The United States kickstarted their expanded CONCACAF qualifying campaign for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup with a historic performance, routing the U.S. Virgin Islands 22-0. This victory represents the largest margin ever achieved by any U.S. team at any level, with Chase Adams being the standout star, contributing an impressive ten goals to the tally.
During the match held in San Jose, Costa Rica, Captain Maximo Carrizo also shined, netting four goals of his own. Meanwhile, Chance Cowell and Jude Terry each added two goals, and players Pedro Guimaraes, Ramiz Hamouda, Jamir Johnson, and Kellan LeBlanc each contributed one goal. The scoring spree by Adams included strikes at the eighth, ninth, 13th, 19th, 31st, 33rd, 38th, 55th, 75th, and 77th minutes, showcasing his dominant performance on the field.
Chance Cowell, who hails from Naperville, Illinois, joined the Columbus Crew Academy in January 2023 as an under-15 player. He made his mark last season as an amateur with Crew 2 in MLS Next, later signing a professional deal in August. Cowell performed admirably, with nine goals in 19 matches—13 of which were starts—in the third-tier MLS Next Pro.
In the opening moments of the match, Adams provided an assist for the U.S.’s first goal scored by Cowell, a forward with the San Jose Earthquakes who made his debut in MLS Next Pro last year. Cowell is notably the younger sibling of Cade Cowell, a 21-year-old forward for Chivas who has represented the U.S. senior national team 11 times.
This unprecedented win surpasses the previous record for any U.S. team, which was a 20-0 triumph against Grenada during the 2022 CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship. Additionally, the previous record for U.S. men’s teams was a 13-0 victory against the U.S. Virgin Islands at the 2018 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship.
In other Group A results, Cuba secured a 3-1 victory over St. Kitts and Nevis. The tournament allows for eight group winners to qualify for the expanded 48-team Under-17 World Cup scheduled to take place in Qatar from November 5 to 27, 2023. Notably, there is no knockout stage in the CONCACAF qualifying rounds. In previous years, the FIFA tournament contained 16 teams from 1985 through 2005 and expanded to 24 teams from 2007 to 2023.
The U.S. Virgin Islands team faced a challenging journey, having been outscored 33-0 in their four matches during the 2022 CONCACAF Under-17 qualifying rounds.
