United States Under-20 men’s national team head coach Mikey Varas has named a 20-player roster for the 2022 Concacaf Under-20 Championship, the federation announced Friday.
GOALKEEPERS (2)
- Christopher Brady – Chicago Fire FC
- Antonio Carrera – FC Dallas
DEFENDERS (6)
- Noah Allen – Inter Miami CF
- Brandan Craig – Philadelphia Union
- Mauricio Cuevas – Club Brugge (Belgium)
- Marcus Ferkranus – LA Galaxy
- Michael Halliday – Orlando City SC
- Jalen Neal – LA Galaxy
MIDFIELDERS (9)
- Paxten Aaronson – Philadelphia Union
- Alejandro Alvarado Jr. – FC Vizela (Portugal)
- Caden Clark – New York Red Bulls
- Daniel Edelman – New York Red Bulls
- Diego Luna – Real Salt Lake
- Jack McGlynn – Philadelphia Union
- Rokas Pukstas – Hajduk Split (Croatia)
- Niko Tsakiris – San Jose Earthquakes
- Obed Vargas – Seattle Sounders FC
FORWARDS (3)
- Cade Cowell – San Jose Earthquakes
- Quinn Sullivan – Philadelphia Union
- Tyler Wolff – Atlanta United FC
The squad
The squad features 17 players from Major League Soccer clubs, paced by four from the Philadelphia Union. The US are looking to win their third straight Concacaf title, with Group E games as follows (all played at Estadio Nacional in Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital city):
- June 18 vs. Saint Kitts and Nevis (4 pm ET)
- June 20 vs. Canada (8:30 pm ET)
- June 22 vs. Cuba (8:30 pm ET)
Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Obed Vargas will join the US in Honduras following the conclusion of the group stage. New York Red Bulls midfielder Caden Clark and San Jose Earthquakes forward Cade Cowell both have previous experience with the senior USMNT.
Four alternates
Four alternates will travel with the US to Honduras to train with the team prior to the tournament: goalkeeper Alexander Borto (Fulham), defender Jaziel Orozco (Real Salt Lake) and midfielders Jackson Hopkins (D.C. United) and Tarun Karumanchi (UCLA). All four players will depart camp before the tournament, barring any injuries.
How to qualify
The 2022 Concacaf Under-20 Championship, which runs from June 18-July 3 in Honduras, will see its top four teams reach the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia. The top two teams reach the 2024 Olympics in Paris, a men’s soccer stage the US haven’t reached since 2008.
The Concacaf U-20 Championship’s top three finishers in the four groups will advance to the Round of 16 and join four teams already qualified for the knockout round. From there, teams will play a single-elimination tournament with the four semifinalists qualifying for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the two finalists qualifying for the 2024 Olympics.
