MAURICIO POCHETTINO NAMES 25-PLAYER ROSTER FOR CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS AGAINST JAMAICA
New York, NY (Nov. 10, 2024) – U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has called up 25 players for training camp ahead of the Concacaf Nations League Quarterfinals against Jamaica. The two-leg home-and-away series will be Pochettino’s first official competition at the helm of the USMNT. The U.S. is aiming to win its fourth-straight Concacaf Nations League, lifting the trophy every time that the competition has been contested.
USMNT HEAD COACH MAURICIO POCHETTINO/Video Credit Veritone
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U.S. MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM – NOVEMBER TRAINING CAMP ROSTER
GOALKEEPERS (4): Diego Kochen (FC Barcelona Atletic/ESP; 0/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 2/0), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids; 29/0), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/ENG; 47/0)
DEFENDERS (7): Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA; 15/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 64/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 23/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 48/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 30/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 17/0), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO; 3/0)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 46/8), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 15/1), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 17/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 56/11), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 9/0), Yunus Musah (AC Milan; ITA; 43/1), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 4/0), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 16/0)
FORWARDS (6): Cade Cowell (Guadalajara/MEX; 10/1), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 31/11), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 74/31), Brandon Vazquez (Monterrey/MEX; 9/4), Tim Weah (Juventus/ITA; 41/6), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 9/1)
IMPORTANT TEST ON THE ROAD TO 2026
After kicking off the Pochettino era during the October international window with a 2-0 win vs. Panama in Austin and a 2-0 defeat at Mexico, the USMNT will continue its march to the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil with two high-stakes matches against Jamaica.
The 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League is just one of two opportunities for the USMNT to test itself in official competition ahead of the World Cup and the Reggae Boyz have proved a tough opponent for the U.S. as of late. Jamaica nearly eliminated the USA from the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League in the semifinals before a heroic late brace from Haji Wright lifted the U.S. to the championship match. In the two matches prior, the USMNT rallied late to draw Jamaica, 1-1, in the group stage of the Concacaf Gold Cup in June 2023 and battled to another 1-1 tie in November 2021 in Kingston during qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SUCCESS
Tuesday marked a record-breaking day for Americans in the UEFA Champions League, as nine players took the field in Europe’s most elite club competition, the highest number of USMNT players. Eight have been called to this training camp roster, while the ninth, Borussia Dortmund forward Cole Campbell, will spend the November international window with the Under-20 Men’s Youth National Team.
Two USMNT attackers had particularly stellar outings on the Americans’ standout day: midfielder Malik Tillman and forward Christian Pulisic. Tillman tallied and added two assists in PSV Eindhoven’s 4-0 victory against Girona, being named Player of the Match and earning UCL Team of the Week honors. On the season, the 22-year-old has tallied six goals and added four assists in 16 games across all competitions.
Pulisic also shone in AC Milan’s 3-1 win at Real Madrid, teeing up the opening assist against the defending champion. The Hershey, Pa. native is red-hot this season for the Rossoneri, racking up seven goals and four assists in 15 matches across all competitions.
IN JAMAICA
The USA has faced the Reggae Boyz on the road a total of 10 times, with all the contests being held at “The Office” in Kingston. The series on Jamaican soil remains close, with six of the 10 meetings ending in draws. Overall, the U.S. holds a slight 3W-1L-6D advantage.
THE REGGAE BOYZ
The USA and Jamaica have met 32 times in their history dating back to 1988. While the U.S. holds a lifetime advantage of 19W-3L-10D, seven of the last 10 matches have been decided by a goal or less. The teams are no strangers to meeting in official competition, having squared off 22 times in various tournaments including four in the last three years.
Since dropping a 2-1 friendly result in Washington, D.C. on June 5, 2019, the USA has a seven-game unbeaten streak (6W-0L-1D) vs. Jamaica.
Most recently, the Reggae Boyz had the USMNT on its heels in the semifinals of the 2023-24 Concacaf Nations League before a brace from striker Haji Wright powered the U.S. to the tournament final. Falling behind in the opening minute of play, the USA fought to come back for more than 90 minutes before the Coventry City forward netted a goal in the final minutes of second-half stoppage time. He found the game-winner in the 109th to propel the USMNT to its third-straight Concacaf Nations League Final.
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS
One of the most important cities in American soccer history, the USMNT has recorded a dominant 8W-1L-3D record in St. Louis and has not lost a game in the city since 1957.
With the addition of St. Louis CITY SC as Major League Soccer’s 29th club and the opening of CITYPARK in 2023, the USMNT has played twice in the gleaming new home of soccer in the Gateway to the West. Its first visit came in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup group stage vs. Saint Kitts and Nevis, a dominant 6-0 victory that saw Jesús Ferreira net his second career hat trick. The U.S. returned a few months later for a 3-0 friendly victory against Uzbekistan with goals from Tim Weah, Ricardo Pepi and Christian Pulisic.
