US U-20s hit Puerto Rico to open World Cup qualifiers

The U-20 national team started the Concacaf Championship outright, crushing Puerto Rico 7-1 by five different players.

Thursday's match was the first qualifying match for the World Cup, which began with a series of five grueling games in nine days.

Indiana University striker Justin Rennicks and Ayo Akinola of Toronto FC's product each scored the first goal of the game, setting the stage for a strong start to the game despite the absence of many highly touted players like Josh Sargent , Tyler Adams, Timothy Weah and Jonathan Amon, who recently presented for the senior team.

Rennicks only opened the scoring five minutes later, as Alex Mendez of Freiburg doubled his lead six minutes later to really start the attack.

Paxton Pomykal of FC Dallas scored shortly after, but Puerto Rico was able to go back before the whistle.

The second half was even more complete: Akinola completed a center Jaylin Lindsey in the 49th minute to restore the advantage of three goals with his first goal of the game.

Rennick's second goal came in the 57th minute, while Akinola completed his double by going home with a center from Ulysses Llanez.

It was the Llanez who finished with the seventh and last goal.

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Even with the six-goal win, the United States are not first in the group, a 13-2 victory over the Virgin Islands leaves Suriname at the forefront of the leaders.

Trinidad and Tobago won the third and final match of the first round of the group, scoring twice in stoppage time to secure a 3-2 win over St. Vincent and the Grenadines at their first match.

The next game for the United States will be a game against the Virgin Islands Saturday before playing Trinidad and Tobago two days later to reach the midpoint of the group stage.