The roster
GK, Jack Kortkamp, Sporting Kansas City
GK, William Lodmell, Sporting CP
RB, Brandon Dayes, Louisville City
LB, Matthew Dos Santos, Red Bull New York
LB, Ryan Hartley, Parma
CB, Andrei Chirila, FC Cincinnati
CB, Gallatin Sandnes, Seattle Sounders
CB, Victor Vandenbroucke, KAA Gent
DM, Alex Shaw, Inter Miami
CM, Luca Moisa, Real Salt Lake
CM, Cristiano Santos Oliveira, New England Revolution
CM, Brett Phan, LA Galaxy
AM, Maximo Carrizo, NYCFC
AM, Kellan LeBlanc, Philadelphia Union
W, Dennis Nelich, Red Bull New York
W, Jamir Johnson, Orange County SC
W, Tanner Rosborough, Red Bull New York
W, Damyan Villanueva, Chicago Fire
CF, Chase Adams, Columbus Crew
CF, Theo Reed, Philadelphia Union
Roster reactions
14 of the 20 players from September’s camp are back. Five were promoted to the U20s and Eric Preston didn’t return, which leaves six newcomers: Johnson, Kortkamp, Phan, Rosborough, Sandnes and Vandenbroucke.
Goalkeepers
Lodmell stays from last camp. Stokes moves up to the U20s and Kortkamp comes in. Kortkamp will be looking to make an impression and improve his standing in the 2008 goalkeeper group.
Left-backs
Dos Santos and Hartley return from last camp. I would’ve liked to see Jordan Griffin (Philadelphia Union) get a look, just to get some rotation in the group, though there may be reasons we’re not seeing.
Right-backs
Dayes returns and is the only natural right-back on the roster, though Vandenbroucke has played there for Gent’s second team and could provide cover. Parker Amoo-Mensah was promoted to the U20s. Assuming he was available, it would’ve been good to get Oliver Tan from Famalicão back in the mix.
I’d also have loved to see Sean Baitinger get his first camp. He signed an MLS NEXT Pro deal with Red Bull New York II and has had a breakout season, with five goals and six assists in 19 matches. He’s mainly a right winger but has regularly played right-back, and on form he deserves an opportunity. Without knowing the full picture, it’s hard to call it a snub, but purely on form he’s one of the most deserving names not on this list.
Center-backs
Jacob Hall was promoted to the U20s and Chirila returns from last camp. Sandnes and Vandenbroucke are the additions. Vandenbroucke is the surprise here. He was recently called into the Honduran senior national team, didn’t see the field and stepped away saying he wasn’t ready to commit. Late last month he was quoted as choosing Belgium, and now he’s in a U.S. U19 camp. He isn’t completely new to the U.S. setup, either, having been called into a youth camp in Florida in November 2024. He’s not a player I’ve seen much of, so I’m not sure how big an addition this is. Time will tell.
The bigger question for me in this group is why Ian James has been absent from U.S. Youth National Teams for so long. He hasn’t been a part of U20 head coach Gonzalo Segares’ plans, and he can’t seem to get an invite here either. He missed time with a quad injury earlier this season and there may be other factors we’re not aware of, but from what we can see, this is a player who has logged first-team MLS minutes and needs to be nurtured in the system. He has USMNT potential.
Pivots
The only change in this group is Brett Phan, who replaces Jude Terry after Terry’s promotion to the U20s.
Attacking midfielders
Carrizo and LeBlanc return and are the only real viable options from this class.
Wingers
Wesseh was promoted to the U20s after his first USYNT camp. No surprise there, he’s a big talent. Nelich and Villanueva return. Eric Preston isn’t back, and I suspect that’s fitness-related. He didn’t play in the last U19 game of the September window or playoffs and hasn’t returned to action in MLS NEXT Pro since, which points to a possible injury. The additions are Tanner Rosborough, who missed much of the 2026 season through injury, and Jamir Johnson. On form, I’d have taken Baitinger over any of the four selected, assuming he’s open to representing the U.S.
Center-forwards
Adams and Reed return from last camp. The name that isn’t here, and one U.S. Soccer seems to have overlooked for years, is Austyn Jones. He got one camp under Segares and never returned. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes, and Jones has been part of the Dutch youth setup since 2023, but had a long spell where he wasn't called into either team, which presented an opportunity for U.S. Soccer. He was just called into the Netherlands’ U19 team for Euro qualifying, so may be provisionally cap-tied soon. He’s a goal-scoring machine and from the outside this looks like a missed opportunity for U.S. Soccer.
Roster grade: C+
With all of the 2008 promotions to older age groups, the pool for this team is pretty thin. Baitinger, James and Jones are the names that stand out to me, though in each case there may be availability, eligibility or other factors we can’t see from the outside. Overall, it’s a roster that lacks top-end talent, which is to be expected given everything happening across USYNT programming this month.
