THE UNITED STATES U-20 national team capped off a very successful November camp in Spain with a 2-1 win over France. The came on the heels of a 3-0 win over South Korea. Between both games, head coach Marko Mitrovic saw positive contributions from a significant number of players and probably leaves him ending camp about what his top team looks like right now.

In the win over South Korea on Saturday, the U.S. team saw goals scored by Atlanta United’s Luke  Brennan, San Jose Earthquake’s Niko Tsakiris, and the New England Revolution’s Peyton Miller – who is young and playing up a U-20 cycle. Then in the win over France, the U.S. team had goals from Borussia Dortmund’s Cole Campbell, and the Columbus Crew’s Taha Habroune. That makes it five goals from five different goal scorers in two wins over good opponents. The team only conceded one goal.

We know that with youth soccer, things can and will change quickly. Players see their development stall, while others see their game start to take off very quickly to high levels. Some players just get lucky to find a good situation and a coach that believes in them. Other players have bad luck.

But if the U.S. U-20 World Cup were to begin now, Mitrovic would have a team very close to the one he just had in Spain. The roster was tested and responded.

Here are some thoughts on the last camp and the pool in general.

Campbell, Tsakiris, & Cremaschi lead the way

There are a lot of important players on this team who have helped in the success of the first two camps, but Benja Cremaschi, Cole Campbell, and Niko Tsakiris are the leaders of this team. If Josh Wydner and Diego Kochen can play regularly with this team (which is yet to happen), then they will round out the leaders of this team.

This was only the second camp for Campbell of 2024 (the first was in March under head coach Michael Nsien). But in each camp, he has had goals and assists against England, South Korea, and now France. It is easy to see why he is now part of the first team at Borussia Dortmund. Some are suggesting that he is close to the USMNT and might be phased out of the U-20 level. That will be the decision of Mauricio Pochettino, but he might want to see a lot more from Campbell with BVB’s first team than rush him through the process like his predecessors did with emerging players. For now, Campbell is a U-20 player.

And it’s Cole Campbell! The Dortmund winger puts the U.S U-20 team up 1-0 on France in the 15th minute. Really nice work from the team on this goal pic.twitter.com/nkt0YmzpQu

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) November 18, 2024

What is also good to see is that Benja Cremaschi is embracing the U-20 team with enthusiasm. He’s played with the full national team and lately the Olympic team. The U-20 team might be seen as a downshift or a demotion, but Cremaschi is embracing this team and he just had his second straight strong camp.

For Cremaschi, this team is important because it will showcase his ability to lead a team as opposed to being a minor contributor. For Inter Miami, he is behind elite talent. For the USMNT, he also was behind top players. For the Olympic team, he sat behind players such as Paxten Aaronson and Jack McGlynn. With this U-20 team, he is one of the top guys and will be key to the success of the team.

For Niko Tsakiris, he is an important player but maybe less so than Cremaschi or Campbell. Tsakiris does have the experience of having been with the last U-20 World Cup team. The question for him and his standing within the team is more about his performances in camp since it was such a tough season for everyone on San Jose in 2024. Tsakiris responded very well with a goal against South Korea and an assist against France.

Core emerging

Behind the leaders in the first group, there is a more thorough core building behind players who really look to cement their role with the team in 2025.

Brooklyn Raines: has had two very good camps and was one of the best players on the field against France where his dribbling opened the plays leading to both goals.

Noahkai Banks: The Augsburg central defender was very smooth with the ball and in defense against France. He looked like a player who should be ready for Bundesliga minutes soon.

Reed Baker-Whiting: The versatile Seattle Sounders fullback (who can also play in the midfield) has been a regular with this age group dating back to the U-18 and U-19 teams. His minutes with Seattle  are on the upswing too and he made 24 appearances so far in 2024.

Petro Soma: Having just made the move to Barcelona, Soma is a fixture with their youth teams and has even trained with the legendary club’s first team. He was the team’s captain against South Korea and could be the starting defensive midfielder at the U-20 World Cup.

Leo Duru: The Blackburn Rovers very athletic right back made his first appearance for any U.S. team in October and has impressed right out of the gate. Despite the lack of experience with the U.S. set up, he’s checking boxes.

Luke Brennan: The Atlanta United winger/attacker is one of the players who really needs first team club minutes badly because he’s doing so well with the U.S. U-20 team that you can see the talent. He’s another one to watch in MLS in 2025. But he looks like he will be with the World Cup team next year in Chile and playing important minutes.

Taha Habroune: Another good two-way midfielder for the U-20 team had a good camp. He started in the cleansheet win over South Korea and then came off the bench to score the winner against France. He’s at a tricky spot in his career where he’s outgrown MLS NEXT Pro but is behind others to start for the Columbus Crew. That might change in 2025.

