PREVIEW: USA to face Brazil in 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Round of 16

USA vs. Brazil
2026 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup – Round of 16
Sept. 16 | Arena Katowice; Katowice, Poland 

USA TO FACE BRAZIL IN ROUND OF 16 AT THE 2026 FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: After an eventful group stage in which the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team lost its first game to Italy (2-1), tied U-20 power Japan 2-2 in its second match and then trounced New Zealand, 9-0, to finish the group, the young Americans now face a big challenge against Group B winners Brazil in the Round of 16.

The match will take place on Sept. 16 at Arena Katowice in Katowice, Poland (9 a.m. ET on FS2 and Universo). The USA advanced to the knockout stages as one of the four best third-place teams out of the six groups, finishing with four points and a plus-8 goal difference courtesy of the thrashing of New Zealand. In fact, the USA was the highest-ranked third-place team out of the six groups. In the quarterfinal round, the winner of the USA-Brazil match will play the winner of the Spain-Portugal Round of 16 tussle. In all the knockout matches of the tournament, if matches are tied at the end of regulation, 30 minutes of overtime will be played followed by penalty kicks if the match is still tied.

2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Round of 16 Matchups:
Sept. 16
Argentina vs. Korea Republic
Italy vs. China PR
Brazil vs. USA
Spain vs. Portugal

Sept. 17
DPR Korea vs. Japan
France vs. Canada
England vs. Nigeria
Poland vs. Colombia

HOW WE ADVANCED: With one point from the first two Group games – that being a well-earned 2-2 draw against Japan in which the USA held two leads and had numerous chances to win – the U.S. U-20 WNT needed a win and a nice helping of goals in its final Group D match against New Zealand to earn one of the four Round of 16 berths allotted to third-place finishers over the six groups. The USA got the win nine goals, which set a record for most goals scored and biggest margin of victory ever for a U.S. team at the FIFA U-20 WWC, rocketing the Americans to the top ranking of all the third-place finishers. If Italy had beaten Japan, the USA would have finished in second place in the group, which would have meant a meeting with defending U-20 Women’s World Cup champions Korea DPR in the Round of 16. The USA was actually in second place for around 20 minutes after Italy took the lead on a penalty kick in the 59^th minute in the other Group D finale, but Japan tied the game in the 80^th minute, which means that Japan will face Asian rival North Korea while Italy takes on China PR.

2026 FIFA U.S. Under-20 Women’s World Cup Roster by Position 

(College or Club; Hometown; U-20 Caps/Goals)

Goalkeepers (3): Caroline Birkel (Stanford; St. Louis, Mo.; 9), Evan O’Steen (Seattle Reign FC; Grapevine, Texas; 2), Kealey Titmuss (Penn State; Grand Blanc, Mich.; 5)

Defenders (7): Aven Alvarez (UNC; New Hill, N.C.; 15/0), Ella Bard (Louisville; Wadsworth, Ohio; 9/0), Lizzie Boamah (Stanford; San Diego, Calif.; 9/0), Pearl Cecil (Virginia; Encinitas, Calif.; 2/0), Emma Johnson (Penn State; Greenfield, Ind.; 12/1), Hope Munson (UNC; Holladay, Utah; 8/0), Katie Scott (Kansas City Current; Fairview, Pa.; 13/1)

Midfielders (6): Kennedy Fuller (Bay FC; Southlake, Texas; 11/5), Lily Joseph (Notre Dame; Hamden, Conn; 4/0), Ainsley McCammon (Seattle Reign FC; Bedford, Texas; 8/1), Y-Lan Nguyen (Stanford; Fairfax, Va.; 7/0), Nyanya Touray (Florida State; Silver Spring, Md.; 6/0), Linda Ullmark (Houston Dash; Buffalo, N.Y.; 10/7)

Forwards (5): Emeri Adames (Seattle Reign FC; Red Oak, Texas; 20/3), Alex Buck (Washington; Medina, Wash.; 9/4), Micayla Johnson (Chicago Stars FC; Troy, Mich; 7/4), Audrey McKeen (Racing Louisville FC; Vienna, Va.; 4/0), Sealey Strawn (UNC; Prosper, Texas; 5/1)

How They Got Here:

USA – Group D Third-Place Finishers
Date           Result                               USA Goal Scorers
Sept. 6       USA 1, Italy 2                      M. Johnson
Sept. 9       USA 2, Japan     2              McCammon, Buck
Sept. 12     USA 9, New Zealand 0       Buck (2), Fuller (3), M. Johnson, Ullmark, Adames, Strawn

