The US U-17 soccer team is set to face Germany in the round of 16 at the U-17 World Cup on Tuesday at 3:30 am ET. This will be the US’s second time trying to reach the quarterfinals in the tournament since 2001 and 2003, when they went back-to-back in the last eight. In their lone appearance in the quarterfinals since then, in 2017, a team led by future senior stars Timothy Weah, Josh Sargent and Sergiño Dest made it all the way to England before falling short in the quarterfinals.
This time around, Gonzalo Segares’ squad is headlined by Liverpool youngster Keylor Figueroa (son of former Honduras international Meynor), Charlotte forward Nimfasha Berchimas (who has scored three goals so far) and San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Cruz Medina. The US U-17 team finished second in Group E with wins against South Korea and Burkina Faso, but were hammered by France 3-0 in their final game.
The US has only reached the semifinals once at the U-17 World Cup, back in 1999 with Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Kyle Beckerman leading the charge. They will now face a confident and unblemished German side that has won all three of their group games so far.