USA Advance to U19 World Cup Semifinals; Prevail Over Canada

04 July 2025

USA 108, CAN 102

View the USA-Canada box score here.

The USA Basketball Men’s U19 National Team faced a true test in their quarterfinal matchup against Canada at the 2025 FIBA U19 Men’s World Cup in Lausanne, Switzerland. At points in the second half, the U.S. trailed their continental rival but took a 90-89 lead with 6:58 to play, which they held the rest of the contest.

The semifinals, which tip on Saturday, feature Slovenia vs. Germany and USA vs. New Zealand/Switzerland.

Postgame Notes

Home of the Brave: The USA entered halftime up 61-54, their narrowest lead after 20 minutes of action. By virtue of a 19-3 Canadian run, the U.S. found themselves trailing in the second half by as many as 5 points (64-69). The Americans led 79-78 entering the fourth quarter and six lead changes would occur until the U.S. took the lead for the final time on a Jordan Smith Jr. layup at the 6:58 mark.

BBQ: The USA improves to 7-1 all-time against Canada in U19 action, including a 3-0 mark in the quarterfinals. The largest margin of victory (46 points) between the two sides came in 1979 where the U.S. dished out a 105-59 defeat to the Canadians. The Americans have won by 20+ five times in series history and 40+ twice.

Party in the USA: The USA had four players with double figure scoring totals at halftime, led by AJ Dybantsa (13 points, 3 assists). The others with 10+ included Mikel Brown Jr. (11 points, 4 assists), Jordan Smith Jr. (10 points) and Tyran Stokes (10 points). In total, the U.S. finished the game with six double-digit scorers (Dybantsa 22 points; Brown Jr. 20; Smith Jr., 14; Stokes 10; Morez Johnson Jr. 10; Nik Khamenia 10).

Fireworks: The USA joins Greece (1995) as the only teams in U19 history to score 100-or-more points in four straight games. The current U.S. streak includes victories against France (108-77), Cameroon (129-70), Jordan (140-67) and Canada (108-102). Greece averaged 113.8 points over the streak while the 2025 Americans are on a blistering 121.3 pace.

America the Beautiful: The U.S. has played in the U19 quarterfinals in each of the last 10 editions of the World Cup. The Americans are 9-1 during that span, with the lone defeat coming in 2011. Over the course of the previous nine U19 events, the USA has won the gold medal five times (2009, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021).