At the 2023 U-20 FIFA World Cup, the United States showed a lot of promise, energy, and defending zeal, but they lost again in the quarterfinals.
Uruguay beat the U.S. 2-0 because the U.S. couldn’t keep control of the ball for long enough and gave up two ugly goals. Anderson Duarte scored the first goal in the 21st minute, and Josh Wynder scored an own goal early in the second half to seal the deal.
The U.S. didn’t have much to offer up front because both Cade Cowell and Diego Luna were unable to score. Every player in the U.S. starting group did something out of character, but Justin Che’s terrible tackle that let Uruguay score the first goal stood out. The passing was sloppy, and the U.S. centre couldn’t keep the ball for long periods of time.
There are a lot of good things about the United States’ performance at the World Cup as a whole, but fans can’t help but be upset by how flat the team looked in this important game against their toughest opponent so far.
Uruguay will play Israel in the semifinals, while the United States has been knocked from the U-20 FIFA World Cup for the fifth straight time in the quarterfinal round.
The Sporting News is following the game between the U.S. and Uruguay live, giving reports on the score, analysis, and highlights as they happen.
Score between the USA and Uruguay
| Score | Goal scorers |
| USA | 0 |
| Uruguay | 2 |
Lineups to start:
USA, from right to left (3-5-2): 1. Slonina (GK) — 17. Che, 5. Craig, 4. Wynder (Gomez, 69′) — 2. Halliday (Pukstas, 55′), 18. Vargas (Edelman, 55′), 10. Luna, 8. McGlynn, 3. Wiley (Sullivan, 69′) — 16. Wolff (Rey Paredes, 46′), 9. Cowell.
Uruguay (3-5-2, starting from the right): 12. R. Rodriguez (GK) — 13. Matturro, 16. Fa. Gonzalez, 2. Boselli — 4. Ponte, 8. Chagas, 5. Diaz (Homenchenko, 77′), 15. Sosa (Garcia, 69′), 10. Fr. Gonzalez — 11. De los Santos (de Ritis, 77′), 7. Duarte (Siri, 57′).
Live updates, highlights, and comments on the USA vs. Uruguay game
The final score is USA 0–2 Uruguay.
Everything the U.S. did well in its first four U-20 World Cup games fell apart all at once, and Uruguay deserves to move on to the playoffs.
The attack was stopped, the midfield was overrun, and the defence made a lot of mistakes, so Uruguay was able to win with reasonable ease. The U.S. didn’t have many really scary chances up front, and even though they acted quickly as the game was winding down, they didn’t have a single moment of brilliance or influence that would have brought them back into the game.
Now that Uruguay is in the semifinals, they have a great chance against Israel. This is because Israel beat Brazil in the last round.
Second Half of USA vs. Uruguay
90+3 min: Mathias de Ritis is given a yellow card for pushing his hand in Jack McGlynn’s face. McGlynn seemed to be pulling the Uruguayan’s shirt before he put his fingers to de Ritis’s eyes.
90+2 min: Santiago Homenchenko hacked Kevin Paredes in the 90+2 minute, and it looked like he should get a yellow card, but he was the only player in the game who already had one. Daniel Edelman shoots the ball over the goal on the set piece.
89th min: Chance, Uruguay! Chance, Uruguay! So close to being the last straw! Mathias de Ritis beats Justin Che with an inside cut to his right, and then he fires a vicious low shot that goes just wide left. If it had been on goal, Gaga Slonina would not have been able to reach it.
The fourth judge shows that there will be eight minutes of extra time. This is good news for the U.S., which needs two goals to win.
In the 85th minute, Diego Luna gets another free kick and shows his anger that he keeps getting fouled. He’s been great throughout the whole event, and now he’s leading the charge to get back into the game against Uruguay, which has a strong defence.
In the 82nd minute, Uruguay players yell for a stoppage because Mateo Ponte was down behind the play, but the referee doesn’t give it, and the U.S. doesn’t have to put the ball out, so Diego Luna is finally fouled. After that, Santiago Homenchenko gets the first yellow card of the game because he kicked the ball away.
Chance, United States! Oh no, the U.S. should score but is so bad! Cade Cowell gets the ball when it goes inside the penalty area after a U.S. free kick is not cleared. Cowell cuts in from the middle to his right and shoots. His shot looks like it’s headed for the top corner, but the ball gets stuck in the trees and hits his own partner Rokas Pukstas on the way.
