Cremaschi’s Hat Trick Leads USA’s Record 9-1 Rout of New Caledonia

The Under-20 men’s USA national team opened the World Cup in emphatic fashion, crushing debutant New Caledonia 9-1 at Estadio El Teniente. Captain Benjamín Cremaschi stole the spotlight with a first-half hat trick, becoming only the third American player to achieve the feat in this tournament.

Marko Mitrović’s squad set two new U.S. records in the competition: most goals in a single match and largest margin of victory. Cremaschi finished with five goal contributions, while Niko Tsakiris, Frankie Westfield, Nolan Norris (twice), Taha Habroune, Matthew Corcoran and Cole Campbell also found the net.

The U.S. wasted no time, with Cremaschi scoring twice in the first four minutes. By halftime, the score was already 7-0, shattering the previous U.S. scoring mark. The only blemish came in the second half, when a misplaced pass from goalkeeper Adam Beaudry gifted Antoine Simane a consolation goal for New Caledonia.

The emphatic win boosts the Americans’ goal differential, the first tiebreaker in the group stage. Up next is France, who beat South Africa 2-1 in their opener, setting up a key clash on October 2.

With this display, the U.S. became just the fourth nation ever to score nine goals in a U-20 World Cup match, underscoring their ambition to make a deep run in the tournament.