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15-year-old Nimfasha Berchimas is tearing up the U-17 World Cup as USA advance to Round of 16

The United States U-17 men’s youth national team has a star in the making and it’s 15-year-old Nimfasha Berchimas.

The U.S. is competing in the U-17 World Cup in Indonesia and secured a spot in the Round of 16 after defeating Burkina Faso 2-1 on Wednesday. The Americans bested South Korea 3-1 in their opening game and now sit tied at six points with France, mathematically advancing the U.S. out of the group.

Berchimas has been a star for the U.S. as he’s scored three of the five USYNT’s goals at the tournament. He found the back of the net again on Wednesday and played a part in the first goal.

Berichmas U-17 World Cup goals

He’s the youngest player to compete for the U.S. at the U-17 World Cup since Freddy Adu back in 2003. Berchimas needs one more goal at the tournament to tie Adu’s record for most goals by an American at the U-17 World Cup.

His current tally of three ties him with the likes of Landon Donovan, Tim Weah and Josh Sargent. Here were his first two goals in the tournament against South Korea.

Berchimas is with Charlotte FC and plays for the second team, Crown Legacy FC. He’d already caught the eye of Bayern Munich before the U-17 World Cup when he went on trial with the German giants last summer.

The Charlotte homegrown player will definitely be one to keep tabs on in the coming years. We’d hate to get too far ahead of ourselves, but he’ll be 18 by the time the 2026 World Cup comes to the States.

Next up for the U-17 U.S. side will be the battle for the top of the group against France on Saturday. The best ever finish for the U.S. at the U-17 World Cup was fourth place in the 1999 edition.

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