Taha Habroune! 2-1 U.S U-20 team up on France pic.twitter.com/i8mNZOV3Rl

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) November 18, 2024

Nolan Norris: the versatile defender from FC Dallas did wear the armband this camp as he did the first several camps in 2024, but he still played important minutes with the start against France. Recent head coach Michael Nsien called him the heart and soul of this group. That leadership along with his ability to play left back and central defense effectively makes him important to this group.

First team minutes needed

Prior to camp, Mitrovic spoke to American Soccer Now about the lack of first team minutes his U-20 players are getting with their clubs.

“I would say I'm not pleased, but it's not something against the club,” Mitrovic said. “If you see the rosters, if we speak about senior level, very few guys are getting regular minutes there…They're still young, but I would love to see them playing more. Some of them are with the first team and get some playing time. Some of them are with the first team, but not getting playing time. Some of them are with MLS Next Pro or with the second teams in Europe.”

“But this is the stage in careers where I would say we lose a lot of talent - a lot of players - because it's difficult for them in different circumstances to cross that bridge from youth to pro level. I would love to see our guys playing more because I believe this group doesn't have enough senior minutes, week after week.”

MLS or abroad, no player in the U.S. U-20 pool is a regular starter (this number is hurt by the fact that two players who used to be with this group, Esmir Bajraktarevic and Obed Vargas, are regular starters but left the program to play for other countries). Cremaschi had 1267 minutes for Inter Miami this season - which is decent.

But top U-20 players in MLS like Brennan, Norris, Habroune, Fletcher (now on loan), Baker-Whiting, and Akinmboni all need to play more. The year of World Cups is typically an important time as these players will be turning 19 or 20, and that is when things start to happen. But it is harder these days to break in as teams spend more money on imported talent.

If these players start playing more, this team could be very dangerous next year in Chile.

Goalkeeping & central defense class strong

One of the good things about this U-20 group is that it is much stronger than the last two classes in both central defense and goalkeeping. Those positions have suffered at all U.S. youth teams until now. The federation badly needs prospects at these age groups.

In central defense, you can see the lack of USYNT prospects with the fact the recent Olympic team needed to burn two overage spots on central defenders (Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson). Mitrovic was the coach of that team and he essentially had no choice.

The last U-20 team to have good central defense prospects was in 2019 with Chris Richards and Mark McKenzie. The cancelled 2021 class was barren and it was a weakness for the 2023 U-20 World Cup team.

For this team, Wynder, Banks, Akinmboni, and Harangi are all solid prospects even if the first team minutes aren’t there yet.

As for goalkeeping, this is the deepest pool at that position in over 20 years. Yes, 2015 had both Zack Steffen and Ethan Horvath.

This class can go six  deep of goalkeepers who would probably start any other U-20 cycle. Diego Kochen was just with the full USMNT although he didn’t play (and wasn’t expected to. Adam Beaudry and Julian Eyestone both had good camps this past week. Gavin Beavers didn’t get the call, but he has played first team minutes for Real Salt Lake and is certainly in the mix. The same can be said for the Philadelphia Union’s Andrew Rick. Duran Ferree is in the mix and he is based at FC Nordsjaelland. Adam Delplace is in the Lens Academy in France.

Eyestone again with a big save to keep the U.S U-20’s even 1-1 with France pic.twitter.com/jopWK92z5o

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) November 18, 2024

Good goalkeepers will be cut from this team and those players might even end up being better than those selected. It’s hard to predict the future of young goalkeepers. But at least the U-20 World Cup team will be strong in goal.

Between the two positions, this team is putting needed prospects into the USMNT pipeline.

Fall World Cup means needed depth

Last month, FIFA made the decision to change the timeline of the 2025 U-20 World Cup. Typically the tournament started in late May or early June. This placed it the offseason of Europe and midseason in MLS (but typically in an international window). Getting players released for the U-20 World Cup has always been tricky, but typically the U.S. team got most of its players.

The October announcement changed everything as the 2025 U-20 World Cup in Chile would now run September 27 – October 19. What that means is that the front end of the tournament would fall outside of a FIFA window while the back end would be inside the October window.

The pre-tournament preparation will likely be handled in the September window but the first few games will be outside any window. This will make things very hard for Mitrovic and other head coaches. Do they start the tournament shorthanded and allow players to join late during the window? Do they only go with players who are released for the entire tournament?

Unlike the summer editions of the tournament, the current version will take place during the seasons for all leagues – MLS, Europe, Mexico, and all throughout Asia and South America.

What this means is that Mitrovic is going to need a deep pool. He will have to be prepared to deep at every position. It will make the U.S. U-19 team also of critical importance for the U-20 cycle as there is a good chance Mitrovic will have go to that level to find players who will be released.