Brazil – Group B First-Place Finishers
Date           Result                                   Brazil Goal Scorers
Sept. 5       Brazil 4, Tanzania 1               Vitorinha, Evelin (2), Thaynara
Sept. 8       Brazil 3, Canada 0                 Brendha, Vitorinha, Nogueira
Sept. 11     Brazil 2, England 1                 Gisele, Clarinha
 U.S. U-20 WNT vs. BRAZIL: 

• The USA and Brazil have played three times in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup with the USA winning twice and losing once, that one coming in penalty kicks.
• While Brazil, like the USA, has participated in all 12 FIFA U-19/U-20 Women’s World Cup tournaments, the teams haven’t met since the 2014 tournament when the USA won 1-0 in the second match of group play on a goal from current USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps.
• The teams met in back-to-back tournaments in 2004 and 2006. The USA beat Brazil, led by an 18-year-old Marta, in the 2004 Third-Place Match by a 3-0 score as Megan Rapinoe was one of the goalscorers. In 2006, the USA once again played Brazil in the Third-Place Match, and after a 0-0 tie through regulation, fell 6-5 in penalty kicks.
• More recently, these two teams met in two matches in April in Missouri in an event hosted by the Kansas City Current, with the USA winning the first game 2-0 on goals from Linda Ullmark and San Diego Wave midfielder Kimmi Ascanio and drawing the second, 1-1, in a match that was suspended after 79 minutes due to inclement weather. Ascanio also scored in that game.
• Brazil outshot the USA 9-8 in the first game while the USA held a 5-4 advantage in shots in the second before it was stopped.
• The USA’s roster for those two games featured 15 players on this World Cup Team while Brazil’s roster featured 14 players who are on their World Cup team.
• Brazil qualified for this World Cup by winning the 2026 South American Under-20 Women’s Football Championship. Brazil actually finished second in its first-round group due to a 2-1 loss to Argentina but topped the final round group with four wins and a draw (to Ecuador) to earn one of South America’s four berths to this World Cup. Brazil scored 15 goals across the group and final stages.
• The majority of Brazil’s roster plays domestically, with the exception of goalkeeper Thais Lima and midfielder Clarinha, who both play for Benfica in Portugal. Forward Gio Canali plays collegiately in the United States for the University of Virginia, where she is teammates with U.S. defender Pearl Cecil. Canali scored two goals with one assist in three matches before leaving for the World Cup.

Brazil 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Roster by Position (Club)

GOALKEEPERS (3): 1-Thais Lima (SL Benfica, POR), 12-Eluiza (São Paulo FC), 21-Ana Morganti (SC Corinthians)

DEFENDERS (4): 2-Thaynara (Botafogo), 3-Sofia Couto (CR Flamengo), 4-Ana Beatriz (São Paulo FC), 6-Bianca (SC Internacional)  

MIDFIELDERS (8): 5-Emilly Lucas (CR Flamengo), 7-Gisele (Grêmio), 8-Nogueira (Ferroviária Feminino), 10-Vitorinha (São Paulo FC), 11-Dudinha (Ferroviária Feminino), 13-Dulce (SC Corinthians), 14-Kaylane (CR Flamengo), 16-Clarinha (SL Benfica, POR)   

FORWARDS (6): 9-Brendha (Flamengo), 15-Gio Canali (University of Virginia, USA), 17-Evelin (Santos FC), 18-Carioca (Fluminense FC), 19- Tainá (Ferroviária Feminino), 20-Aninha (SC Internacional)

WATCH FIFA U-20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP ON FOX: All of the knockout matches of the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will be broadcast on the FOX family of networks. Four Round of 16 matches will be shown on FOX Sports 2 (FS2), including the U.S. match, while four will be on FOX Sports Plus (FSP). The U.S. games are also being shown in Spanish in the USA on Universo and Peacock.

THE USWNT IN POLAND – A FIRST: At this U-20 Women’s World Cup, the U.S. U-20 WNT has played its first-ever matches in Poland, and in fact, these are the first-ever matches by any U.S. Women’s National Team in the country. The senior USWNT has played Poland just one time, but that match took place in Sardinia, Italy, in 1989, a 0-0 draw. The match gave Poland a very unique distinction: Poland is one of just two countries in the world that do not have a losing record against the USWNT. With the other country being Czechoslovakia (also one match played, also a 0-0 draw), a country that no longer exists, Poland is the last remaining country on earth that does not have an all-time losing record to the U.S. Women. The U.S. U-23 WNT did play the Poland U-19 WNT in 2016, but that match was played in Croatia. Amazingly, that game ended in a 0-0 draw as well, despite the USA outshooting Poland, 25-0.