In the 76th minute, Juan Cruz de los Santos gets free on a counterattack, but Justin Che lines him up and keeps him from getting a shot off while the rest of the defence clears.
Uruguay makes two more changes. Fabricio Diaz, who is the captain, and de los Santos leave the pitch, and Santiago Homenchenko and Mathias de Ritis come on.
In the 73rd minute, Uruguay almost gets through, but Nicolas Siri is stopped by Justin Che after a great one-on-one. Che was at first beaten, but he got back up and made a very rough hit without fouling. Uruguay wanted a penalty, but it was the right thing to turn it down.
In the 69th minute, Ignacio Sosa seems to have hurt himself and limps off the pitch. Damian Garcia comes on to replace him. The U.S. also makes two changes. Josh Wynder and Caleb Wiley are replaced by Jonathan Gomez and Quinn Sullivan. These are the last two changes Mikey Vargas can make.
66th min: Chance, USA! Chance, United States! Cade Cowell’s power is growing, and he catches a vertical ball down the left side, but Randall Rodriguez blocks his shot! The shot was taken from a very tight angle, which gave Rodriguez a chance to block the shot. However, Cowell lifted the ball well, forcing the Uruguay custodian to make a really good save.
In the 63rd minute, Cade Cowell takes a shot that is easy for Randall Rodriguez to catch. The United States has only had two shots on goal so far in this game. Josh Wynder’s flick at the end of the first half was the other one.
56 minutes: GAME! URUGUAY! Josh Wynder puts it into his own net: It’s a disaster for the United States, and now they have to climb a mountain.
No Uruguayan attacker was going to meet a cross from the left because no one was coming from the middle, but Wynder didn’t seem to know that, so he slid to clear the cross. He misses the block by a long shot, and the ball goes past Gaga Slonina and into the goal. Slonina touched the slow-roller with her finger, but it wasn’t enough. Almost like when Jeff Agoos played against Portugal in 2002.
Uruguay makes a change right away, taking off Anderson Duarte, who had just scored, and putting Nicolas Siri in his place.
In the 54th minute, Diego Luna gets the ball and has a free shot on goal, but he can’t control it well and Uruguay gets it back. Mikey Varas is about to make two more changes. Dan Edelman and Rokas Pukstas will both move into the middle of the pitch. Michael Halliday and Obed Vargas are no longer there.
In the 47th minute, the U.S. team went on the attack right away, and Cade Cowell won a free kick about 27 yards out and slightly to the left. The U.S. team has an interesting training ground routine. Cowell gets on the end of it with a daring flick, jumping and meeting the ball with his left foot behind his back, but it goes harmlessly over the bar. That wasn’t very far!
Kickoff: As expected, the U.S. will make a change at halfway. Owen Wolff will be taken off and Kevin Paredes will come on. That’s a good change, since Wolff had a hard time attacking in the first 45 minutes because he took too long with the ball. No matter how the second half goes, you can also expect Dan Edelman to arrive soon.
HALFTIME: USA 0-1 Uruguay
Well, the United States will be glad to be behind by only one goal after Uruguay controlled the first half. The U.S. made several mistakes that were out of character on both sides of the game, including the one goal scored by Anderson Duarte.
Overall, the U.S. will still feel very much in this match because of the small lead, but Mikey Varas will have to think about making changes at halftime because his team didn’t have much of an impact on the game. Daniel Edelman and Kevin Paredes might be able to join the team.
First Half: USA vs. Uruguay
45 minutes: Time, USA! Well, just think what would have happened if that had gone in! Josh Wynder shows up in the penalty area and meets a corner with a very risky backheel that surprises everyone except Uruguay goalie Randall Rodriguez, who somehow saw it coming and jumped on it right away. That was a good shot that was going to go inside the far post, but Rodriguez had other plans.
43rd minute: Uruguay looks so at ease right now and is making some great plays with the ball. Juan Cruz de los Santos thrills the crowd and puts the announcer on cloud nine when he hits a long ball while running with a silky smooth touch. The U.S. isn’t giving their South American rivals much trouble.
