Top 50 players in the USMNT player pool: Never a better time for the program


U.S. Soccer called up 23 players for the USMNT’s CONCACAF Nations League semifinal and another 22 for Olympic training camp this week, with three more players joining the fray after injuries to Josh Sargent, Luca de la Torre, and Gaga Slonina.

The group of Olympic hopefuls wasn’t simply the next 22 up given the age restrictions on Olympic rosters, but it’s still relatively wild to read the names of players who aren’t among those 48 players given that this United States national team program wasn’t even regularly qualifying for the World Cup until the 1990s.

[ MORE: USMNT upcoming schedule, latest results ]

Cameron Carter-Vickers misses out after a minor injury suffered as arguably the best player on Scotland’s best club team, Celtic FC. Also injured is Lennard Maloney, a close to full-time starter for Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, while Utrecht winger Taylor Booth has been out for about a month after scoring five times in an Eredivisie week.

Sheffield United may be a 20th-place Premier League side, but Auston Trusty is a regular starter on a club in the top division in world football. And Brandon Vazquez has eight goals in 13 appearances for Liga MX side Monterrey. Players like John Brooks (Hoffenheim), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC), Erik Palmer-Brown (Panathinaikos), Richy Ledezma (PSV Eindhoven) are out of the mix for various reasons but would’ve been shoo-ins for so many previous squads.

We’ve often power ranked the USMNT’s pool as a Top 25, but instead let’s use this international break to rank the Top 50 players in the USMNT player pool. Be gentle with us.

Top 25 50 players in the USMNT player pool right now

Before we go any further with this list, here’s a reminder of how we sort the talent with some ground rules:

The ranking is meant to illustrate who would be most likely to positively affect a USMNT match, regardless of manager or teammates, right now.

Health doesn’t matter to our rankings if a current injury isn’t one that could drastically alter the player’s skill set moving forward.

Age/potential/experience doesn’t matter either, at least not much; It’s how likely you are to contribute to the team if put on the field right now. Obviously, Paxton Aaronson is a better long-term prospect than Jordan Morris, but the Seattle Sounders forward is currently better prepared for the stage than the Philadelphia Union youngster.

Finally, if you’re breaking a tie between players… ask which you’d be more upset to hear was unavailable for a USMNT camp.

Christian Pulisic, AC Milan

Weston McKennie, Juventus

Yunus Musah, AC Milan

Antonee Robinson, Fulham

Tyler Adams, Bournemouth

Sergino Dest, PSV Eindhoven

Timothy Weah, Juventus

Johnny Cardoso, Real Betis

Giovanni Reyna, Nottingham Forest

Folarin Balogun, AS Monaco

Tim Ream, Fulham

Luca de la Torre, Celta Vigo

Cameron Carter-Vickers, Celtic

Matt Turner, Nottingham Forest

Chris Richards, Crystal Palace

Ricardo Pepi, PSV Eindhoven

Josh Sargent, Norwich City

Malik Tillman, PSV Eindhoven

Joe Scally, Borussia Monchengladbach

Haji Wright, Coventry City

Ethan Horvath, Cardiff City

Walker Zimmerman, Nashville SC

Gianluca Busio, Venezia

Kevin Paredes, Wolfsburg

Brenden Aaronson, Union Berlin

Auston Trusty, Sheffield United

Lennard Maloney, Heidenheim

Kristoffer Lund, Palermo

Brandon Vazquez, Monterrey

Miles Robinson, FC Cincinnati

Mark McKenzie, Genk

Gaga Slonina, Eupen

John Brooks, Hoffenheim

Jesus Ferreira, FC Dallas

Jordan Morris, Seattle Sounders

Esmir Bajraktarevic, New England Revolution

Tanner Tessman, Venezia

Taylor Booth, Utrecht

James Sands, NYCFC

Bryan Reynolds, Westerlo

Aidan Morris, Columbus Crew

Cade Cowell, Chivas

Erik Palmer-Brown, Panathinaikos

Matt Miazga, FC Cincinnati

Julian Gressel, Inter Miami

Djordje Mihailovic, Colorado Rapids

Caleb Wiley, Atlanta United

Cristian Roldan, Seattle Sounders

Brian White, Vancouver Whitecaps

Zack Steffen, Colorado Rapids



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