U.S. U-20 WNT KICKS OFF WORLD CUP AGAINST GERMANY: The U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team kicks off the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup on Aug. 5 against Germany at Commonwealth Stadium in what is an extremely rare occurrence in world soccer: the finalists from the previous U-20 World Cup squaring off in an opening group match. The game can be watched live on ESPNU and WatchESPN at 7 p.m. ET. Although almost all of the players have changed, the game will be a reprise of the championship match of the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, a match won 1-0 by the USA at Tokyo Olympic Stadium. The USA will then have two days of rest before facing Brazil on Aug. 8 in Edmonton in the second group match followed by three days of rest - including a travel day to Moncton in the far east of Canada - before finishing group play against China PR on Aug. 12. The USA also played Germany and China in group play in 2012, falling 3-0 to Germany and drawing 1-1 with China.
USA ON TV FOR CANADA '14: All three of the USA's group games will be broadcast live across the ESPN platforms. The U.S. plays its first two Group B matches at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, opening its tournament on Aug. 5 against Germany at 5 p.m. local (7 p.m. ET on ESPNU and WatchESPN) before facing Brazil on Aug. 8 at 8 p.m. local (10 p.m. ET on ESPNU and WatchESPN). The USA will finish group play on Aug. 12 against China PR at Moncton Stadium with a kickoff at 5 p.m. local (4 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and WatchESPN).
TOURNAMENT COVERAGE ON ESPN: ESPN will broadcast a total of 18 matches across its various platforms, 10 group matches and all four quarterfinals, plus both semifinals and the third-place and championship games. Only four matches are slated to be shown live on TV with the rest on tape-delay. However, all 18 matches that ESPN is carrying will be live on ESPN3 or WatchESPN. The four live TV matches are the three group games for the USA and the Group C clash between England and Mexico on Aug. 9 from Moncton at 1 p.m. ET on ESPNU. Should the USA advance to the quarterfinal round, there is flexibility to carry that match live on TV as well.
2014 U.S. U-20 FIFA WOMEN'S WORLD CUP SCHEDULEGroup B Schedule Tuesday, Aug. 5 USA vs. Germany China PR vs. Brazil
Friday, Aug. 8 Germany vs. China PR USA vs. Brazil
Tuesday, Aug. 12 USA vs. China PR Germany vs. Brazil
TURF TIME: For the first time, three of the four stadiums for the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup will feature artificial surfaces. This is the third FIFA youth women's tournament to have games on artificial turf. The 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica and the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbiajan also had matches on turf. Three of the four stadiums - Edmonton, Moncton and Montréal, where the final will be played - will also be used for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup - which is staged every two years - features 16 nations divided into four groups of four teams each. The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinal stage on Aug. 16 and 17. The semifinals will take place Wednesday, Aug. 20, in Montreal and Moncton and the final and third-place matches will be held on Sunday, Aug. 24, in Montreal. Players eligible for this age group tournament must have been born on or after Jan. 1, 1994.
16 NATIONS, ONE TROPHY: The 16 nations competing in the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup are: host Canada; China PR, Korea DPR and Korea Republic from Asia; Ghana and Nigeria from Africa; Germany, Finland, France and England from Europe; the USA, Canada and Mexico from North America; Brazil and Paraguay from South America; and New Zealand from Oceania.
U-20 WWC FACTS
- A total of 31 different countries have qualified for at least one of the final competitions of this tournament (2002-2014). The confederation breakdown: AFC (7), CAF (3), CONCACAF (4), CONMEBOL (5), OFC (1) and UEFA (11). Brazil, Germany, Nigeria and the USA are the only teams to have qualified for all final competitions held to date.
- Paraguay will make its FIFA U-20 World Cup debut. In 2012 in Japan, there were no newcomers but Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana and Sweden all made their first appearances in 2010.
- With three titles and 26 wins in 34 matches, the USA leads the FIFA Women's U-20 all-time Ranking.
- The highest number of goals per match for this tournament - 3.88 - was recorded in the inaugural tournament in Canada in 2002 (helped by the 25 goals scored by the USA in the team's six matches), followed by 3.54 in Thailand in 2004 and 3.53 in Chile in 2008. There were 3.25 goals per game scored two years ago in Japan.
- A new attendance record was set in 2010 at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany as 395,295 fans attended the matches with an average of 12,353 per match.
- FIFA will give out several awards at the conclusion of the tournament: the FIFA Fair Player Award, Gold, Silver and Bronze Balls to the top three players and Gold, Silver and Bronze Boots to the top three scorers and the Golden Glove to the top goalkeeper.
- The USA has three officials working this tournament: referee Margaret Domka and assistants Marlene Duffy and Veronica Perez.
CONSISTENT U.S. PRESENCE: The USA has competed in all six previous Women's World Cups held for this age group, winning the inaugural tournament in 2002 in Canada when it was a U-19 event, finishing third in 2004 in Thailand, finishing fourth in 2006 in Russia when it moved to U-20s, winning in 2008 in Chile on the strength of goal scoring from current Olympic gold medalists Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux, and finished fifth in 2010 in Germany. The USA returned to the top of the podium in 2012, winning the tournament in Japan on a goal from Kealia Ohai in the championship game. The U-19 tournaments featured 12 teams while the last four - including Canada - featured 16.
U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION - GOALKEEPERS (3): 18-Jane Campbell (Stanford; Kennesaw, Ga.), 21-Rose Chandler (Penn State; Atlanta, Ga.), 1-Katelyn Rowland (UCLA; Vacaville, Calif.) DEFENDERS (6): 16-Stephanie Amack (Stanford; Pleasanton, Calif.), 4-Brittany Basinger (Penn State; Purcellville, Va.), 2-Christina Gibbons (Duke; Raleigh, N.C.), 20-Katie Naughton (Notre Dame; Elk Grove Village, Ill.), 19-Kaleigh Riehl (BRYC; Fairfax Station, Va.), 3-Cari Roccaro (Notre Dame; East Islip, N.Y.) MIDFIELDERS (6): 13-Carlyn Baldwin (Tennessee; Oakton, Va.), 14-Nickolette Driesse (Florida State: Wayne, N.J.), 5-Rose Lavelle (Wisconsin; Cincinnati, Ohio), 12-Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), 6-Taylor Racioppi (PDA; Ocean Township, N.J.), 17-Andi Sullivan (Bethesda SC; Lorton, Va.) FORWARDS (6): 9-Makenzy Doniak (Virginia; Chino Hills, Calif.), 8-Summer Green (North Carolina; Milford, Mich.), 11-Rachel Hill (Connecticut; Rollinsford, N.H.), 10-Lindsey Horan (Paris Saint-Germain; Golden, Colo.), 7-Savannah Jordan (Florida; Fayetteville, Ga.), 15-Margaret Purce (Harvard; Silver Spring, Md.)
LEAD UP TO THE WWC: The USA will head into the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup having compiled a record of 9-0-0 this year in international matches, with five of those coming in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament. In 2013, the USA played just one match against a team that qualified for this tournament, falling to Germany 3-0 in March in La Manga, Spain.
2014 U.S. U-20 INTERNATIONAL RESULTS