In the 36th minute, after the U.S. took a long time to get into Uruguay’s attacking third, Jack McGlynn took a shot from a long way away that was stopped right in front of him by a defender. The U.S. is making decisions that aren’t like them at the time. Since the first 10 minutes, when they did well, they’ve been pretty bad.
33rd min : The U.S. holds off another Uruguayan setup down the left side, gets a goal kick, but loses it right away in the middle. The U.S. can’t keep the ball, and Uruguay keeps sitting on it in middle until they find a runner going up or down or a wide player making a run.
Daniel Edelman’s loss is being felt right now. Mikey Varas might think about putting his leader on at halftime because the U.S. midfield can’t do anything with the players they have now. The only times they’ve done well was when the ball went over the top.
26th minute: Since the goal, Uruguay has been the better team, and the U.S. is under a lot of pressure. For the U.S. defence to stop another counterattack, they have to block the setup. This gives the other team a corner.
21st min: GOAL! URUGUAY! The United States’ defence is a nightmare for once, and Uruguay goes ahead. Justin Che fails to make a last-ditch tackle even though no one is behind him. This lets Chagas pass to Anderson Duarte in front of the goal by cutting to the side.
That’s the first goal the U.S. has given up in this whole event, and now they have to chase the game. Che’s missed tackle is a big mistake. It forced Josh Wynder to leave Duarte in the middle fully unmarked, and no one from the U.S. midfield got there to help.
In the 19th minute, U.S. defender Josh Wynder needs help after Uruguay took a deep free kick and Gaga Slonina came out to punch. He fell down because of an impact during the scrum for that free kick, but he seems to be fine.
In the 14th minute, Uruguay has the game’s first really scary moment, but Gaga Slonina is there to stop them. First, he stretches his whole body to punch away a cross from the left, and then he easily stops a shot from the same side that is coming at him from a very tight angle.
In the 12th minute, the U.S. again makes things hard for Uruguay. This time, a vertical pass from Cade Cowell sets up Justin Che, but he is taken away before he can shoot.
Owen Wolff is then called for a hard foul that probably should have gotten him a yellow card, but he only gets a strong talking-to from the ref because the game is still early. The Uruguayan players don’t like that.
8th minute: I don’t think Mikey Varas only wanted to use Route One to hit Uruguay, but it works every time. They almost let Cade Cowell through, who makes a streaking run between two Uruguayan players, but the deep ball from their own half is just too long and is cleared. They have given the Uruguay back line a lot of trouble by sending balls over the top.
In the 4th minute, the U.S. is causing problems on the break, and Michael Halliday comes close to scoring again, but the Uruguayan defence recovers just in time to take the ball away from the U.S. full-back. Then Justin Che makes a follow-up that goes over the bar.
In the 2nd minute Well, the U.S. aren’t too far away after just a minute of play! A cross from the left side of the field gets past Sebastian Boselli, who is supposed to clear it, and it almost gets to Michael Halliday at the far post, but just misses him as the Orlando City player grabs for it.
Kickoff: The games have started in Santiago del Estero, Argentina! Gaga Slonina is captain today, since Daniel Edelman, who is usually captain, is only on the bench.
Analysis, information, and more before the game between the USA and Uruguay
5 mins to kickoff: Cade Cowell has been by far the best U.S. shooter in this tournament so far. He has scored three goals so far and is in the running for the Golden Boot award at the 2023 U-20 World Cup. Cesare Casadei, who scored another goal in Italy’s 3-1 win over Colombia in the semifinals, now has six goals, so he has some work to do.
15 minutes until kickoff: This game is getting a lot of attention because Israel, not Brazil, made it to the semifinals and will play the winner of this game. That’s not to say that Israel isn’t good. They definitely deserve to be in the final four. However, the chance for either of these teams to make the final without having to play Brazil is a mouth-watering one.
Who will make the most of the chance? The Israeli players will be ready for such a big game, because they were so happy after beating Brazil.
30 minutes before the game, Uruguay’s head coach Marcelo Broli makes two changes to the expected team. Ignacio Sosa and Rodrigo Chagas move into midfield, and Luciano Rodriguez moves to the bench because he is suspended. In the last game against Gambia, Rodriguez was sent off in the last minute of the first half. This meant that both teams were down to 10 players.
