Four Inter Miami CF Academy products represented their national teams at the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship, with Santiago Morales and Alexander Shaw helping the United States U-20 reach the final and qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2027.
Morales and Shaw, both Inter Miami CF First Team players, represented the United States U-20. Academy defenders Cai McLean and Kendry Villafuerte competed for Jamaica U-20 and Honduras U-20, respectively.
Morales, Shaw help United States reach final
The United States U-20 won all three of its group-stage matches against Haiti, El Salvador and Cuba without conceding a goal. Morales scored in the 3-0 victory over Haiti, while Shaw scored in the 5-0 win against Cuba.
The United States defeated Guatemala 3-1 in the quarterfinals and Costa Rica 2-0 in the semifinals. Those results secured qualification for the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2027 in Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
The United States lost to Mexico 2-0 in the final and finished second in the tournament.
McLean, Villafuerte compete in Group C
McLean represented Jamaica U-20 in Group C. Jamaica opened with a 2-1 victory over Honduras before drawing Panama 2-2 and Canada 2-2 to finish second in the group.
Jamaica advanced to the quarterfinals, where Canada won 3-1 after extra time. McLean was an unused substitute in Jamaica’s opening two group-stage matches, entered as a second-half substitute against Canada and later entered during extra time in the quarterfinal.
Villafuerte started all three of Honduras U-20’s group-stage matches. Honduras lost 2-1 to Jamaica, drew Canada 1-1 and lost 4-0 to Panama.
Source: Original report