But the U.S. won’t be alone in this problem. It will affect every team and the most successful teams will be those who can get a few of their first choice players and combine it with a very deep overall class of players.

Projected Roster

Without getting into the issue of which players will and will not be released, or get called up to the full USMNT in the coming 11 months, here is a projected first choice U.S. U-20 roster at this moment in time. This also assumes the U-20 World Cup roster in 2025 will remain at 21 total players including three mandatory goalkeepers.

Goalkeepers

1)      Diego Kochen (Barcelona)
2)      Julian Eyestone (Brentford)
3)      Adam Beaudry (Colorado Rapids)

In the mix: Gavin Beavers, Andrew Rick, Duran Ferree, Zackory Campagnolo, Adam Delplace

Notes: This is a very strong group. Any of these players could be a first-choice starter in most U-20 cycles.

Central defenders

4)      Josh Wynder (Benfica)
5)      Matai Akinmboni (DC United)
6)      Noahkai Banks (FC Augsburg)

In the mix: Grayson Dettoni Noah Cobb, Stuart Hawkins, Neil Pierre, Chibuike Ukaegbu, Jackson Platts, Jose Magana Jr.

Notes: It’s tough to go with anyone who wasn’t part of the recent camp. While Wynder didn’t play in the two games, he is a lock leader. But there is competition. Bayern Munich reserve team defender Grayson Dettoni should get a chance in 2025 and Noah Cobb has spent time with the U-20 team while also being boosted with first team minutes at Atlanta United. Also note, three central defenders is enough with left-back Nolan Norris able to play central defense as well. Mitrovic might bring another central defender if he wants to play with three in the back. But as of now, that doesn’t seem like the preferred formation.

Fullbacks

7)      Leo Duru (Blackburn Rovers)
8)      Reed Baker-Whiting (Seattle Sounders)
9)      Peyton Miller (New England Revolution)
10)    Nolan Norris (FC Dallas)

In the mix:  Ethan Kohler, Oscar Verhoeven, Aiden Harangi, Luca Bombino, Tahir Reid-Brown, Harbor Miller, Drew Baiera, Owen Presthus, Andrew Baiera

Notes: While the young Peyton Miller has been playing wing with the U-20 team, he’s primarily a left back and the 2025 season with the Revolution will probably make that clear. Reed Baker-Whiting has been a mainstay at this age group and Leo Duru is a very impressive newcomer. Meanwhile, Nolan Norris is very useful and important to this team as a leader and as a player who can handle playing against teams like Chile and France. This is a tough group for the outsiders to crack.

Midfielders

11)  Pedro Soma (Barcelona)
12)  Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew)
13)  Benja Cremaschi (Inter Miami)
14)  Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo)
15)  Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes)

In the mix: Matthew Corcoran, Sergio Oregel Jr., Cruz Medina Bryan Moyado, Colin Guske, CJ Olney, Ervin Torres, Nathan Worth, David Vazquez, Paulo Rudisill, Darius Lane, Diego Garcia, Santiago Morales

Notes: It’s hard to see a first-choice roster that doesn’t include any of these five players. That makes for some tough cuts, but this is a very good midfield and every one of them had a good camp in November.

Forwards/Wingers

16)  Cole Campbell (Borussia Dortmund)
17)  Luke Brennan (Atlanta United)
18)  Ruben Ramos Jr. (LA Galaxy)
19)  Kristian Fletcher (Nottingham Forest, loan from DC United)
20)  Keyrol Figueroa (Liverpool FC)
21)  Marcos Zambrano (Vitória Guimarães)

In the mix: Aidan Dausch, Nimfasha Berchimas, Jykese Fields, Zavier Gozo, Mykhi Joyner, Dino Klapija, Julian Hall, Julian Placias, Caden Glover, Jonathan Shore

Notes: This is perhaps the area that is most open for change in the year ahead. Campbell is an unquestionable lock and Brennan has done well enough for this team that it seems unlikely he leaves the first-choice squad anytime soon. But Ramos is very young (playing up a cycle), Figueroa is mostly the same player he was a year ago, Zambrano’s club progression hasn’t’ been smooth, and Fletcher is on yet another load that doesn’t have him close to first team minutes. Zambrano was also not with the U-20 team in November after scoring two goals in a big win over Chile in October.

There are big opportunities for some of the U.S. U-19 players to move up. Dausch is on the verge of first team minutes at Coventry after scoring in droves for their U-21 team. Fields, Joyner, and Klapija had big camps with the U-19 team in October while Gozo is young but very talented.

For now, the incumbents hold their spots due to the team having a great camp. But except for Campbell and likely Brennan, no one else has a strong grip.