40 minutes until the game starts, the lineup came out a little later than expected, but Mikey Varas’s team is mostly the same, with a few tiny changes. After coming off the bench in the Round of 16, Michael Halliday and Obed Vargas are now in the starting group. Jonathan Gomez and Daniel Edelman are taken out of the game, but Kevin Paredes stays on the bench. Both of the last two have played very well throughout the event, so it’s strange that they were switched.
1 hour to kickoff: Marcelo Bielsa was just hired by Uruguay to be the head coach of the senior national team, and he called in his first team yesterday. It has a number of players who are currently on this U-20 team, which shows how good the ability is on this team.
Some of the players who were called in are starting goalie Randall Rodriguez, defenders Sebastian Boselli and Mateo Ponte, captain Fabricio Diaz and forwards Anderson Duarte and Luciano Rodriguez.
Lineups and news for USA vs. Uruguay
From now on, it’s unlikely that USA head coach Mikey Varas will make too many changes to the team’s strategy from game to game. Instead, he will probably just switch out players when necessary.
Kevin Paredes was expected to replace Owen Wolff in the starting lineup now that Wolfsburg’s player has joined the team and gotten used to the event, but he’s back on the bench while Wolff takes the pitch. Captain Daniel Edelman leaves, and Obed Vargas comes in to take his place.
If not, the lineup should look like it did against New Zealand, with no standard No. 9 up front. Darren Yapi is ready to fill that role, but the U.S. attack has been strong even without a true target striker because Diego Luna and Cade Cowell look very dangerous when they work together up top.
Jack McGlynn, Josh Wynder, Niko Tsakiris, and Luna are all just one yellow card away from being suspended. If they get another one, they would have to miss the finals. The good news is that after the quarterfinals, the yellow cards are erased.
Slonina (GK) — Che, Craig, Wynder — Halliday, Vargas, Luna, McGlynn, Wiley — Wolff, Cowell. This is the official starting lineup for the USA (3-5-2).
USA subs (10): Carrera (GK), Borto (GK), Gomez, Ferkranus, Edelman, Tsakiris, Pukstas, Sullivan, Paredes, Yapi.
There are only two players on the Uruguay U-20 team who play for clubs outside of Uruguay. Alan Matturro is a centre back for Italian club Genoa. He made his debut in Serie B this season. Facundo Gonzalez is a defender for Valencia’s youth team in La Liga.
Fabricio Diaz, the team leader and a defensive midfielder, is seen as a top prospect. In March 2022, he was called up to the senior national team to replace Matias Vecino as a COVID-19 player. He did not play, but he was put on the original list of 55 players for the 2022 World Cup.
Luciano Rodriguez is the team’s best chance to score goals, but he hasn’t scored yet in this event and can’t play in this game because he got a red card last time against Gambia. Matias Abaldo and Franco Gonzalez have each scored two goals to lead Uruguay in the game, but Abaldo is injured and can’t play.
Uruguay’s starting team has been set (3-5-2): R. Rodriguez (GK) — Matturro, Fa. Gonzalez, Boselli — Ponte, Chagas, Diaz, Sosa, Fr. Gonzalez — De los Santos, Duarte.
Uruguay subs (10): Machado (GK), Arbio (GK), Antoni, De Ritis, Garcia, Homenchenko, Ferrari, Abaldo, Siri, L. Rodriguez.
How to watch the US vs. Uruguay game
- Date: June 4 (Sunday)
- Time: 5 p.m. ET
- TV channels: FS2 (in English) and Telemundo (in Spanish) are TV channels.
- Streaming: Fubo, Fox Sports GO, and Telemundo Deportes en Vivo can all be watched online.
The match will be shown on TV in both English and Spanish in the United States.
Fox has the rights to show English-language FIFA games, and this match was shown on FS2. Telemundo will show it in Spanish at the same time.
Both of these shows can be streamed on Fubo, which gives new fans a free trial.
The broadcast will also be available on each broadcaster’s streaming site for users with verified cable, satellite, or telco packages who have signed in.
USA vs Uruguay U-20 betting odds & lines
The U.S. is a small favourite in this match because they have won most of the U-20 World Cup so far. However, Uruguay is a strong opponent and is only a minor underdog.
Given that the U.S. defence has been strong throughout the event and that Uruguay scored seven goals in three group stage games, the betting market is also not sure if goals will be scored.
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