Gonzalo Segares named his roster for U-20 World Cup qualifying and the U.S. group might be with out a lot of its high gamers. ASN breaks all of it down
BY
Paul Stephens
Posted
July 16, 2026
11:00 AM
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ON THURSDAY, head coach Gonzalo Segares introduced the USA roster for the upcoming U-20 World Cup qualifying that begins on July 24 in Mexico. The 21-player roster consists of 15 gamers from 13 totally different Main League Soccer golf equipment, two from the USL Championship golf equipment, three from European golf equipment, and one from collegiate soccer.
The U.S. group will start preparations on Friday in Salt Lake Metropolis earlier than touring to Puebla, Mexico the place it’ll play all three of its group stage video games. The U.S. group was drawn into Group A, the place it’ll face Haiti on July 25, El Salvador on July 28, and Cuba on July 31.
From there, the highest two groups in every of the three teams together with the 2 greatest 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 video games. The winner of the event qualifies for the Olympics, until it’s the U.S. group (which has already certified). Then it’ll go to the runner up.
Right here is the roster together with some ideas.
U.S. U-20 World Cup qualifying roster
Goalkeepers (3): William Lodmell (Sporting Lisbon/POR; Lisbon, Portugal), Lucas McPartlin (St. Louis Metropolis 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 Hearth FC; Chicago, III.), Brandon Dayes (Louisville Metropolis FC; Louisville, KY.), Braden Dunham (Furman College; Peachtree Metropolis, Ga.), Javaun Mussenden (New England Revolution; Dallas, Ga.), Joshua Torquato (FC Dallas; Aubrey, Texas)
Midfielders (5): Colin Guske (Orlando Metropolis 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 Seashore, Calif.)
Forwards (6): Nimfasha Berchimas (Charlotte FC; Excessive Level, N.C.), Jaidyn Contreras (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Din Klapija (RB Leipzig; New York Metropolis, N.Y.), Xanti Oyharçabal (Athletic Bilbao/ESP; Hendaye, France), Ruben Ramos Jr. (LA Galaxy; La Puente, Calif.), Colton Swan (Charleston Battery; Ann Arbor, Mich.)
Moreover, Noah Santos (Portland Timbers) will be part of the group as a coaching participant throughout pre-camp in Salt Lake Metropolis.
Many high gamers lacking
When wanting on the roster, the very first thing that stands out is what number of high gamers are usually not on the group.
Zavier Gozo
Peyton Miller
Snyder Brunell
Justin Ellis
Jude Terry
Julian Corridor
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 causes for the absences of some, unclear causes for others.
Gozo and Peyton Miller are the simplest to grasp as they performed within the 2025 U-20 World Cup and would possibly now as an alternative to give attention to the Olympic group or the complete nationwide group as an alternative of one other U-20 cycle.
Aidan Hezarkhani is getting back from a damaged toe (which he performed on throughout your complete June camp with the U.S. group).
Snyder Brunell has been implausible for Seattle this season as he has assumed the function left by Obed Vargas after his sale to Atletico Madrid. Equally, there was a wave of accidents to New York Metropolis’s midfield that has seemingly resulted within the want for Jonny Shore to stay round. There’s additionally Justin Ellis, the promising ahead who has been taking up an even bigger function with Orlando Metropolis.
Mavin Dills at Eintracht Frankfurt and Mathis Albert at Borussia Dortmund are in preseason with the primary groups of their respective Bundesliga golf equipment.
It’s much less clear with gamers similar to LAFC midfielder Jude Terry and Inter Miami winger Daniel Pinter who’ve seen restricted minutes within the first half of the season. Neil Pierre is among the high central defenders on this participant pool, however he solely returned to Philadelphia in June after a mortgage to Lyngby in Denmark the place he helped the membership to promotion to the Superliga.
Julian Corridor has double digit objectives for the New York Crimson Bulls. Michael Bradley looks as if he could be prepared to launch gamers for essential youth tournaments however it’s not clear what the reason being for Corridor’s absence. He has not been with Segares but this cycle.
For Adri Mehmeti and Cavan Sullivan, each gamers are extremely rated however each could be taking part in up a U-20 World Cup cycles in the event that they bought concerned right here.
A number of good gamers on this group
There might be lots of discuss gamers who are usually not on the group however there are nonetheless a number of good gamers who made it.
Christopher Cupps: the Chicago Hearth central defender has not performed a lot with the primary group however is a high prospect able the place the U.S. program desperately wants extra choices.
For nation ????????
Christopher Cupps was referred to as as much as the U.S. U-19 Males’s Nationwide Group for the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship. #cf97 pic.twitter.com/QhIU4Le1Ih
— Chicago Hearth FC (@ChicagoFire) July 16, 2026
Santiago Morales: The Inter Miami attacking midfielder must be a starter for this group and a possible captain. He performed properly final month within the win over Japan within the June window.
Braden Dunham: The lone faculty participant on the roster has impressed with this U.S. group within the two camps this 12 months. The Fulham central defender would possibly discover his strategy to Atlanta United quickly.
Nimfasha Berchimas: the Charlotte FC winger has been a key a part of U.S. youth groups in recent times however expectations for him are actually elevated as he’s now 18 and has spent years within the methods of U.S. Soccer and Charlotte FC.
Xanti Oyharcabal: The left-footed Athletic Membership winger was developed in Spain and is coming off a robust season the place he carried out properly for Athletic Bilbao’s U-19 group within the UEFA Youth League with two objectives and two assists over seven video games.
Event Outlook
The U.S. group is clearly not at full energy, and this event will be difficult for them. One essential consideration is that that is an Olympic qualifying event and groups might be closely motivated for the Olympics.
There’s additionally no method of understanding what comes subsequent. In a change of format, the three group winners might be ranked after the group stage based mostly on their efficiency within the first three video games. The identical with the second place.
#U19MNT head coach Gonzalo Segares selects 21 gamers who will signify the USA on the 2026 Concacaf U-20 Championship from July 24-August 9 in Mexico ????
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— U.S. Soccer YNT (@USYNT) July 16, 2026
The U.S. group will seemingly advance out of the group nevertheless it want to complete first and accumulate a excessive purpose differential to be in a very good place for the quarterfinal sport, which alone will determine if the group qualifies for the World Cup.
This group is unlikely to win the event. Profitable in Mexico is tough sufficient below regular circumstances however Mexico is bringing a high group at dwelling on this state of affairs.
However that may be a secondary concern. This group ought to nonetheless be lots ok to win its quarterfinal sport, so long as it avoids a high group. From there, anything could be a bonus.
