He started playing youth international football with the Northern Mariana Islands when he was 13, being selected for a U14 tournament in Beijing, China. Knecht holds the record for being the youngest ever male international footballer, when he made his
Northern Mariana Islands debut aged just 14 years and 2 days against
Guam in a 9–0 defeat on 1 April 2007. Since then, he has made 11 appearances for the
Blue Ayuyu. He played in all three
games as his nation failed to qualify for the
2014 AFC Challenge Cup. ==Career statistics==