NEW YORK (Nov. 9, 2022) – U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter has selected the 26 players that will represent the United States at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, set for Nov. 20-Dec. 18 in Qatar.
Returning to soccer’s biggest stage for the first time in eight years, the USA will kick off its World Cup campaign against Wales on Monday, Nov. 21 at Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan (2 p.m. ET; FOX, Telemundo), faces one of the tournament favorites England on Friday, Nov. 25 at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor (2 p.m. ET; FOX, Telemundo) and wraps up the group stage against IR Iran on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha (2 p.m. ET; FOX, Telemundo).
After the USA became the youngest nation to qualify for Qatar 2022 this spring, a total of 25 of 26 players have been selected to their first World Cup roster and will aim to make their debuts on the global stage.
“We are excited to take this group to compete in the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” Berhalter said. “Final roster decisions are always difficult, and we appreciate everyone’s contributions who helped us get to this point. We believe we have a talented group, a strong team spirit, and one that is ready to compete. We are extremely proud and honored to represent the United States and appreciate all the amazing support from our fans as we head to Qatar.”
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town/ENG; 8/0; Highlands Ranch, Colo.), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 10/0; Lilburn, Ga.), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 20/0; Park Ridge, N.J.)
DEFENDERS (9): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 11/0; Southend-on-Sea, England), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan/ITA; 19/2; Almere, Netherlands), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 29/3; Oak Hills, Calif.), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC; 15/1; Powder Springs, Ga.), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 46/1; St. Louis, Mo.), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 29/2; Liverpool, England), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 3/0; Lake Grove, N.Y.), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami CF; 75/0; Seattle, Wash.), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 33/3; Lawrenceville, Ga.)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 24/6; Medford, N.J.), Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 53/2; Plano, Texas), Tyler Adams (Leeds United/ENG; 32/1; Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 12/0; San Diego, Calif.), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 37/9; Little Elm, Texas), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 19/0; London, England), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 32/0; Pico Rivera, Calif.)
FORWARDS (7): Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 15/7; McKinney, Texas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 49/11; Mercer Island, Wash.), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 52/21; Hershey, Pa.), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 14/4; Bedford, N.Y.), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 20/5; O’Fallon, Mo.), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 25/3; Rosedale, N.Y.), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor/TUR; 3/1; Los Angeles, Calif.)
The 26-player squad is the USMNT’s second-youngest World Cup roster with an average age of 25 years, 175 days when the USA takes the field on Nov. 21 against Wales.
Note: The roster will not become official until it is submitted to FIFA. The deadline for all teams to submit their final squads is Nov. 14. Once the list is submitted, injured players can be replaced on the roster until 24 hours before the USA’s opening match against Wales.
A total of 21 of 26 players contributed to the USA’s World Cup qualifying campaign from Sept. 2021-March 2022. Christian Pulisic led the USMNT in scoring during the Octagonal, netting five goals across the 14 games of qualifying. Defender Antonee Robinson led the USA in minutes during the Octagonal, appearing in 13 of 14 matches, while midfielders Tyler Adams and Kellyn Acosta also took the field in all but one qualifying match.
Defender DeAndre Yedlin is the lone World Cup veteran in the squad after the right back made his World Cup debut as a 20-year-old at Brazil 2014. After Yedlin’s 75 caps, the most experienced players on the roster are Kellyn Acosta (53), Christian Pulisic (52), Jordan Morris (49) and Tim Ream (46).
Berhalter will become the first man to represent the USA at the World Cup as both a player and a coach after playing for the USMNT at the 2002 and 2006 tournaments.
Playing in its 11th FIFA World Cup and eighth of the last nine, the USMNT will go up against the tournament’s strongest overall group in Qatar. Drawn into Group B alongside Wales, England and IR Iran, the four nations hold an average rank of 15.
The 2022 World Cup, the first to be held in the Middle East, features 32 nations divided into eight groups of four teams and will be the last tournament played with the 32-team format. After group play from Nov. 21-29, the top two finishers in each group will advance to the knockout stage of the competition from Dec. 3-18. All 64 matches of the tournament will be played in eight state-of-the-art stadiums in Qatar, with all venues within an hour drive of the capital of Doha.
The USMNT was by far the youngest team to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, garnering valuable experience going through the rigors of World Cup qualifying. Through 14 qualifiers, the USA Starting XI came in at an average of 23.82, almost two years younger than the next closest team, Ghana at 25.67. Together, the other 31 participating teams averaged a Starting XI age of 27.5 through qualifying, nearly four full years older than the U.S.
From the available data for qualified teams, the USMNT played 10 of the 11 youngest lineups worldwide during the recently concluded qualifying cycle, with all 14 lineups falling in the 23 youngest Starting XIs in the world dating back to October 2020. After its successful qualifying campaign, each match is another opportunity for the young USMNT player pool to gain experience against top-flight competition.
The 2022 team ties the 1990 USA side for most U-23 players on a USMNT World Cup roster with nine: Tyler Adams (23); Brenden Aaronson, Sergiño Dest, Josh Sargent and Tim Weah (22); Jesús Ferreira (21); Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna and Joe Scally (19).
With the inclusion of Musah, Reyna and Scally, this is the first USMNT World Cup squad with more than one teenager on the roster, though Gio Reyna will turn 20 on Nov. 12 and Yunus Musah will do so on Nov. 29, the day of the USA’s final group stage match against Iran.
While 25 players will seek to make their World Cup debuts in Qatar, the USMNT roster is no stranger to some of soccer’s biggest stages at the club level. Five of 26 players are participating in this year’s UEFA Champions League, the sport’s premier club competition, while 14 play for teams in the world’s top five leagues (England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France).
This USMNT World Cup roster boasts perhaps the most impressive list of club homes ever at the tournament, with players at some of Europe’s most storied clubs. Pulisic helped Chelsea win the UEFA Champions League in 2020-21, becoming the first American to play in the UCL Final. Defender Sergiño Dest moved this season to reigning Italian champion AC Milan, while goalkeeper Matt Turner is plying his trade for English Premier League leader Arsenal. Weston McKennie’s club Juventus won the Italian league championship nine times in a row from 2011-12 through 2019-20,
The USMNT’s World Cup squad reflects the success of the U.S. Soccer player development pathway, as many of the players came up through the U.S. Youth National Teams program and spent time in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and/or the U.S. Soccer U-17 Residency Program.
Fourteen players – just over half the roster - have represented the USA in at least one FIFA Youth World Cup. Four took the field together at two separate tournaments: Tyler Adams, Luca de la Torre Christian Pulisic and Haji Wright at the 2015 U-17 World Cup in Chile, and Adams, Cameron Carter-Vickers, de la Torre and Josh Sargent at the 2017 U-20 World Cup in Korea Republic.
Seventeen of 26 played in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, run by the Federation as the nation’s highest level of youth soccer from 2007-2020 to maximize youth player development by positively impacting everyday club environments. Seven players participated in the Residency Program, an elite training environment for the country’s best youth players at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. From 1999-2017.
Despite the youth of the USMNT player pool, the U.S. squad earned their stripes during Concacaf’s rigorous 14-game World Cup qualification campaign, the Octagonal. A record-tying 29 players made their first WCQ appearance this cycle in the challenging conditions of Concacaf.
Since qualifying for the World Cup in March, the USMNT has used its four open friendly match dates to challenge itself against fellow tournament participants, lining up opponents from Asia, Africa and South America. The USA topped Morocco 3-0 and battled South American power Uruguay to a scoreless draw in June, before falling 2-0 to Japan and tying Saudi Arabia 0-0 during the team’s final prep matches in September.