Under 17 World Cup - US falls to Tunisia

Tunisia secured a place in the Round of 16 by beating USA 3-1 at Changwon Main Stadium on Thursday 23 August. The young Americans piled on the pressure from the outset, but it was the Tunisians who opened the scoring. On a counter attack, Youssef Msakni sprinted clear down on the right and his shot was handled inside the area. Nour Hadhria converted the resulting penalty in the eighth minute.

Despite their best efforts to bring themselves back into the game, the US fell further behind on the stroke of half-time. Hadhria bagged his second, again from the spot after he was brought down on the left side of the area.

Billy Schuler could have pulled one goal back in the 67th minute when he collected a through pass from Jared Jeffery, but Tunisia goalkeeper Atef Dikhili was quick to snatch the ball from the onrushing forward. Substitute Abdusalam Ibrahim tried his luck with a long range effort in the 83rd minute, and a moment later the left-winger failed to score with only the goalkeeper to beat.

The Americans had their say in the closing minutes, however, as Jeffery converted a penalty in the 90th minute. But Tunisia sealed their victory with Rafik Dkhil's goal in stoppage time.  The Americans must beat Belgium in their final Group E match to stand any chance of progressing to the round of 16.