THE U.S. ROSTER – PROS LEAD THE WAY: Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2006, are age-eligible for this World Cup, and for just the third time, a U.S. roster at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup features professional players. This roster ties a record for the most professional players on a U.S. FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Team with eight, the same as the U.S. roster featured in 2024. The big difference is that all eight on the 2024 team were in their rookie year in the NWSL. This time around, just three players – Evan O’Steen of Seattle Reign FC, Linda Ullmark of the Houston Dash and Audrey McKeen of Racing Louisville FC — are rookies. With the exception of Ullmark, who played two seasons at North Carolina and scored 13 goals in 48 matches for the Tar Heels, and Katie Scott, who played part of one season at Penn State, the other six pros opted out of college soccer. Aside from Ullmark, all signed professional contracts as high school-aged players via the NWSL Under-18 Entry Mechanism.

ROSTER NOTES:

• Seventeen of the 18 field players on the U.S. roster have seen action, with the exception of Pearl Cecil, who was held out of the group finale vs. New Zealand with a minor injury.
• In her second World Cup start, against New Zealand on Sept. 12, forward Alex Buck scored her second and third FIFA World Cup goals, which were her third and fourth U-20 goals overall.
• Buck is the tenth player to score an exact brace in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup match for the USA.
• After her hat trick against New Zealand, Kennedy Fuller has now scored seven World Cup goals (four at the 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup) and five overall goals at the U-20 level.
• Micayla Johnson’s goal vs. NZL was her fourth at the U-20 level and her second of the tournament.
• Johnson is playing in her third FIFA youth World Cup over three consecutive years and has scored in all of them, having also tallied in the 2024 and 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cups. She is the first American player to achieve that feat. Johnson scored nine goals in 18 caps at the U-17 level. Across the three World Cups, Johnson has scored five goals: one in 2024, two in 2025 and two thus far in 2026.
• Emeri Adames’ goal was her first World Cup goal and her third goal at the U-20 level. She has eight World Cup assists across all levels: one assist at the 2022 FIFA U-17 WWC, four at the 2024 FIFA U-17 WWC, one vs. Italy in the USA’s first match and two vs. NZL.
• Linda Ullmark’s goal vs. NZL was her first World Cup goal and seventh goal at the U-20 level. She is the USA’s leading scorer this year.
• Sealey Strawn’s goal vs. NZL was her first World Cup goal and her first goal at the U-20 level.
• The 9-0 win over New Zealand was the most goals a U.S. team has scored in a match in FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup history. The second most was in 2024 when the U.S. defeated Paraguay 7-0 on Sept. 7, 2024. Before then, the U.S. won 6-0 three times in FIFA U-20 history, once in 2018 over Paraguay and twice in the very first FIFA Women’s World Cup for this age group, the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup — one coming against Chinese Taipei and one against Denmark.
• Fuller is the sixth U.S. player to score a hat trick in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The other five players are Kelly Wilson (Aug. 25, 2002, vs. Denmark), Sydney Leroux (July 17, 2010, vs. Switzerland), Maya Hayes (Aug. 20, 2012, vs. Ghana), Savannah DeMelo (Aug. 8, 2018, vs. Paraguay) and Pietra Tordin (Sept. 7, 2024, vs. Paraguay).
• Goalkeeper Caroline Birkel, defenders Ella Bard and Lizzie Boamah and midfielder Kennedy Fuller are the only four players who have played all 270 minutes of the tournament so far.
• Seven different players have scored goals for the USA in this tournament, three from Fuller and Buck, two from Johnson and one each from Ullmark, Adames, Strawn and Ainsley McCammon, for a total of 12 goals in the group stage. The USA scored more goals in the group stage match than any team  except for Spain, which had an 11-0 win over New Caledonia. Spain also scored the most goals in the group stage with 16.
• Annika Paz of Argentina leads the tournament in scoring with five goals. Five players have four goals while Fuller and Alex Buck are in a group of 10 players who have three each.
• The 2026 FIFA U-20 WWC is the third FIFA World Cup for Adames, Johnson and Evan O’Steen and the second for Birkel, Katie Scott, Fuller, McCammon, Cecil, Y-Lan Nguyen and Nyanya Touray.
• The USA’s World Cup roster features eight pros, two college freshmen, seven college sophomores and four college juniors in Aven Alvarez from UNC, Lizzie Boamah from Stanford, Lily Joseph from Notre Dame and Buck from Washington.
• Four players – Kealey Titmuss, Boamah, Alvarez and Adames – all have experience playing in the 2023 Pan American Games for the U.S. U-19 WNT. The U.S. team, playing against senior Women’s National Teams from Bolivia, Costa Rica, Argentina and Chile, took bronze in that tournament. All four players played significant roles in the competition with Adames scoring three goals, one each against Bolivia, Costa Rica and Chile. Against Chile in the semifinal, even though the USA fell, 2-1, Adames scored on Christiane Endler, widely considered one of the top female goalkeepers in the world at that time.
• Ullmark leads the U.S. U-20s in scoring this year with five international goals, three of which came via a hat trick in a 5-0 win over France. Johnson and Buck each have four goals, Fuller has three, all against New Zealand in the Group D Finale, and Adames has two.
• Ullmark is the top international goal scorer on the roster with seven goals in her 10 U-20 caps.
• Several of the players on this U-20 roster found great success at the U-17 international level. Micayla Johnson finished her U-17 career with nine goals in 18 caps. O’Steen racked up 13 caps as a starter in two consecutive U-17 World Cups. Touray scored eight goals in just 13 U-17 caps. McCammon had two goals in her 11 U-17 caps as a holding midfielder, including one in the Third-Place Match victory over England at the 2024 FIFA U-17 WWC. Nguyen had eight caps and one goal at the U-17 level. Scott played 15 times for the U.S. U-17s and scored once.
• Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2006, are age-eligible for the World Cup and the USA roster features nine players born in 2006, seven born in 2007 and five born in 2008.
• Those players born in 2008 are age-eligible for the 2028 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup as well. They are O’Steen, Cecil, Touray, Micayla Johnson and Audrey McKeen.
• Fuller, McCammon and Scott were part of the U.S. team that won the 2022 Concacaf Girls’ U-15 Championship.
• Four players on the roster played in the 2025 NCAA College Cup: Birkel, Boamah and Nguyen for runner-up Stanford and Touray for NCAA champion Florida State.
• The roster is made up of players from six different pro clubs and eight different colleges with three players each from Stanford and UNC. Penn State has two players and Florida State, Notre Dame, Louisville, Virginia and Washington have one each.
• There are four players on the roster from Texas, two from Michigan, and two from Southern California, more specifically, San Diego.
• 2026 U.S. U-20 WWC Roster – FIFA World Cup Experience:
  • 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in India: Adames
  • 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia: Birkel, Adames
  • 2024 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic: O’Steen, Scott, Fuller, McCammon, Nguyen, Micayla Johnson.
  • 2025 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Morocco: O’Steen, Cecil, Touray, Micyala Johnson.

