Homegrown Chris Durkin and the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team will continue their march toward World Cup glory Saturday Oct. 21 against England at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, India, in a key quarterfinals showdown. The match will be broadcast live starting at 10:30 a.m. ET on Fox Sports 2 and Telemundo.
The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to face either Germany or Brazil in the semifinals.
The U.S. reached the quarterfinals after a sterling 5-0 win over Paraguay in the Round of 16. Led by a hat trick from Tim Weah, as well as scores from Andrew Carleton and Josh Sargent, the Americans burst their way to their first U-17 World Cup knockout round win since 1999.
Durkin, meanwhile, has provided a steady presence in the midfield while setting the pace of play for the U.S. The United product has started all four games, and is one of only four players on the squad to play through all 360 minutes of the U-17 World Cup campaign. Durkin also scored in the 3-0 victory against host India in the opening match, earning Man of the Match honors for the performance.
Aside from the scoring magic of Weah, the U.S. has been led by captain Sargent. The O’Fallon, Missouri, native has been the go-to option for the U.S. in both the the U-17 World Cup and the U-20 World Cup that was held in the Korea Republic this past summer.
Sargent joined former United player Freddy Adu as the only American male players to play in both youth World Cups in the same year. Sargent is the only American to score in both tournaments and the Missourian can equal Adu’s record of seven combined goals at both youth World Cups if he scores against England.
The Americans will meet an England side that is on its own spectacular run. The Young Lions reached the quarterfinals after a tense 0-0 duel with Japan that went to penalty kicks where England prevailed 5-3. The win continued a undefeated campaign for England at the U-17 World Cup that included group-stage wins against Chile, Mexico and Iraq.
England will be without leading goal scorer Jadon Sancho, who was recalled by German club Borussia Dortmund ahead of the Young Lions' match with Japan. Sancho had scored three of England’s nine goals at the tournament.
Saturday’s game will be the first-ever meeting between the U.S. and England in the U-17 World Cup.
