U-17 USYNT 2025 World Cup Roster Analysis

GK – Aidan Stokes, New York Red Bulls (#17 2008 prospect)
GK – Jack Kortkamp, Sporting Kansas City (#19 2008 prospect)
GK – William Lodmell, Sporting Lisbon
RB – Gio Villa, Real Salt Lake (#18 2008 prospect)
LB – Pedro Guimarães, Orange County SC
LB – Jordan Griffin, Philadelphia Union
CB – Christopher Cupps, Chicago Fire (#6 2008 prospect)
CB – Ramiz Hamouda, Birmingham Legion (#9 2008 prospect)
CB – Enrique Martinez, LA Galaxy
CM – Jude Terry, LAFC (#1 2008 prospect)
CM – Cooper Sanchez, Atlanta United
CM – Luca Moisa, Real Salt Lake
CM – Mateo Tsakiris, LA Galaxy
AM – Cavan Sullivan, Philadelphia Union (#1 2009 prospect)
AM – Maximo Carrizo, NYCFC (#7 2008 prospect)
AM – Kellan LeBlanc, Philadelphia Union
W – Mathis Albert, Borussia Dortmund (#2 2009 prospect)
W – Nimfasha Berchimas, Charlotte FC (#4 2008 prospect)
W – Jamir Johnson, Philadelphia Union (#13 2008 prospect)
W/CF – Julian Hall, New York Red Bulls (#2 2008 prospect)
CF – Chase Adams, Columbus Crew (#11 2008 prospect)

RB, Oliver Tan, Famalicão
Tan has consistently been RB2 for this group. The main question was whether Segares would carry two right-backs or two left-backs. He opted for the latter, leaving Tan off the roster.

CB – Ian James, Sporting KC (#5 2008 prospect)
James is my highest-rated eligible prospect not included and arguably the biggest snub. He has as much first-team experience as any player in this age group. While he’s had some uneven national team performances, his talent warrants inclusion. James is also eligible for Latvia—does this omission push him closer to representing them?

CM – Cristiano Oliveira, New England Revolution (#16 2008 prospect)
I would have selected Oliveira over Moisa, Sanchez, and Tsakiris. This feels like a miss.

CM/W – Lionel Gitau, Houston Dynamo (#14 2008 prospect)
Gitau offers positional versatility and difference-making ability, but Segares never seemed convinced.

W – Eric Preston, LA Galaxy
Preston is the odd man out given the depth of top-tier attackers available.

W – Gabriel Wesseh, Atlanta United (#20 2008 prospect)
Never received a look despite strong performances.

CF – Austyn Jones, PSV (#15 2008 prospect)
Only received one camp look despite solid PSV production. His continued exclusion is puzzling—maybe a new coach in the future will see it differently.

RB – Wes Okoduwa, Wolves (tied to England) (#10 2008 prospect)
DM – Decarlo Guerra, LAFC (tied to Guatemala) (#12 2008 prospect)
DM – Landon Emenalo, Chelsea (tied to England) (#8 2008 prospect)
CF – Alexander Staff, Eintracht Frankfurt (tied to Germany) (#3 2008 prospect)

None, as expected.

This is a super talented roster—ten players appear on my Top 50 USMNT prospects list, more than any other roster I’ve seen in my time covering USYNTs. Still, as mentioned earlier, the question isn’t talent—it’s chemistry.

This team’s challenge is almost the inverse of what we saw from the U-20s at the last World Cup: the U-20s weren’t full of stars, but they played as a cohesive unit. The U-17s are bursting with stars, but unity has been their biggest weakness.

From a roster construction standpoint, a few things stand out:

‍Right-back depth: Behind Gio Villa, there’s no clear RB2. I would have brought another right-back, especially since Ramiz Hamouda can cover left-back if needed. This could become an issue.

‍Center-back selection: Carrying three center-backs makes sense, but I would have taken Ian James over Martinez. Segares’ track record evaluating center-backs hasn’t been great—this is the same coach who rated Stuart Hawkins and Tyler Hall above Noahkai Banks and Matai Akinmboni.

‍Midfield balance: Jude Terry will shoulder a heavy load. I would have dropped Tsakiris for Oliveira. Outside of Terry, the group lacks speed and defensive bite.

‍Attack: The attacking options are loaded—Sullivan, Albert, Carrizo, Hall, Berchimas, Johnson, and Adams can all change games. The key question is chemistry: can Segares get them to play together effectively?

If he can’t, this may be Segares’ final run as a USYNT head coach.