ON THURSDAY, head coach Gonzalo Segares announced the United States roster for the upcoming U-20 World Cup qualifying that begins on July 24 in Mexico. The 21-player roster consists of 15 players from 13 different Major League Soccer clubs, two from the USL Championship clubs, three from European clubs, and one from collegiate soccer.

The U.S. team will begin preparations on Friday in Salt Lake City before traveling to Puebla, Mexico where it will play all three of its group stage games. The U.S. team was drawn into Group A, where it will face Haiti on July 25, El Salvador on July 28, and Cuba on July 31.

From there, the top two teams in each of the three groups along with the two best third place advance to the quarterfinals. The winners of the quarterfinals advance to the U-20 World Cup. The winners of the semifinals qualify for the 2027 Pan Am games. The winner of the tournament qualifies for the Olympics, unless it is the U.S. team (which has already qualified). Then it will go to the runner up.

Here is the roster along with some thoughts.

U.S. U-20 World Cup qualifying roster

Goalkeepers (3): William Lodmell (Sporting Lisbon/POR; Lisbon, Portugal), Lucas McPartlin (St. Louis City SC; St. Louis, Mo.), Kayne Rizvanovich (Minnesota United FC; Mettawa, III.)

Defenders (7): Chris Applewhite (Nashville SC; Waldorf, Md.), Tristan Brown (Columbus Crew; Novi, Mich.) Christopher Cupps (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, III.), Brandon Dayes (Louisville City FC; Louisville, KY.), Braden Dunham (Furman University; Peachtree City, Ga.), Javaun Mussenden (New England Revolution; Dallas, Ga.), Joshua Torquato (FC Dallas; Aubrey, Texas)

Midfielders (5): Colin Guske (Orlando City SC; Saint Johns, Fla.), Santiago Morales (Inter Miami CF; Weston, Fla.), Cooper Sanchez (Atlanta United FC; Holly Springs, Ga.), Alex Shaw (Inter Miami CF; Pembroke Pines, FL.), Dylan Vanney (LA Galaxy; Redondo Beach, Calif.)

Forwards (6): Nimfasha Berchimas (Charlotte FC; High Point, N.C.), Jaidyn Contreras (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Din Klapija (RB Leipzig; New York City, N.Y.), Xanti Oyharçabal (Athletic Bilbao/ESP; Hendaye, France), Ruben Ramos Jr. (LA Galaxy; La Puente, Calif.), Colton Swan (Charleston Battery; Ann Arbor, Mich.)

Additionally, Noah Santos (Portland Timbers) will join the team as a training player during pre-camp in Salt Lake City.

Many top players missing

When looking at the roster, the first thing that stands out is how many top players are not on the team.

• Zavier Gozo
• Peyton Miller
• Snyder Brunell
• Justin Ellis
• Jude Terry
• Julian Hall
• Jonny Shore
• Harbor Miller
• Daniel Pinter
• Adri Mehmeti
• Neil Pierre
• Mathis Albert
• Marvin Dills
• Aidan Hezarkhani
• Cavan Sullivan
• Aidan Stokes
• Giorgio de Marzi

There are clear reasons for the absences of some, unclear reasons for others.

Gozo and Peyton Miller are the easiest to understand as they played in the 2025 U-20 World Cup and might now instead to focus on the Olympic team or the full national team instead of another U-20 cycle.

Aidan Hezarkhani is returning from a broken toe (which he played on during the entire June camp with the U.S. team).

Snyder Brunell has been fantastic for Seattle this season as he has assumed the role left by Obed Vargas after his sale to Atletico Madrid. Similarly, there has been a wave of injuries to New York City’s midfield that has likely resulted in the need for Jonny Shore to stick around. There is also Justin Ellis, the promising forward who has been taking on a bigger role with Orlando City.

Mavin Dills at Eintracht Frankfurt and Mathis Albert at Borussia Dortmund are in preseason with the first teams of their respective Bundesliga clubs.

It is less clear with players such as LAFC midfielder Jude Terry and Inter Miami winger Daniel Pinter who have seen limited minutes in the first half of the season. Neil Pierre is one of the top central defenders in this player pool, but he only returned to Philadelphia in June after a loan to Lyngby in Denmark where he helped the club to promotion to the Superliga.

Julian Hall has double digit goals for the New York Red Bulls. Michael Bradley seems like he would be willing to release players for important youth tournaments but it is not clear what the reason is for Hall’s absence. He has not been with Segares yet this cycle.

For Adri Mehmeti and Cavan Sullivan, both players are highly rated but both would be playing up a U-20 World Cup cycles if they got involved here.

Several good players on this team

There will be a lot of talk about players who are not on the team but there are still several good players who made it.

Christopher Cupps: the Chicago Fire central defender has not played much with the first team but is a top prospect in a position where the U.S. program desperately needs more options.

For country ????????

Christopher Cupps was called up to the U.S. U-19 Men’s National Team for the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship. #cf97 pic.twitter.com/QhIU4Le1Ih

— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) July 16, 2026

Santiago Morales: The Inter Miami attacking midfielder should be a starter for this team and a potential captain. He played well last month in the win over Japan in the June window.

Braden Dunham: The lone college player on the roster has impressed with this U.S. team in the two camps this year. The Fulham central defender might find his way to Atlanta United soon.

Nimfasha Berchimas: the Charlotte FC winger has been a key part of U.S. youth teams in recent years but expectations for him are now elevated as he is now 18 and has spent years in the systems of U.S. Soccer and Charlotte FC.

Xanti Oyharcabal: The left-footed Athletic Club winger was developed in Spain and is coming off a strong season where he performed well for Athletic Bilbao’s U-19 team in the UEFA Youth League with two goals and two assists over seven games.

Tournament Outlook

The U.S. team is clearly not at full strength, and this tournament can be tricky for them. One important consideration is that this is an Olympic qualifying tournament and teams will be heavily motivated for the Olympics.

There is also no way of knowing what comes next. In a change of format, the three group winners will be ranked after the group stage based on their performance in the first three games. The same with the second place.

#U19MNT head coach Gonzalo Segares selects 21 players who will represent the United States at the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship from July 24-August 9 in Mexico ????

?? https://t.co/aSyjS0Osd7 pic.twitter.com/5AT84nEODE

— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) July 16, 2026

The U.S. team will likely advance out of the group but it need to finish first and accumulate a high goal differential to be in a good position for the quarterfinal game, which alone will decide if the team qualifies for the World Cup.

This team is unlikely to win the tournament. Winning in Mexico is hard enough under normal circumstances but Mexico is bringing a top team at home in this situation.

But that is a secondary concern. This team should still be plenty good enough to win its quarterfinal game, as long as it avoids a top team. From there, anything else would be a bonus.