JEPSON AT THE HELM: This is the first World Cup for U.S. head coach Vicky Jepson, who came to U.S. Soccer after spending four seasons as the senior assistant head coach with Tottenham Hotspur in the England Women’s Super League. Jepson previously served as manager of Liverpool FC Women in the WSL and has also worked at the youth international level, where she served as a coach educator with the English FA and coached the England U-17 Women’s National Team, guiding the team through qualifiers and at the UEFA Women’s U-17 Euros.

24 TEAMS VIE FOR 12^th U-20 TITLE: This year marks the 12^th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA’s most high-profile women’s competition after the World Cup and the Olympic Games. The biennial competition began as the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship in 2002 and was held as a U-19 event in 2004 before moving to its current Under-20 format in 2006. The 24 participating nations for the 2026 edition of the tournament were drawn into six groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group and the four best third-place finishers advanced to the Round of 16 taking place on Sept. 16 and 17. The quarterfinals will all be played on Sept. 19 and 20 with the semifinals being contested on Wednesday, Sept. 23. The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Final will be held on Sunday, Sept. 27 and the Third-Place Match will be held on Saturday, Sept. 26. This is the second time the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will feature Round of 16 matches. With three-time champions Germany remarkably having failed to qualify for this tournament, the USA is one of three teams to have qualified for every FIFA WWC at this age level, along with Brazil and Nigeria.

