U.S. Men’s Pan American Team roster selected ahead of U-22 competition

CHICAGO – Eighteen players have been selected to represent the United States at the 2023 Pan American Games in Chile. This will be the first time since 2007 that U.S. Soccer has sent a men’s team to the Pan American Games, a continental multi-sport event for North and South America featuring summer Olympic sports.

U.S. Under-19 Men’s Youth National Team head coach Michael Nsien will lead the U.S. Men’s Pan American Team. Players born on or after Jan. 1, 2001 are age-eligible for the competition, as well as the 2024 Olympics. Nsien selected a younger squad as the roster features three players born in 2002, five players born in 2003, five players born in 2004 and five players born in 2005.

2023 U.S. MEN’S PAN AMERICAN TEAM ROSTER (CLUB; HOMETOWN)

GOALKEEPERS (2): Antonio Carrera (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Chituru Odunze (Charlotte FC; London, England)

DEFENDERS (6): Reed Baker-Whiting (Seattle Sounders FC; Seattle, Wash.), Nico Carrera (Holstein Kiel/GER; Frisco, Texas), Mauricio Cuevas (LA Galaxy; Los Angeles, Calif.), Alexander Freeman (Orlando City SC; Plantation, Fla.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Celina, Texas), Thomas Williams (Orlando City SC; Titusville, Fla.)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Javier Casas Jr. (Chicago Fire FC; Addison, Ill.) Daniel Leyva (Colorado Rapids; Las Vegas, Nev.), Sergio Oregel Jr. (Chicago Fire FC; Chicago, Ill.), Jack Panayotou (New England Revolution; Cambridge, Mass.), Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo FC; Maricopa, Ariz.)

FORWARDS (5): Vaughn Covil (Hull City/ENG; San Diego, Calif.), Jackson Hopkins (D.C. United; Fredericksburg Va.), Tega Ikoba (Portland Timbers; Bettendorf, Iowa), Theodore Ku-DiPietro (D.C. United; Oakton, Va.), Rodrigo Neri (Atletico Madrid/ESP; Madrid, Spain)

ALTERNATES: D Noah Cobb (Atlanta United FC; Chattanooga, Tenn.), M Miguel Perez (St. Louis City SC; St. Louis, Mo.), D Michael Wentzel (St. Louis City SC; Baden-Württemberg, Germany)

The men’s soccer tournament features two groups of four teams each. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the semifinals. The USA was drawn into Group B and will face Brazil on Oct. 23 (5 p.m. ET), Honduras on Oct. 26 (2 p.m. ET) and Colombia on Oct. 29 (5 p.m. ET).

U.S. MEN’S PAN AMERICAN TEAM – GROUP B SCHEDULE

• Monday, Oct. 23 – USA vs. Brazil – 5 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. local – Estadio Elías Figueroa; Valparaiso, Chile
• Thursday, Oct. 26 – USA vs. Honduras – 2 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. local – Estadio Sausalito; Viña del Mar, Chile
• Sunday, Oct. 29 – Colombia vs. USA – 5 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. local – Estadio Elías Figueroa; Valparaiso, Chile

The teams that finish in third place in the groups will play for fifth place and the teams that finish in fourth will play for seventh.

Six players have been selected for a FIFA Youth World Cup tournament or youth Concacaf Championship event: goalkeeper Antonio Carrera (2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship, 2023 FIFA U-20 WC) and Chituru Odunze (2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship, 2019 FIFA U-17 WC), defenders Nico Carrera (2019 FIFA U-17 WC) and Mauricio Cuevas (2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship, 2023 FIFA U-20 WC), midfielder Daniel Leyva (2019 Concacaf U-17 Championship, 2019 FIFA U-17 WC) and forward Jackson Hopkins (2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship).

Odunze was called to senior USMNT training camp in November 2020, March 2021 and May 2021, but is yet to make his full international debut. The Carerra brothers have the unique distinction of representing the United States together in official international competition.

The roster features players from 15 clubs, including 12 from Major League Soccer, led by two players each from Chicago Fire FC, FC Dallas and Orlando City SC. Three players are based abroad: defender Nico Carerra (Holstein Kiel/Germany) plus forwards Vaughn Covil (Hull City/England) and Rodrigo Neri (Atletico Madrid/Spain).

The United States qualified for the Pan Am Games with its dominant title-winning performance at the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship. The U.S. won the tournament for the third-straight time, clinching its first men’s Olympic berth since 2008 in the process. Four teams from Concacaf qualified to the Pan American Games, the U-20 Championship winner (USA) plus the best team from each of the confederation’s three sub-regions- Caribbean (Dominican Republic), Central America (Honduras) and North America (Mexico).

This will be the U.S. men’s 13th appearance over 19 editions of the Pan American Games. The red, white and blue took home gold at the 1991 tournament in Havana, Cuba with the likes of future USMNT legends like Cobi Jones Kasey Keller and Claudio Reyna. The USA also reached the podium in its tournament debut at Chicago 1959 and at Winnipeg 1999.

The tournament has featured a variety of age restriction rules since its launch in 1951. As the Pan American Games are held the year before the Olympics, all nations are now restricted to bringing under-22 players, aligning with the under-23 age restriction at the Olympics.