St. Louis also served the main home venue for the USMNT’s successful qualification run for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, hosting three of the team’s five matches (all wins) at St. Louis Soccer Park.
The Gateway City is also a historic hotbed for USMNT talent. Dating back to 1916, 77 players from the St. Louis area have made at least one National Team appearance, which counts as the third-most in local representation to the USMNT after Southern California and the New York/New Jersey metro areas.
CNL SUCCESS
The USMNT has won the first three editions of the Concacaf Nations League, starting with the thrilling instant classic triumph against Mexico, 3-2 in overtime, to win the inaugural tournament in 2021. Two years later, the U.S. dominated Canada 2-0 to claim its second title. Last March, the USA rallied for an extra-time 3-1 defeat of Jamaica in the Nations League semifinals before adding another chapter to its history of Dos a Cero victories vs. Mexico for its third-straight title in Arlington, Texas.
ABOUT THE CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE
Created to maximize the quality, quantity and frequency of competitive matches for all of Concacaf’s 41 Member Associations, the 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League, which kicked off during the September international window, is the second edition with a revamped format to include more direct elimination matches.
The 2024-25 CNL is being played in a three-League format (A, B and C), with the region’s 41 men’s senior national teams distributed into the Leagues according to the results of the 2023-24 CNL.
The USA competes in the 16-team League A. The top four teams in the Concacaf Ranking Index (Mexico, United States, Panama and Canada) received a bye to the quarterfinals, while the next 12 ranked teams competed in the group stage during the September and October international windows. Drawn into two groups of six, the top two teams in each group (Costa Rica, Jamaica, Suriname, Honduras) advanced to the knockout stage.
The quarterfinal round will be played in a home-and-away format during the November international window, with the aggregate score winners in each quarterfinal advancing to the 2025 CNL Finals next March at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
The pairings for the quarterfinals were determined based on the Concacaf Rankings Index following the October window and 2024-25 CNL Group Stage results.
ROSTER NOTES
The roster will have an average age of 25 years, 13 days as of the first day of training on Nov. 11.
The squad has an average of 26 caps and 18 in official competition.
The 24 players represent clubs in nine different countries: England (5), Italy (5), USA (4), Mexico (3), France (2), Netherlands (2), Spain (2), Germany (1), Scotland (1).
Christian Pulisic (74) is the leading cap-winner, followed by Tim Ream (64), Weston McKennie (56), Antonee Robinson (48), Matt Turner (47), Brenden Aaronson (46), Yunus Musah (43) and Tim Weah (41).
Twenty players were part of the team’s October camp, with defender Chris Richards, midfielder Johnny Cardoso, goalkeeper Diego Kochen and forwards Cade Cowell and Tim Weah getting their first looks under new USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Weston McKennie leads all USMNT players with 14 Nations League appearances and six goals in the competition.
Following his assist midweek against AC Milan in Champions League play, Christian Pulisic comes to camp with seven goals and four assists in 15 matches across all competitions.
Midfielder Malik Tillman scored a goal and collected two assists in PSV Eindhoven’s 4-0 win against Girona in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, taking his season haul to six goals and four assists in 17 matches across all competitions this season.
Meanwhile, Ricardo Pepi tallied a goal and assist in PSV’s 3-0 win against NAC Breda on Saturday, taking his total to seven goals and one assist in 16 matches across all competitions.
Six players have previously scored goals against Jamaica: Ricardo Pepi (2; Oct.7, 2021), Christian Pulisic (2; July 3, 2019), Brenden Aaronson (March 25, 2021), Weston McKennie (July 3, 2019), Brandon Vazquez (June 24, 2023) and Tim Weah (Nov. 16, 2021).
Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic and Matt Turner share the team lead with 10 caps in 2024.
Following his red card against Panama on June 27 in Copa America, Tim Weah will serve the second game of his two-match suspension during the first leg on Nov. 14 in Jamaica.
Weah, whose mother is from the island, is one of three players with ties to Jamaica. Mark McKenzie’s father came from Jamaica and played soccer at Hudson College, while Antonee Robinson’s paternal grandmother also hails from there.
Eleven players are age 23 and younger: Johnny Cardoso, Patrick Schulte and Tanner Tessmann (23); Gianluca Busio, Aidan Morris and Malik Tillman (22); Cade Cowell, Yunus Musah, Ricardo Pepi, and Joe Scally (21); Diego Kochen (18).
Seventeen players are products of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, with 13 produced by MLS Academies: Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union), Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City), Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Diego Kochen (Weston FC) Weston McKennie (FC Dallas), Mark McKenzie (Philadelphia Union), Aidan Morris (Columbus Crew), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas), Christian Pulisic (PA Classics), Chris Richards (FC Dallas), Miles Robinson (FC Boston Bolts), Joe Scally (New York City FC), Patrick Schulte (St. Louis Scott Gallagher, Saint Louis FC), Zack Steffen (Philadelphia Union), Auston Trusty (Philadelphia Union), Tim Weah (New York Red Bulls) and Alex Zendejas (FC Dallas).
