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FIFA U-20 World Cup

Analysis: U.S. U-20's fall to South Africa 2-1, win group, face Italy in R16

ASN's Brian Sciaretta breaks down the U.S. U-20 team's disappointing loss to South Africa, looks ahead to the Round of 16 game against Italy.
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
October 06, 2025
8:50 AM

THE UNITED STATES U-20 national team lost to South Africa 2-1 to conclude Group E play at the 2025 U-20 World Cup. The result was disappointing although head coach Marko Mitrovc rotated his squad almost as much as possible for this game after the win over France. The good news for the team, however, is that it still won Group E with six points and a superior goal differential.

Next up will be Italy on Thursday in the Round of 16.

The U.S. team struck first in this game when Noah Cobb headed home a Matthew Corcoran free kick in the 12th minute.

But U.S. team was vulnerable off the counterattack and South Africa equalized in the 17th when Josh Wynder headed a cross into his own goal. Then just before the half, South Africa found another on another counterattack, but this time from the right side – and the trailing runner, Gomolemo Kekana, was not picked up.

The U.S. did not play poorly but it did cause some reason for concern.

 

Dominant play, but no goals

 

The statistics of this game were eye-opening for a team that lost. The U.S. team:

  • Outshot South Africa 17-5 (7-4 on target). At one point, South Africa had 2 goals with 1 shot
  • 66-34% possession edge
  • 465-210 edge in completed total passes
  • 235-58 edge in completed passes in the attacking half
  • 46-6 edge in touches in the opposing box
  • 19-12 edge in tackles
  • 55-35 edge in duels, 17-7 edge in aerials
  • 10-3 edge in successful dribbles

The U.S. team did a lot of things right but came up short.

Namely there were to big areas where the U.S. team failed.

 

Finishing

 

The U.S. team struggled in this game to finish chances and get dangerous chances on target. The one goal it scored was off a set piece. But from the run of play, there was not enough effective final balls. They had plenty of possession even in the South Africa box, but the final pass was empty. The best chance was in the first half when Benja Cremaschi was denied at point blank range.

 

Transitional defending

 

On two occasions, the U.S. team’s transitional defending was very pool and it cost them the game. South Africa was relying on counterattacks to get chances and the U.S. team’s defense was not up to the task.

The first goal was an own goal on Wynder, but the U.S. allowed way too much space for South Africa to attack down their left side. That was the big area of weakness on the play. Wynder was then forced into emergency defending on the cross because the winger had too much space and was able to get into the box for a short cross.

The second goal happened because of a failure to pick up the trailing runner. That is both a shortcoming of effort and in reading the play.

 

Momentum

 

The lost cost the U.S. team nothing as they ended up winning Group E despite the loss. A draw or win would not have led to a better outcome.

But there are two ways the loss could affect the United States. It could either give them a warning as to their shortcomings with an opportunity to now address it in training. Or it could halt the team’s positive momentum and pull them down a bit.

We won’t know for sure until Sunday. But the team has rebounded well before. In the June camp, the U.S. team lost to Norway in the opening game 1-0 before beating Colombia 1-0 in the second game of camp.

 

Next up is Italy

 

The U.S. team will next face Italy in the Round of 16 on Thursday. Italy finished its group with four points with a 1-0 win over Australia, a 2-2 draw with Cuba, and a 1-0 loss to Argentina. Against Argentina, Italy allowed just one shot on target.

Italian teams are known for getting going once the knockouts begin and this could and should be a challenge for the U.S. team. Argentina had the same problems against Italy that the U.S. team had against South Africa. The possession was there but the real challenges were not.

The U.S. team should expect to return to the starting lineup which was used against France. But even then, the U.S. team needs to be better from the run of play – except for the last five minutes.

What needs to happen is that the U.S. team needs more from key attacking players. The first being Cole Campbell. The Borussia Dortmund winger has not been himself yet in this tournament. He has been good whenever he’s been in camp, but it hasn’t come together for him yet at the World Cup. If he can get it going, the U.S. team becomes very hard to stop.

Another concern is the potential overuse of central defender Josh Wynder who started each of the team’s first three games.

But having three full days before the game should give Mitrovic a chance to rest players and scout Italy.

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