CHICAGO (May 20, 2022) – After successfully qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter has called 27 players for the USA’s final set of home matches before Qatar 2022. The BioSteel USMNT Training Camp roster will begin reporting to Cincinnati this weekend.
With its World Cup ticket in hand, the USA will play four important matches this June as it prepares for the sport’s biggest stage. The USMNT kicks off the international window on June 1 against African powerhouse Morocco at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, UniMas, TUDN), before USA-Uruguay, presented by Allstate on June 5 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. The match against the two-time FIFA World Cup champions and 13th-ranked Uruguay is set for 5 p.m. ET on FOX, Univision and TUDN.
The slate continues with the launch of the 2022-23 Concacaf Nations League as the U.S. will attempt to defend its inaugural title, playing group stage matches against Grenada on June 10 (10 p.m. ET; ESPN+, UniMas, TUDN) at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas and at El Salvador on June 14 (FS1, Univision, TUDN).
Fans will also be able to follow all the matches via Facebook, Twitter @USMNT, Instagram @USMNT and the official U.S. Soccer App.
“We are excited to get the group back together as we prepare to compete against two fellow World Cup participants and begin the defense of our Concacaf Nations League title,” Berhalter said. “With the World Cup six months away, we aim to maximize these opportunities and continue to progress as a team. We are looking forward to experiencing the incredible support of our home fans for the last time before we represent them in Qatar in November.”
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 7/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 29/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 16/0)
DEFENDERS (9): George Bello (Arminia Bielefeld/GER; 6/0), Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 24/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 8/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 23/3), Erik Palmer-Brown (Troyes/FRA; 3/0), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 25/2), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 0/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami; 73/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 28/3)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 51/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 27/1), Luca de la Torre (Heracles/NED; 7/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 31/9), Djordje Mihailovic (CF Montreal/CAN; 6/1), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 16/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 31/0), Malik Tillman (Bayern Munich/GER; 0/0)
FORWARDS (7): Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg/AUT; 18/5), Paul Arriola (FC Dallas; 44/9), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 9/3), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 46/10), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 48/21), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 22/2), Haji Wright (Antalyaspor/TUR; 0/0)
The matches are scheduled during a FIFA international window, making all players available for selection.
The U.S. successfully completed the gauntlet of Concacaf qualifying in March, clinching its berth to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar on the final matchday. In what promises to be one of the toughest groups in the tournament, the USMNT was drawn into Group B alongside the final UEFA play-off winner (one of Ukraine, Wales or Scotland), 2020 European Championship runners up England, and IR Iran.
The USA will have six preparation matches before heading to Qatar in November - these four during the June international window plus two additional friendlies in September. The trio of June matches on U.S. soil represent the USMNT’s final home games before the World Cup, with the June 10 match vs. Grenada in Austin serving as the team’s final send-off before Qatar 2022.
A number of USMNT players abroad head into camp with new silverware as the European club season comes to a close. Three players have already won titles abroad, with a number of additional season-ending honors on the line this weekend.
Forward Brenden Aaronson helped Red Bull Salzburg win the Austrian Bundesliga and Austrian Cup earlier this month, while defender Antonee Robinson and Fulham won the English Championship in convincing fashion, earning promotion to the Premier League for the 2022-23 season. Bayern Munich and midfielder Malik Tillman also won the Bundesliga title.
This weekend, midfielder Tyler Adams has the chance to lift the DFB Pokal as RB Leipzig takes on Freiburg in the domestic cup final on Saturday. Goalkeeper Zack Steffen and Manchester City hold a narrow one-point lead in the EPL table heading into this weekend’s final matches. Also in England, goalkeeper Ethan Horvath and Nottingham Forest will be playing for promotion to the Premier League in the Championship Playoff Final on Sunday, May 29 vs. Huddersfield Town.
In addition, forward Jordan Morris and midfielder Cristian Roldan helped the Seattle Sounders become the first MLS club to capture the Concacaf Champions League title earlier this month, topping Liga MX’s Pumas 5-2 in the two-legged final.
USMNT fans will be thrilled to Weston McKennie’s name back on the roster list. The Juventus midfielder has returned to full training after suffering a broken foot in the 1-1 draw against Villarreal on Feb. 22 in the UEFA Champions League that forced him to miss the USA’s final three World Cup Qualifiers.
After long layoffs from the USMNT, three players’ stellar club form have propelled them back to the National Team: defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, midfielder Djordje Mihailovic and forward Haji Wright. Carter-Vickers last played for the USA in 2019 and made eight appearances for the USA after earning his first cap in November 2017. On loan at Celtic, the center back anchored the Scottish giants to the league title and a League Cup championship.
Wright is on a red-hot scoring streak for Antalyaspor in the Turkish Süper Lig, tallying in the team’s last seven matches and netting 14 goals on the season as his club is unbeaten in its last 10 games. A regular with the U-17 Men’s Youth National Team during the 2014-15 cycle, Wright has never appeared for the senior USMNT but was called into a summer training camp in May 2019.
Mihailovic has enjoyed a career resurgence since moving to CF Montreal last season. This spring, he’s scored seven goals and added five assists in 16 matches across MLS and Concacaf Champions League play. While he was called up for the team’s January pre-World Cup qualifying training camp, he hasn’t appeared for the USMNT since December 2020.
Bayern Munich midfielder Malik Tillman is the lone player on the roster receiving his first call-up to the senior USMNT. A dual national of the United States and Germany, he will be available to the represent the U.S. pending a successful completion of his application to FIFA for a one-time change of association.
Tillman played for the U-15 Men’s Youth National Team in 2016 and has since appeared at a number of levels in Germany’s Youth National Team set-up as recently as March 2022. The 19-year-old made seven appearances for the 2021-22 Bundesliga champions this season, while spending most of his time with Bayern II in the fourth-division Regionalliga.
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 team’s average age of players that appeared was 24.07. The next closest was Ecuador, whose average age of all players during their 18 qualifying matches came in at 25.81.
From the available data for the qualified teams, the USMNT played the 10 youngest lineups worldwide during the recently concluded cycle, with all 14 lineups falling in the 22 youngest Starting XIs in the world during qualifiers 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.
