Lower Alabama Report: November 5
U17 World Cup starts; Extra action this week in UPSL
USYNT U17 World Cup
Image credit: US Soccer
The United States kicked off this morning in the U17 World Cup in Qatar, and Birmingham Legion's Ramiz Hamouda is part of the squad. Ramiz has featured prominently for Legion, and spent the off-season last year training with Werder Bremen, and is on their radar for a potential transfer after he turns 18 in May of 2026. His first professional appearance was with Legion when he was just 15, and I'll be following the team through the tournament.
Today's result
United Sates 1-0 Burkina Faso
The US gets a hard-fought win to start group play. Highly-regarded 16 year-old Cavan Sullivan (there's already a deal set to send him to Manchester City from Philadelphia Union when he turns 18) came on as a second half sub and scored the winning goal. Hamouda got the start, and made way late in the second half in a switch to bring in more attackers.
Other group stage matches
United States vs Tajikistan; Saturday, November 8 at 9:45AM ET
Czech Republic vs United States; Tuesday, November 11 at 9:45AM ET
UPSL
Last week's results
FC Birmingham 1-2 Scenic City SC
FC Columbus Elite 4-2 Georgia Impact
Atlanta City 4-4 Columbus Knight Eagles
This week's matches
This week features some crazy quick one and two day turnarounds on the schedule.
North Georgia vs FC Birmingham; Friday, November 7 at 8:00 ET. This match-up features the two bottom teams in the table, with North Georgia having won one game this season, with five losses. FCB has been more competitive overall, with three draws, and four losses (three of those losses were competitive games). They turn around and do it all over again in Birmingham on Sunday, November 9 at 4:30 CT. Birmingham has a very realistic chance here to pick up six points.
Atletico Buford vs FC Columbus Elite; Sunday, November 9 at 1:00 ET. Buford comes into this game after being knocked out of Open Cup qualifying last weekend against Potros. Colgaelite also pulled off a 2-1 upset of Buford on Oct 18, and I expect for Buford to look for some revenge here at home.
Middle Georgia vs UMA2; Saturday, November 8 at 6:00 ET. Middle Georgia is at the bottom of the table, winless for the Fall season. The best indicator here is that they lost their opening match 0-6 to the Knight Eagles, who are probably a good comparison to UMA. Expect this to be three points for UMA, and then they play each other again at UMA less than 24 hours later on Sunday, November 9 at 2:00 CT.
Columbus Knight Eagles vs Angelus; Sunday, November 9 at 5:00 CT. The second game of a double-header (they share a home field with UMA), this is a rematch from the game that Angelus won 5-0 back on October 11. That match saw the Eagles with several players booked, including one that was sent off. The Eagles have seen better form since then, with two wins and a draw. Look for this to be a close match.