THE UNITED STATES OLMYPIC team is currently in San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain for its first camp under new head coach Steve Cherundolo. The camp is the first step towards the tournament in the summer of 2028 which will take place in the United States

The U.S. team’s schedule this window is as follows:

• November 15: vs Scotland
• November 17: vs Ukraine

Here is the roster along with some thoughts.

U.S. U-23 Olympic roster

Goalkeepers (3): Julian Eyestone (Rotherham United/ENG; Dallas, Texas), Duran Ferree (San Diego FC; San Diego, Calif.), Andrew Rick (Philadelphia Union; Berwyn, Pa.)

Defenders (8): Luca Bombino (Stoke City/ENG; Saugus, Calif.), Robert Deziel Jr. (Legia Warszawa/POL; West Palm Beach, Fla.), Tate Johnson (Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Tampa, Fla.), Ethan Kohler (New England Revolution; Campbell, Calif.), Drew Murray (WSG Tirol/AUT; San Jose, Calif.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas), Frankie Westfield (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.), Joshua Wynder (New England Revolution; Louisville, Ky.)

Midfielders (6): Benjamin Cremaschi (Parma Calcio 1913/ITA; Key Biscayne, Fla.), Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew; Columbus, Ohio), Xanti Oyharçabal (Athletic Bilbao/ESP; Hendaye, France), Cooper Sanchez (Atlanta United FC; Holly Springs, Ga.), Brooklyn Raines (New England Revolution; Chicago, Ill.), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes; Saratoga, Calif.)

Forwards (6): Damion Downs (St. Louis City SC; Schwebenried, Germany),  Andre Gitau (1FSV Mainz 05/GER; Richmond, Texas), Marvin Dills (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Frankfurt, Germany.), Din Klapija (RB Leipzig/GER; New York City, N.Y.), David Vazquez (San Diego FC; Los Angeles, Calif.)

Goalkeepers

Diego Kochen is the top goalkeeper of this age group but he is with the national team this window. He might actually be allowed to play under Cherundolo in the December USMNT camp because the Danish winter break will have begun at that time and Cherundolo will coach the team during that camp.

In this camp, Andrew Rick from the Philadelphia Union is likely the starter. Rick has done a good job with the Union whenever Andre Blake has been injured or away from the team on international duty. Rick also trained with the USMNT during the World Cup.

Penalty kick specialist, Andrew Rick, does it again. Again, he needs to play consistently. Top talent. #doop #MLS #USL #usymnt #usmnt ????: Philadelphia Union https://t.co/AO8nBdtTxX

— José Roberto Nuñez (@JoserNunez91) February 8, 2026

Julian Eyestone is on loan a fourth-tier Rotherham United this season where he is in and out of the starting lineup. Duran Ferree is also played a lot during the early parts of the MLS season for San Diego. Cherundolo will need to begin to come up with a clear order after Kochen because right now, there is no obvious ranking among this group.

Missing top players, mostly forwards

The initial roster was straight-forward and made sense. The subsequent losses of Matthew Corcoran and Cole Campbell were setbacks as they are potential starters for a full-strength U.S. U-23 team. Afterward, midfielder Snyder Brunell and Sebastian Gomez were also withdrawn as the Seattle Sounders have a playoff game on November 18.

This team is clearly missing a lot of top players to either the full national team (Julian Hall, Justin Ellis, Neil Pierre, Cavan Sullivan, Adrian Mehmeti, Mathis Albert, or Reed Baker-Whiting), or to injury (such as Peyton Miller and Zavier Gozo both being unavailable for this camp), and now Corcoran and Campbell.

The rest of the positions are well stocked with top players

Fullbacks and central defenders

In defense, Frankie Westfield is arguably the top right back in the U-23 age group and Luca Bombino is the top left back with his ongoing breakout at Stoke City after a summer transfer from San Diego FC.

Behind Westfield and Bombino are Drew Murray on the right side and Tate Johnson on the left side. Bay area native and right back Murray has played sporadically with WSG Tirol in the Austrian Bundesliga while Tate Johnson is a regular starter at left back with the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The clear pecking order at the fullback position could change a lot. Reed Baker-Whiting could very well shift to the Olympic team soon while Habor Miller could then climb up from the U-20 team after the U-20 World Cup (where he could be the team’s captain). But for now, Westfield and Bombino seem like the starting options.

In central defense, Josh Wynder is one of the most talented players in this position within the U.S. youth national team system. He is very likely a starter for this team. It is easy to predict that Neil Pierre could eventually play alongside him at the Olympics but for now Pierre is with the full national team.

There should be an interesting positional battle in this camp in central defense after Wynder. Nolan Norris, a left-footed defender at FC Dallas, and Ethan Kohler, a right footed defender at the New England Revolution, are both in this camp. Both Kohler and Norris bring value in being able to play fullback or in the defensive midfield. On a small Olympic roster, versatility is key.