THE VENUES: The 52 matches of this tournament will take place at four stadiums and in four cities spanning three metropolitan areas: Arena Katowice in Katowice (15,500 capacity), Stadion Miejski Bielsko-Biala in Bielsko-Biala (14,963), Stadion Miejski LKS Lodz in Lodz (18,029) and Arena Sosnowiec in Sosnowiec (11,600). Katowice and Sosnowiec are adjacent cities in southern Poland. Lodz is in central Poland while Bielsko-Biala is 40 miles south of Katowice and Sosnowiec.

HISTORY OF SUCCESS AT THE U-20 WWC: The USA has qualified for every edition of the U-20 WWC and has won three of the 11 previous tournaments, compiling a 36W-11L-10D overall record heading into this tournament. At the inaugural FIFA U-19 Women’s Championship in 2002, the USA took home the title by defeating host Canada 1-0 on a golden goal in overtime from future WNT star Lindsay Tarpley in front of nearly 50,000 fans.

In 2008, future WNT stars Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan helped lead the USA to the tournament title, scoring in the championship match against North Korea. The U.S. won the 2012 tournament, downing three group winners in the knockout rounds en route to the trophy as future National Team stars and World Cup winners Crystal Dunn, Morgan Brian (now Gautrat), Julie Johnston (now Ertz) and Samantha Mewis played major roles.

Heartbreakingly, the USA has been knocked out of the tournament in penalty kicks in 2006, 2010 and 2014. The U-20s have lost just 10 games in regulation in the previous 11 tournaments, including three defeats to Germany, three to Japan and one each to Korea DRP, Spain, Netherlands and China PR. The USA also lost a game in overtime to Korea DPR. In addition to three tourney titles and three PK exits, the USA finished third in 2004 and 2024, and fourth in 2006 and 2016, giving the USA seven top four finishes in the 11 tournaments.

U.S. U-20 WNT A SPRINGBOARD TO SENIOR WNT: The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup has been a launching point for many players who have gone on to represent the full USWNT and many more who have played professionally. In fact, 62 different players who have played in a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the USA have gone on to earn at least one cap for the senior side (although several players played in multiple youth World Cups). From the USA’s 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Team, Alyssa Thompson made the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup Team and Korbin Albert (now Shrader) and Jaedyn Shaw made the 2024 Olympic Team, with Albert scoring the game-winning goal vs. Australia in group play and assisting on the game-winning goal in the gold medal match. From the 2024 FIFA U-20 WWC Team, six players have already earned caps with the USWNT: Jordyn Bugg (who was age-eligible for this tournament), Gisele Thompson, Claire Hutton (also age-eligible for this tournament), Riley Jackson, Maddie Dahlien and Ally Sentnor.

From 2002-2024, an average of 5.6 players per U.S. U-20 World Cup Team have gone on to represent the full USWNT, which represents about 25% of each roster.

From the USA’s 2022 FIFA U-20 WWC Team, Shrader, Michelle Cooper, Sally Menti (who did not play in the tournament due to injury), Olivia Moultrie, Ayo Oke, Lilly Reale, Ally Sentnor, Jaedyn Shaw and Alyssa Thompson went on to earn USWNT caps.

USWNT players Emily Fox, Naomi Girma, Jaelin Howell, Ashley Sanchez, Savannah DeMelo, Mandy McGlynn, Tara McKeown (now Rudd) and Sophia Smith (now Wilson) played for the USA at the 2018 U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

Mallory Pugh (now Swanson) captained the USA in 2016 in Papua New Guinea, a squad that also featured future USWNT players Casey Murphy, DeMelo, Fox and Sanchez.

In 2014, Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan (now Heaps), Mallory Pugh (now Swanson), Margaret Purce, Andi Sullivan and Jane Campbell were on the World Cup Team.

FIFA World Cup champions Morgan Brian (now Gautrat), Crystal Dunn, Julie Johnston (now Ertz) and Samantha Mewis helped the U-20s lift the trophy in 2012, while Alyssa Naeher backstopped Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan’s 2008 team to the championship.

Tobin Heath, Kelley O’Hara and Amy Rodriguez appeared at the 2006 tournament in Russia, while Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Rodriguez also represented the U-20s in 2004 in Thailand.

Lori Chalupny, Heather O’Reilly, Lindsey Tarpley, Leslie Osborne, Ashlyn Harris and Rachel Buehler were among a record 12 future WNT players who helped the USA lift the first tournament trophy in 2002.