Called Up: Academy Defender Tyler Hall Called Up to U.S. U-17 MYNT for Concacaf U-17 Championship

15-year-old Academy midfielder Santiago Morales has been included in the squad as an alternate

Inter Miami CF Academy and Inter Miami CF II defender Tyler Hall has been called up by the U.S. U-17 MYNT for the upcoming Concacaf U-17 Championship. The tournament is set to take place in Guatemala from Feb. 11 to 26 will offer the top four teams qualification to the 2023 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru.

The U.S. sits in Group F alongside Barbados, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago. The U.S.’s schedule for the competition’s group stage is as follows:

• Saturday, Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. ET - USA vs. Barbados 

• Monday, Feb. 13 at 8 p.m. ET - Trinidad and Tobago vs. USA

• Wednesday, Feb 15. At 8 p.m. ET - USA vs. Canada

Hall, who will be turning 17 soon, has previous experience in the international arena, most recently being summoned last month by the U.S. U-17 MYNT for the team’s first training camp of 2023, which took place at Nova Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale Fla. In particular, in 2022 the defender was part of the U.S. U-17 MYNT squad that competed at the Ježek Cup held in the Czech Republic in September, competition in which he started and captained the side in two of the team’s three matches in the tournament. 

Additionally, Inter Miami CF Academy midfielder Santiago Morales, 15 and soon to turn 16, who is playing an age group up after previously featuring for the U.S. U-16 MYNT, is one of three alternate players named to the squad by head coach Gonzalo Segares. The three alternates will travel with the U.S. to Guatemala to train with the team prior to the tournament. All three players will depart camp before the tournament, barring any injuries. For Morales, this is the sixth time he has been called up for international duty since he joined the Club, most recently featuring alongside Hall in the U.S. U-17 MYNT training camp in January.

At club level, both Hall and Morales enjoyed stellar seasons in 2022. Hall was one of nine Academy products to make their professional debuts with Inter Miami CF II in the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro regular season. In all, the defender made nine appearances for Inter Miami CF II in 2022, six of them starts, including starting the team's first match of the season, a 2-0 win over Columbus Crew 2 in which he became the youngest starter in the league in its first week. He also featured for Inter Miami’s Academy U-17s at the 2022 Generation adidas Cup, contributing to the team’s run to the semifinals.

Morales, who has since made the jump to the Academy’s U-17 side, capped off a spectacular season with the Inter Miami Academy U-15 side in 2022, becoming national champions by claiming the MLS NEXT Cup title. The midfielder also scored the winner in the final of the tournament and was selected as the MVP of the U-15 MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs.

Hall and Morales are among a growing list of current and former Inter Miami CF Academy players to be called up to a national team, including: Noah Allen, Nicholas Almeida, Tyler Austin, Edison Azcona, Logan Batiste, Israel Boatwright, Benjamin Cremaschi, Bryan Destin, Justin Ellis, Victor Fung, Adrián Rosario, David Ruiz and Felipe Valencia, among others.