whereas Alyssa Naeher backstopped Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan’s 2008 crew to the championship.

Tobin Heath, Kelley O’Hara and Amy Rodriguez appeared on the 2006 match in Russia, whereas Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Rodriguez additionally represented the U-20s in 2004 in Thailand.

Lori Chalupny, Heather O’Reilly, Lindsey Tarpley, Leslie Osborne, Ashlyn Harris and Rachel Buehler had been amongst a document 12 future WNT gamers who helped the USA raise the primary match trophy in 2002.