Gaga Slonina, Cade Cowell and Kevin Paredes present the USA squad for this month’s U-20 World Cup, which begins on May 20 in Argentina. Here’s what you need to know:
- The roster released by US Soccer on Wednesday includes 11 players from the squad that won the U-20 CONCACAF Championship.
- Paxten Aaronson, who won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the U-20 CONCACAF Championship, and Ricardo Pepi are among the age-appropriate players not included in the squad.
- The United States will face Ecuador (May 20), Fiji (May 23) and Slovakia (May 26) in Group B.
USA U-20 World Cup squad
GC: Alexander Borto (Fulham/ENG), Antonio Carrera (FC Dallas), Gaga Slonina (Chelsea)
DEF: Justin Che (Hoffenheim/GER), Brandan Craig (Philadelphia Union), Mauricio Cuevas (LA Galaxy), Marcus Ferkranus (LA Galaxy), Jonathan Gómez (Real Sociedad/ESP), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United), Joshua Wynder (Louisville City ). )
CENTER: Daniel Edelman (New York Red Bulls), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Philadelphia Union), Rokas Pukštas (Hajduk Split/CRO), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes), Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders), Owen Wolff (Austin F.C.)
FWD: Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg/GER), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union), Darren Yapi (Colorado Rapids)
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Key players selected
Gaga Slonina: Slonina, perhaps the most well-known player in the squad, will be the No. 1 goalkeeper. For an upfront fee of $10 million plus a further $5 million in surcharge, he made a major transfer from the Chicago Fire to Chelsea over the winter, making him possibly one of the most expensive teen goalkeepers of all time.
Slonina, who turns 19 next week, chose to represent the United States against Poland. He has already made his USMNT debut as a senior.
Kevin Paredes: Wolfsburg winger Paredes is one of the most prominent players in the group and was last in the U-20 squad in March. It was uncertain whether or not he would be cleared for the tournament. 19-year-old Paredes has made 20 Bundesliga appearances this season, including 19 on the bench. He joined Wolfsburg from DC United in 2022 for a fee of $7 million.
Cade Cowell: Cowell may be suspended for the first game of the group stage for being involved in a riot at the U-20 CONCACAF Championship, but there will be plenty of attacking power. The dynamic winger was sacked by the San Jose Earthquakes despite starting all 11 MLS games to date. As a teenager he already played 92 MLS games (44 starts).
Caleb Wiley: Atlanta United’s rising star Wiley made it into the club’s starting XI but the club sacked him for the tournament despite having started 10 of his 11 games so far. Wiley has played at both left full-back and left full-back for Atlanta, but is expected to move to left-back for this group, which is his long-term position. European clubs have already approached Atlanta about him and he is likely to be one of the next big signings from MLS.
Who has not been released?
The United States are without Aaronson as Eintracht Frankfurt declined to sack the young attacker.
Aaronson led the group to a title at the U-20 CONCACAF Championship, winning the Golden Boot with seven goals and the Golden Ball, an award for the tournament’s best player. The 19-year-old has already made his senior debut.
Aaronson joined Eintracht Frankfurt from the Philadelphia Union this winter and the idea was that he would be released for the World Cup. Well, those plans changed when he integrated into the first-team faster than expected – sitting on the bench in each of the club’s last four games – while Frankfurt unexpectedly made it to the final of the DFB-Pokal.
Central defender Jalen Neal has not been released by the LA Galaxy. Neal, 19, has become a regular starter for the ailing Galaxy, who are struggling with a number of injuries to fellow centre-backs Séga Coulibaly and Chris Mavinga, making a potential sacking of Neal even more difficult.
Striker Ricardo Pepi is not in the squad, although his potential inclusion seemed more hopeful than anything else. He is brilliant as a player on loan at FC Augsburg in Groningen and is a decisive factor in the fight against relegation, which would have excluded him from participating in the U-20 World Cup. The Dutch club are now mathematically relegated which gives hope that Pepi could be sacked. Unfortunately he wasn’t.
The Chicago Fire previously announced that goaltender Chris Brady and midfielder Brian Gutiérrez would not be fired due to their first-team roles.
Hajduk Split had announced that midfielder Rokas Pukštas would not be sacked, but he was called up to the squad.
USA Outlook, U-20 World Cup History
The United States ended up in the first pot in the group stage and main Group B draws, followed by Ecuador, Fiji and Slovakia. The group stage begins on May 20th and the tournament concludes with the final (and third place match) on June 11th.
Their first place was thanks in part to winning the U-20 CONCACAF Championship and results from previous U-20 World Cups.
The United States has consistently qualified for this tournament – and has only been able to qualify for one of the last 13 editions – and has also begun to produce consistent results, for better or worse, losing in the quarterfinals at each of the last three tournaments . Their best result to date came at the 1989 tournament when they finished fourth.
The last tournament was held in 2019 after the planned 2021 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States exited the group stage with back-to-back wins (over Nigeria and Qatar after losing to Ukraine) and then defeated mighty France in the Round of 16. The Americans were knocked out by Ecuador in the quarterfinals, many players eliminated from the group that will lead Ecuador to qualifiers for the Senior World Championships last winter.
What you say
“We are very pleased that this group is going to face the best in the world in Argentina,” coach Mikey Varas said in a press release. “It is a great honor to represent your country at a World Cup. We accept the responsibility that this opportunity brings with it.”
(Photo: Harry How/Getty)