The United States under-20 men's national Football team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The highest level of competition in which the team competes is the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years. The United States' best finish came in the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship when the U.S. beat Iraq in the quarterfinal before losing to Nigeria in overtime in the semifinal and Brazil in the third-place match. Steve Snow tied for second in the tournament with three goals. The U.S. reached the quarterfinals in 1993 but lost to Brazil. After missing out in 1995, the U.S. began a run of six consecutive qualifications in 1997, reaching the second round in five consecutive tournaments. Of those tournaments, the best U.S. performance came in 2003, when the U.S. reached the quarterfinal and led Argentina 1–0 in the final minutes before falling 2–1 in extra time. The U.S. also reached the quarterfinal of the 2007 Cup before losing 2–1 in extra time to Austria.
1976: Third place. Won preliminary round Group 2. Finished 2nd in 2nd round Group A. Lost to Honduras in semifinal. Beat Guatemala for third place.
1978: Second round. Won 1st round Group B. Finished 4th in 2nd round Group A.
1980: Second place. Won 1st round New Jersey Group. Beat Bermuda in quarterfinal. Beat Honduras on penalties in semifinal. Lost to Mexico in final.
1982: Second place. Won 1st round Group A. Won 2nd round Group A. Beat Guatemala in semifinal. Lost to Honduras in final. Qualified when Honduras was disqualified.
1984: Fourth place. Finished 2nd in 1st round Group 2. Finished 2nd in 2nd round Group A. Lost to Mexico in semifinal. Lost to El Salvador for third place.
1986: Second place. Won Group B. Finished 2nd in final group.
1988: Third place. Finished 2nd in Group 1. Finished third in final group. Qualified when Mexico was disqualified.
1990: Third place. Won Group 3. Finished third in final group.
1992: Second place. Won Group C. Finished second in final group.
1994: First round. Finished second in Group C.
1996: Third place. Won Group 2. Finished third in final round.
1998:† Qualified. Won Group B.
2001:† Qualified. Finished 2nd in Group 1.
2003:† Qualified. Finished 2nd in Group B.
2005:† Qualified. Won Group A.
2007:† Qualified. Won Group A.
2009: Runner-up and qualified to the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Finished first in Group 1, ahead of Honduras, Jamaica, and El Salvador. They defeated Trinidad and Tobago in a penalty shootout, 4–3, after a scoreless, 120-minute, regulation draw in the semifinals. In the finals the U.S. team lost by a score of 3–0 to Costa Rica.
2011: Quarterfinal. Did not qualify for World Cup.
2013: Runner-up and qualified to the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Won Group A. In the finals the U.S. team lost by a score of 3–1 to Mexico in extra time.
2015: Tied for third and qualified to the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Finished second in Group A. Defeated El Salvador 2–0 in the playoff stage.
2017: Champion and qualified to the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Finished second in Group B. Won Classification Stage Group D. They defeated Honduras in a penalty shootout, 5–3, after a scoreless, 90-minute, regulation draw in the finals.
2018: Champion and qualified to the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Finished first in Group A. Won Classification Stage Group G. They defeated Mexico 2–0 in the finals.
† The tournament was played with a two-group, qualification format from 1998–2007. There was no championship round.
