After going into the tournament with high hopes, USA suffered a massive sense of disappointment at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2025™ by exiting in the round of 32 with a 4-3 defeat on penalties to Morocco.
The Stars and Stripes have since retooled for the 2026 qualifying campaign with Alex Aldaz stepping up from USA’s U-16 men’s programme to replace Gonzalo Segares in the higher age group. The former FC Dallas academy coach has valuable experience as an assistant to Segares at the U-17 World Cup in 2023 and he was also part of the US Soccer delegation in Qatar last year.
Aldaz’s first task is to return USA to the global stage in Concacaf qualifying, which runs from 3-12 February across six countries — Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The participating teams will be split into eight groups, with each group winner punching their ticket to the 48-team FIFA U-17 World Cup 2026™, which will be held once again in Qatar later this year.
The Americans have been drawn in Group E, where they will face St. Vincent and the Grenadines on February 5, St. Kitts and Nevis two days later and finally Dominican Republic on 10 February. All three matches will be played at Arnos Vale Stadium in Kingstown, St. Vincent.
Last year, USA rolled through Concacaf qualifying as they secured three consecutive victories with a goal difference of +31, thanks in large part to a 22-0 victory over the US Virgin Islands in their opener.
At the team’s training camp in South Florida, Aldaz spoke to FIFA about the Stars and Stripes’ draw, avoiding complacency and USA’s long-standing quest to return to the semi-finals of the FIFA U-17 World Cup.
Alex Aldaz: The World Cup, having experienced it as an assistant, there is no event like it… be it at U-17, U-20 or senior level. It’s magical and having experienced it in a certain way this will be a completely different [experience] in the sense that all the responsibility in terms of the direction of the programme on this particular age group rests on me. It’s an exciting challenge and has been an amazing experience day to day so I’m really looking forward to it.
It definitely helps. Part of our philosophy at US Soccer at the U-15, U-16 age groups is we open up are player pool to grant opportunity and look at a lot of players. We did have a lot of players come in during that U-16 age group and you would think that it would help in the sense of familiarity and continuity but because it is development, it wasn’t as if it was always the same kids coming in… but there are certainly guys that have been in who I am familiar with who have been exposed to the US Way.
It’s an interesting draw for us to have to travel to the Caribbean to get out of our comfort zone. It’s something we’ve done the past couple of years in terms of going out abroad to compete. I don’t think since I’ve been with the federation that we’ve played a nation on home soil… all I know is playing abroad and having these experiences. We’re looking forward to all the matches.
People can make assumptions based on past performances and for us it’s more about looking inward, focusing on what we’ve been teaching and trying to implement it and execute it to the best of our abilities… really looking to compete against ourselves – with obviously the highest levels of respect to our opposition – but really trying to set a high, high standard in everything that we do daily in training. As we say, high performance begins in minute one so from the moment they step off the plane and head to the hotel. So [we’re] really just focusing on ourselves right now.
I was in Qatar. I was not coaching but I was part of the delegation and I was present at training for the first two matches. When you see the margins, and it’s the same at every level, [there are] moments of 30 seconds or five seconds when you have lapses in concentration – be that in intensity, communication or the team being together – and you can pay the price. For us, as a nation that is continuing to grow and aspire to become more relevant and dominant, I would it’s about having unwavering concentration and commitment levels throughout the game. Also, understanding that every second counts and trying to instill that in the daily environment so it becomes automatic or a habit to the players.
For us, as a country, we all know as a culture it’s to compete at the highest levels and to aspire to greatness and write history. But as we all know it begins with one step at a time and it’s important to have dreams and goals but also be more focused on our day-to-day process – and continuing to evaluate and optimize that and push the standards every single day. Every team, from the U-17s to our [senior team] and the same on the women’s side, they will tell you that we want to win the trophy. But this is more about ‘how do we get there?’ instead of what it is we want to win.
Picture credits: US Soccer
