This past week, Brazil hosted the APFC Americas Cup, which served as the Americas zone qualifying event for the 2021 FIPFA World Cup. Five national teams competed in the 2-day event: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the United States and Uruguay. The United States came in as the favorites due to their recent runner-up performance at the World Cup, and they delivered, winning the tournament and punching their ticket to Australia in 2021. Also qualifying for the World Cup were Uruguay and Argentina, who finished in second and third, respectively.

Day 1 Results Uruguay 2 Brazil 1 Canada 0 Argentina 4 Brazil 0 USA 4 Argentina 1 Uruguay 2 USA 11 Canada 0

Argentina vs. Uruguay was one of the most exciting match ups we saw on day 1. A hard-fought Valentino Zegarelli goal put Argentina 1-0 late in the first half. This followed a Zegarelli hat trick in their matchup with Canada. Uruguay had several chances shortly after but couldn’t get past Lisandro Uretti in goal until the 32nd minute. Diego Nin cleaned up a Fabian Medina shot on goal to tie it up. It was locked up at 1 until the final seconds when Nin set up #9 Francisco Wild perfectly for a shot and then Wild put his own rebound away!

Diego Nin scores the equalizer en route to a 2-1 defeat of Argentina [Video Credit: Power Soccer Shop Livestream]

The United States squad shut out the competition on day 1. Against Brazil, stars Riley Johnson and Michael Archer both scored twice, while Johnson, Archer, Natalie Russo, and Ben Carpenter all got in on the action in an 11-0 defeat of Canada.

Day 2 Results

Brazil 0 Argentina 2 Uruguay 3 Canada 0 Argentina 0 USA 1 Canada 0 Brazil 2 USA 5 Uruguay 1

Although this was a round-robin tournament, the final match actually worked as a championship. Both the United States and Uruguay won their first games of the day to meet at 3-0. Argentina was able to hold the US scoreless until the 35th minute of their matchup. Goalie, Jordan Dickey perfectly placed a pass to let Michael Archer unleash one of his signature spin kicks into the left corner of the goal.

USA’s Michael Archer slams the game-winner into the corner to defeat Argentina [Video credit: Power Soccer Shop Livestream]

In the final, Riley Johnson and Francisco Wild traded goals early, but then it was all US. Johnson scored again in the 14th minute then Archer put together a late game hattrick to finish them off. While the US separated themselves in the final, we saw just how close these three teams are. With plenty of time before the 2021 FIPFA World Cup in Australia their differences could become even smaller.

Archer sets up Riley Johnson perfectly for the first goal in the deciding match of the Americas Cup [Video credit: Power Soccer Shop Livestream]

APFC Americas Cup Standings

1 USA 2 Uruguay 3 Argentina 4 Brazil 5 Canada

The top three teams, USA, Uruguay, and Argentina, qualified for the 2021 FIPFA World Cup. All Americas Cup matches were recorded by Power Soccer Shop on YouTube with commentary by Pete Winslow. Make sure to follow us for updates as we gear up for the World Cup as well as the 2020 Summer Paralympics.