USA exit U-20 World Cup on penalties as tournament’s timing draws criticism

The United States were eliminated from the U-20 Women’s World Cup in the last 16, falling to Brazil on penalties on Wednesday after playing to a 1-1 draw after extra-time. Brazil goalkeeper Thaís Lima made a crucial save on Emeri Adames’s attempt to begin the shootout, opening the eventual 5-4 finish in Katowice, Poland.

The result extends a difficult run of form for US youth national teams across the men’s and women’s programs. This is the third time since last October that a US youth team has failed to win a knockout game at a World Cup: the U-17 boys and the U-17 girls both exited in the last 16 of their respective tournaments in shootouts. The U-20 men fell in the quarter-final of their World Cup in October 2025.

The US, holders of 2024 Olympic gold and winners of two of the past three senior Women’s World Cups, last won the U-20 tournament in 2012, with a squad headlined by Crystal Dunn, Julie (Johnston) Ertz and Sam Mewis, all of whom are now retired.

In Poland, the Americans struggled to advance from their group, losing the opener against Italy before playing Japan to a 2-2 draw. A 9-0 rout of New Zealand was enough to reach the knockout round as one of the tournament’s top third-place sides. Brazil comfortably finished atop their group, beating Tanzania, Canada and England by a 9-2 aggregate.

While far from as testy as the senior national teams’ friendlies in June, the teams played a fairly scrappy game Wednesday. Brazil defender Sofia opened the scoring from a 59th-minute corner kick, while Seattle Reign midfielder Ainsley McCammon equalized from the run of play late in the 63rd. Neither team was able to find a breakthrough in the ensuing hour, leading to Lima’s heroics to open the shootout.

This is Brazil’s third straight quarter-final appearance at a U-20 Women’s World Cup, and seventh in 12 appearances. Their joint best finish was a pair of third-place showings in 2006 and 2022.

The timing of this year’s U-20 Women’s World Cup has drawn scrutiny from ex-players and coaches. Staged every other year, the tournament usually falls in either August or September, with this installment falling on the later end of the general timeframe. It is not being held in a Fifa window, so many in-season club teams opted not to release their players.

On Tuesday, a group of current and former players including Alex Morgan, Marta, Dunn and Sophia Wilson signed an open letter asking Fifa to reconsider the scheduling of its U-20 Women’s World Cups. Emma Hayes told ESPN that she was concerned about the mettle of US youth national teams, which have historically struggled in major tournaments and World Cups given the federation’s past approach to youth development that deprioritized competitions.

“When I speak about this subject, I am sending a warning sign that I am worried,” Hayes told ESPN. “I am massively worried about the direction for and the lack of all of those experiences for American players.”

A September tournament is complicated for players already signed to clubs regardless of how their league operates. For players in fall-to-spring seasons, like the Women’s Super League, it picks off young players fresh from club preseason, hampering their ability to work into the first team and overlapping with the start of their seasons. For other leagues on spring-to-fall timelines, like the NWSL, clubs are put in the position to accept or reject call-ups during an important point of the regular season.

Age-eligible US players who were absent from this tournament squad include OL Lyonnes midfielder Lily Yohannes, Bay midfielder Claire Hutton, rising center-back Jordyn Bugg and playmaking technician Melanie Barcenas.

North Korea are the defending champions of the tournament, which ends with the 27 September final.