ON THURSDAY, UNITED STATES national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino announced his roster for the September/October camp where the team will face Chile, Peru, Mexico, Canada. It will be the first time the U.S. team has played after the 2026 FIFA World Cup and it will kick off a new cycle.

The big theme of this roster is that it heavily youth oriented, likely with an emphasis on the 2028 Olympic pool as 12 players from this roster will be age-eligible for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

The roster will also feature 13 players from the roster that competed this past summer at the FIFA World Cup.

Here is the roster along with some thoughts.

USMNT Roster for September/October

Club/Country; Caps/Goals)

DEFENDERS (10): George Campbell (West Bromwich Albion FC/ENG; 1/0), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 44/3), Alex Freeman (Villarreal/ESP; 22/3), Peyton Miller (New England Revolution; 0/0), Neil Pierre (Philadelphia Union; 0/0), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 40/3), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 58/5), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 41/3), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 10/1), Frankie Westfield (Philadelphia Union; 0/0)

MIDFIELDERS (9): Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth/ENG; 58/2), Mathis Albert (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 0/0), Sebastian Berhalter (Middlesbrough/ENG; 18/2), Zavier Gozo (Crystal Palace/ENG; 0/0), Adri Mehmeti (Red Bull New York; 0/0), Yunus Musah (AC Milan/ITA; 47/1), Brooklyn Raines (New England Revolution; 0/0), Gio Reyna (RC Strasbourg Alsace/FRA; 43/10), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen/GER; 35/5)

FORWARDS (5): Cole Campbell (SV Elversberg/GER; 0/0); Justin Ellis (Orlando City SC; 0/0), Julian Hall (Red Bull New York; 0/0), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 42/13), Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union; 0/0)

The Olympic feel

In total, there are 12 players on this roster who are eligible for the 2028 Olympics: Kochen, Miller, Pierre, Westfield, Albert, Gozo, Mehmeti, Raines, Cole Campbell, Ellis, Hall, and Sullivan.

With the Olympic roster historically totaling 18 players, with 15 as U-23 along with three overagers, we can get a sense of what U.S. Soccer thinks the top of the Olympic pool is right now. That team will be coached by Steve Cherundolo.

It is also likely that after this camp, most of these 12 players will then shift attention to upcoming U-23 camps that are expected to begin in this fall.

Here is a look at the Olympic-eligible players:

Cavan Sullivan: The 16-year-old from the Union has taken his game to another level since the league’s restart after the World Cup. There has always been a lot of attention on Sullivan as one of the top prospects in American soccer and recently has started to show that as one of the best players in MLS over the last two months.

Neil Pierre: another player in Philadelphia’s youth movement, the tall, 6’7” central defender is a massive threat on set pieces and in the aerial game in general. He’s still adjusting into his body size but is progressing nicely. Pierre is a top central defense prospect who should lead the Olympic team.

Frankie Westfield: Completing Philadelphia Union’s youth trio on this roster is Westfield, who has emerged as one of the top right backs in MLS. After a standout 2025 U-20 World Cup, Westfield has been integral to the Philadelphia Union’s climb up the table over the past two months.

Mathis Albert: the Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder/winger is still looking for regular minutes with the Bundesliga club but that seems like only a matter of time. He is highly rated within the organization.

Zavier Gozo: the winger completed a huge transfer from Real Salt Lake to Crystal Palace over the summer and has already been earning Premier League minutes. Gozo brings a high level of athleticism and attacking-mindset into the team.

Adri Mehmeti: the young Red Bull midfielder has shown a very high soccer IQ in his first season as an MLS starter. His decision-making and ability to find the right pass are already at a mature level. Mehmeti, 17, is on the younger side and is likely a play for the Olympic and possibly the U-20 national team.

Cole Campbell: The Elversberg winger had a rough season in 2025/26 where he fell out with Borussia Dortmund and did not have a good loan with Hoffenheim. But he moved over the summer to newly promoted Elversberg in the Bundesliga and is showing signs of promise. He will be one of the fastest players in the U.S. national team player pool, maybe the fastest.

Justin Ellis: The Orlando City attacker already has nine assists this season, including in each of the last four games. Traditionally a number nine, Ellis has been asked to play different roles with the arrival of Antoine Griezmann and Daryl Dike but has thrived as a winger or as a withdrawn striker. This shows his soccer IQ and versatility. He has been one of the best teenagers in MLS this season.

Brooklyn Raines: the New England Revolution have been vastly improved this season under head coach Marko Mitrovic and a big reason for that has been the rise of central midfielder Brooklyn Raines, who has been excellent in possession and in getting the ball into the attack. He is likely going to be very important to Steve Cherundolo.

Julian Hall: The RBNY forward scored a lot of goals early in the MLS season but has cooled off a bit since the league’s post-World Cup restart. He makes good runs in the box and can score from close range but likely needs to find more ways to score from distance or in the air.

Diego Kochen: the Barcelona goalkeeper is now on loan at Lyngby in Denmark where he is finally getting first-team minutes. He is no stranger to Pochettino who has called him up and invited him to train with the U.S. World Cup team over the summer. It would not be surprising to see him get his first cap at this camp.

Pulisic not called-up

Christian Pulisic was not called up to this camp and it will be interesting to monitor the Pochettino and Pulisic relationship moving forward. There are valid reasons for leaving Pulisic off the team. He is playing for AC Milan again although he only recently returned after missing over two months with the injury he sustained at the World Cup.

But Pulisic has had a tough 2026 thus far and in the big picture might not need this camp.

Not the camp for “outsiders”

One of the big takeaways from this roster is that few players who were in the mix for the 2026 World Cup team but who were eventually cut (or missed out due to injury) made this roster.

This includes players such as Tanner Tessmann, James Sands, Aiden Morris, Johnny Cardoso, Gianluca Busio (who, along with Diego Luna, is now injured), Jack McGlynn. These players were all called up by Pochettino in the last cycle and have continued to elevate their games.

Several players on the World Cup team who did not play much at the tournament were also left off. Not including injuries there was Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie, Matt Turner, Max Arfsten, and Joe Scally.

These players are not out of the mix, at all, and Pochettino knows that with the Olympic team soon taking shape, the player pool will need to expand as there could be a significant overlap in players who are good enough for both teams.

This camp allows Pochettino a chance to look at that portion of the pool before the teams begin holding separate camps moving forward.