The U.S. men’s national team is ready to get rolling in the 2026 World Cup.
The 26-man USMNT roster was announced on Tuesday, May 26, during a televised broadcast from New York. Anticipation for the event continues to grow, as it will be the first time the United States hosts the World Cup since 1994. Mexico and Canada are serving as co-hosts.
The U.S. will play three warm-up games ahead of its World Cup opener against Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles.
Many of the U.S. roster’s stars were high school standouts before reaching the highest stage in the world. Here’s what you need to know about where members of the USMNT attended high school:
Full USMNT World Cup roster
Goalkeepers (3)
Matt Freese
- High school: The Episcopal Academy (Newton Square, Pennsylvania)
Freese was named the 2016 Delaware County Player of the Year and was also first-team all-state and all-league.
Matt Turner
- High school: St. Joseph’s Regional High School (Montvale, New Jersey)
Turner did not play soccer until he was 14 years old.
Chris Brady
- High school: Naperville North High School (Naperville, Illinois)
Joined the Chicago Fire in 2017 to play with the youth academy.
Center backs (5)
Chris Richards
- High school: Hoover High School (Hoover, Alabama)/Lone Star School (Frisco, Texas)
Richards, who was born in Birmingham, Alabama, attended the local Hoover High School as a freshman before transferring.
Tim Ream
- High school: St. Dominic High School (O’Fallon, Missouri)
Led St. Dominic to the 2004 Missouri Class 2 state title as a senior.
Mark McKenzie
- High school: YSC Academy (Wayne, Pennsylvania)
Played at the soccer-specialized academy while training with the Philadelphia Union Academy system.
Auston Trusty
- High school: YSC Academy (Wayne, Pennsylvania)
After stops at Penncrest High (Middletown Township, Pennsylvania) and IMG Academy, Trusty finished his prep career with YSC Academy.
Miles Robinson
- High school: Arlington High School (Arlington, Massachusetts)
He was also a standout basketball player at Arlington High, scoring over 1,000 career points.
Fullbacks (5)
Antonee Robinson
- High school: Halewood Academy (Liverpool, England)
After being born in Liverpool, Robinson made his international debut for the USMNT.
Sergiño Dest
- High school: Youth Academy of Almere City
Completed his formal education in the Netherlands while also training for soccer.
Alex Freeman
- High school: American Heritage School (Plantation, Florida)
Freeman has been playing soccer since he was 4 years old.
Joe Scally
- High school: Sachem High School (Lake Grove, New York)
Scally did not play varsity soccer in high school, signing a professional contract at 15.
Max Arfsten
- High school: San Joaquin Memorial High School (Fresno, California)
Scored 50 goals and 20 assists in his senior season, earning County Metro League MVP in his junior and senior years.
Central midfielders (4)
Tyler Adams
- High school: Roy C. Ketcham High School (Wappingers, New York)
Because Adams signed a professional contract at just 16, he never appeared in a prep soccer game.
Weston McKennie
- High school: Liberty High School (Frisco, Texas)
Transitioned to an online schedule as a senior due to a demanding schedule while also playing with the FC Dallas Academy and the U.S. youth national team.
Cristian Roldan
- High school: El Rancho High School (Pico Rivera, California)
Roldan earned Gatorade National Player of the Year honors in 2013.
Sebastian Berhalter
- High school: Olentangy Orange High School (Lewis Center, Ohio)
His father — Gregg Berhalter — coached the USMNT from 2018 to 2022 and from 2023 to 2024.
Attacking midfielders/wingers (6)
Christian Pulisic
- High school: Hershey High School (Hershey, Pennsylvania)
Spent most of his high school years training in Germany. He famously flew home for his high school senior prom in 2016.
Tim Weah
- High school: Archbishop McCarthy High School (Southwest Ranches, Florida)
When Weah was 14, he relocated to France and joined the Paris Saint-Germain Academy.
Malik Tillman
- High school: LoLothar-Faber-Schule (Stein, Germany)
Tillman attended a specialized partner school that allowed him to balance his education with his soccer career in youth academies.
Gio Reyna
- High school: The Leys School (Cambridge, England)
Reyna left formal high school education when he was 16 to move to Germany to play for Borussia Dortmund.
Brenden Aaronson
- High school: YSC Academy (Wayne, Pennsylvania)
Began his high school career at Shawnee High School (Medford Township, New Jersey) before transferring to YSC Academy.
Alejandro Zendejas
- High school: Homeschooled
Zendejas was homeschooled while he trained with the U.S. U-17 Men’s National Team Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida.
Strikers (3)
Folarin Balogun
- High school: Alderman Peel High School in Fakenham, Norfolk
Balogun, born in London, England, bypassed high school and college to focus on training with a professional academy for his soccer career.
Ricardo Pepi
- High school: Texas Virtual Academy
Like many on the USMNT, Pepi focused on soccer training while attending high school online to finish his education.
Haji Wright
- High school: N/A
Wright signed his first professional contract at 16 after training with the U.S. Soccer U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USMNT World Cup roster, from high school hallways to soccer stars
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