Cherundolo might also see the benefit of keeping Kohler together with Wynder as the two were the central defense pairing at the U-20 World Cup in 2025 and now start together for the Revolution.

Robert Deziel Jr. is also a relative newcomer after having only limited youth national team experience in the past. After spending time in the academies of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, he now starts in Poland with Legia Warsaw. But it will be interesting to see if he gels with this team despite having limited chemistry with the other players.

Midfielders

The midfield on this roster is missing key players without Corcoran (withdrawn) and Mehmeti (with the USMNT), but this roster is still anchored by three players who were all impressive to the U-20 World Cup team that advanced to the quarterfinals last year.

Benjamin Cremaschi was the captain of the 2025 U-20 World Cup team and he won the Golden Boot at the tournament. He also was on the 2024 Olympic team playing up a cycle. He is likely a big part of Cherundolo’s players at the start of the cycle although his lack playing time with Parma to begin the Serie A season should be a concern. He started the last game before the international window but prior to that had been an unused substitute for every game since August.

But if Cremaschi’s playing time is set to improve at Parma, that would be a huge boost to this team. Cremaschi brings a positive attitude, a lot of energy, can cover a ton of ground, and he makes smart runs in the box offensively. Defensively, he can handle the physical side of the game.

Brooklyn Raines is also a likely starter for this Olympic team to begin the cycle. The New England Revolution midfielder was also key to the U-20 World Cup team last year and he has had a very good season in 2026 with the Revs. Last month, Raines impressed with the U.S. national team in its first camp following the World Cup. He is one of the best players in possession on this roster. He reads the game well, and puts himself into good positions.

Niko Tsakiris is one of the best young American No. 10 playmakers and when he was healthy, San Jose was a very difficult team to beat this year. He drove the team’s offense and was very difficult to contain. He is a player who should be expected to lead the offense for the Olympic team.''

This is a fantastic run from Niko Tsakiris who then assists on Preston Judd’s 17th goal of the season - Tsakiris is off to the U.S Olympic team camp afterward. He should be a big part of that team - Judd might get a #USMNT callup for the December camp https://t.co/CLuDZb9SpA

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) November 8, 2026

There is also Taha Habroune who has been playing terrific soccer for Columbus the past two months at the club rallied its way into the playoffs with an impressive streak of wins.

Xanti Oyharçabal and Cooper Sanchez were added to this roster from the U.S. U-20 team. While promising, the U-20 team will probably be their priority through the 2027 U-20 World Cup. If they impress there, then the Olympics come into focus.

Wingers and Forwards

The biggest concern for this particular roster is that the team is missing its first, second, and maybe even its third-choice center forwards and wingers to either the USMNT or to injuries. The choices he has at this camp would be distant backups on a first choice Olympic team.

There is a good chance that as we get closer to LA 2028, more of these players become available to the team. But for now, this roster is lacking a lot of what the federation hopes to field at the Games.

Where are the goals going to come from in these two games?

Din Klapija was called up from the U-20 team after the departure of Cole Campbell and Marvin Dills is also another player more suited for the U-20 team – where he performed well in June but was ultimately not released for World Cup qualifying. Andre Gitau of Mainz is another winger. But Klapija, Dills, and Gitau are all playing with the second teams of their Bundesliga clubs and none appear close to being first team regulars.

David Vazquez is a versatile attacker for San Diego FC who was strong in the first half of the season but who saw his minutes severely decline later in the season. But he has been a veteran with U.S. youth teams and brings experience to an area of this roster which needs it.

Damion Downs was the most puzzling name on this roster because as a 2004-born player, he is not even age-eligible for the Olympic team. He can only make the team as an overage pick. Normally, overage players only come into the mix at the end once it is known who is available and what the weaknesses are of the U-23 pool. But even considering overage options, Downs has not scored a goal since April 25, 2025. Since then, he has failed to score for three clubs: Southampton, Hamburg, and now St. Louis. His inclusion is a sign of weakness in this position of the pool.

Overall assessment of roster

U.S. Soccer has said that the men’s Olympic team is a priority for the federation. That means the federation wants the team to be in a position to medal and that likely requires having several of the top U-23 players available. The Olympics on home soil is a unique opportunity and one that can engage the American public in a unique way.

The departure of Mauricio Pochettino after this window puts those plans into flux. Pochettino seemed to be on board with the importance of the Olympics and he understood the importance of the federations goals for this team.

For the Olympic team, this is just the first step of a long process for a tournament that is still 20 months away. It is not a perfect roster, but it is one that is strong enough to be useful to Cherundolo. There are many top players here and several positions which could shape the rankings within the player pool.