2017 CONCACAF Men's U-17 Championship: Mexico and USA close out Group C with wins

The USA Men's U-17 National Team wrapped up Group C of the 2017 CONCACAF Men's U-17 Championship with a modest, 1-0 win over El Salvador. The result sealed a perfect three-wins-out-of-three record in group play for the USA at the tournament; the narrow victory can be explained by the fact the team had already qualified for the next round of the Championship, and several starters from the first two games of the group were rested.

The Americans will play in Group D of the Classification Stage of the tournament, alongside Cuba and Honduras. The top two teams in that three-team group will qualify for the 2017 U-17 World Cup.

New York Red Bulls' Academy prospect Chris Gloster has been a regular starter for the USA U-17s since well before the beginning of this Championship. But he took a knock to the head in the first half of the team's 4-3 win over Mexico and was subbed out at half time. For the El Salvador game, he was listed as unavailable. It is to be hoped he returns to full fitness in time to contribute again to the USA's cause at this tournament.

In the other Group C fixture on April 29, Mexico beat Jamaica, 5-1. The result was expected: El Tri is a pre-tournament favorite to win this year's title, mostly because Mexico's U-17 team has won three of the last four CONCACAF Men's U-17 titles (and the one it didn't win was the 2011 Championship, which it wasn't in because it hosted the U-17 World Cup that year).

Jamaica's hope of springing an upset was short-lived: Mexico was 3-0 up by half-time and 5-0 up by the time the young Reggae Boyz scored their first and only goal of the game in the 71st minute.

Mexico moves on to Group E of the Classification Stage, where it will face Costa Rica and Panama.

For both Mexico and the USA, the Classification Stage starts on May 3, with games against Honduras and Panama respectively.