USILAW Salutes the 2026 U.S. Men’s National Team
One squad, a dozen homelands — the World Cup roster that proves America’s immigrant story is its competitive advantage
Bethesda, Maryland, USA June 13, 2026: As the United States opens its home World Cup, USILAW proudly salutes the 26 men of the U.S. Men’s National Team. The roster is, quite literally, the national motto come to life. E pluribus unum: out of many, one.
Look closely at the team that took the field against Paraguay and you do not see a single story. You see Liberia and Jamaica. Nigeria and Yoruba western Africa. Guatemala and El Salvador. Suriname and the Netherlands. Mexico, Ghana, Croatia, England, Germany. You see grandparents who served in the U.S. military overseas, mothers who fled violence in Central America, and fathers who chased a better life across an ocean. You see, in other words, America.
“This team did not assemble in spite of immigration. It exists because of it,” said Anindita Chowdhury, Managing Attorney of USILAW. “Every great American generation has been built by people who came from somewhere else and chose to give everything to this country. These 26 young men carry that same inheritance, and now they carry our flag onto the world’s biggest stage. We could not be prouder to cheer them on.”
Below, USILAW honors the roots of each player on the roster and the many places that became one team.
Forwards
Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco). Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. to Nigerian parents of Yoruba heritage, Balogun moved to London at one month old and came up through Arsenal’s academy. Eligible for the U.S., England, and Nigeria, he chose the country of his birth, calling it a “no-brainer.” In the World Cup opener, he became the first American in nearly a century to score twice in a single World Cup match.
Christian Pulisic (AC Milan). The captain and the face of American soccer, born in Hershey, Pennsylvania. His family’s roots run back to Croatia through his grandfather, a heritage that allowed Pulisic to obtain a Croatian passport early in his European career. A grandson of immigrants from Europe, he now proudly wears the captain’s armband for the United States.
Tim Weah (Olympique de Marseille). Born in Brooklyn and raised in the Caribbean community of Rosedale, Queens, by his Jamaican mother, Clar. His father is George Weah of Liberia is the only African ever to win the Ballon d’Or (1995) and later served as the President of Liberia. From a West African presidential palace to a Queens neighborhood to the U.S. national team, few American stories span more of the globe.
Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven). Born in El Paso, Texas, to a family of Mexican descent, Pepi grew up crossing back and forth to visit relatives in Ciudad Juárez and learned the game from his father, Daniel, who coached his first club. A border-city kid who became one of Europe’s most reliable strikers.
Haji Wright (Coventry City). Born in Los Angeles to a Ghanaian father and a Liberian mother, Wright was eligible to represent Ghana or Liberia at the senior level and chose the United States. Two of West Africa’s proud football nations, woven into the American front line.
Alejandro Zendejas (Club América). Born in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and raised in El Paso, Texas, Zendejas embodies the binational life of the borderlands. Eligible for both Mexico and the United States, he committed to the Stars and Stripes while starring in Liga MX.
Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United). The “Medford Messi” from suburban New Jersey, is a product of the Philadelphia Union academy and a reminder that the American melting pot has been simmering for generations. His path through homegrown youth soccer to the Premier League is the modern American dream in cleats.
Midfielders
Weston McKennie (Juventus). Born into a U.S. military family, McKennie spent part of his childhood in Germany while his father served overseas. It was there, on European pitches, that he fell in love with the game. The son of a serviceman who carried America abroad and brought its game home.
Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth). Born in Wappingers Falls, New York, the team’s gritty engine in midfield and a former national-team captain. Adams represents the deep American mosaic — a homegrown talent who rose through the New York Red Bulls system to the Premier League and the World Cup.
Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach). Born in Sunderland, England, while his father played there, Reyna is American soccer royalty. His father, Claudio Reyna, who was of Argentine and Portuguese heritage, captained the USMNT at four World Cups; his mother, Danielle, played for the U.S. Women’s National Team. The immigrant thread runs through both the sport and the family.
Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders). Born in California to a Guatemalan father and a Salvadoran mother who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s as their home countries were torn by violence. Raised in Pico Rivera kicking a ball into a goal his father built from PVC pipe, Roldan calls representing the U.S. a dream that once “seemed unobtainable.” His brother Alex plays for El Salvador.
Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen). Born in Nuremberg, Germany, to an American father, who was a U.S. serviceman, and a German mother. Eligible for Germany, he switched to represent his father’s country, trading the nation of his birth for the nation of his blood.
Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps). A second-generation national-team man: his father, Gregg Berhalter, both played for and coached the USMNT. Soccer, and service to the American program, runs in the family.
Defenders
Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven). Born in Almere, Netherlands, to a Dutch mother and a Surinamese-American father. His grandfather served in the U.S. Army and met his Surinamese wife while stationed abroad, bringing her to New York after the war. Dest chose the United States over the Netherlands, citing his father’s American upbringing. Suriname, the Netherlands, and the U.S. military, all in one bloodline.
Antonee Robinson (Fulham). Born in Milton Keynes, England, and raised there, Robinson is American through his father, Marlon, who emigrated to the United States, settled in White Plains, New York, and became a naturalized citizen. The reigning U.S. Soccer Player of the Year, and proof that citizenship earned is citizenship cherished.
Mark McKenzie (Toulouse). Born in the U.S. to a Jamaican father who moved to America before college and an American mother. “I’m half American and half Jamaican,” McKenzie has said. “I’ve got both sides of the fam.” Another bridge between the Caribbean and the red, white, and blue.
Chris Richards (Crystal Palace). Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Richards rose from the American South through the Bayern Munich academy to become a Premier League and national-team mainstay. Chris is a homegrown talent on the world stage.
Alex Freeman (Villarreal). Born in Baltimore, the son of Green Bay Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman. A second-generation American athlete who traded gridiron lineage for the pitch and earned a move to Spain’s La Liga.
Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach). Born in Lake Grove, New York, with Italian and Irish-Catholic roots — the classic Ellis Island ancestry that built the American Northeast. The grandchild of an earlier great wave of immigration, now defending for the U.S. in Germany.
Tim Ream (Charlotte FC). Born in St. Louis, Missouri, the elder statesman of the back line with 80-plus caps. A heartland American whose family tree, like so many in the Midwest, traces back to European immigrants who settled the river country generations ago.
Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati). Born in Massachusetts, Robinson rose through New England’s youth ranks to become a dependable center of the U.S. defense. Another homegrown product of America’s ever-widening talent pool.
Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew). A breakout wingback whose journey from American youth and college soccer to the World Cup roster reflects the wide-open opportunity that defines the U.S. game. A reflection of the growth of soccer in the U.S. where new names rise every cycle.
Auston Trusty (Celtic). Born in Media, Pennsylvania, Trusty climbed from the Philadelphia Union academy to Scotland’s Celtic, carrying the Philadelphia-to-the-world pipeline that has produced so much American talent.
Goalkeepers
Matt Turner (New England Revolution). Born in Park Ridge, New Jersey, Turner famously came to soccer late and walked on in college before becoming a World Cup starting goalkeeper. Another iteration of the most American of arcs, built on second chances and open doors.
Matt Freese (New York City FC). A New York–based keeper who worked his way up through the American development system to the senior national team, embodying the depth of homegrown talent now competing for the gloves.
Chris Brady (Chicago Fire). A young American goalkeeper from the Chicago Fire ranks, part of the next generation knocking on the door and reaffirming the promise of a soccer nation still on the rise.
One Team, Out of Many
From a Liberian president’s son in Queens to a Salvadoran refugee’s boy in Los Angeles; from a Nigerian family’s Brooklyn surprise to a Croatian grandfather’s grandson in Pennsylvania; from a Surinamese serviceman’s grandson in Almere to the children of immigrants who came through Ellis Island a century ago, the American credo is reflected in this United States Men’s National Team.
They speak the languages of their grandparents and the language of the American dream. They are, every one of them, proof that e pluribus unum is not a slogan etched in Latin on a coin, but a living, breathing, goal-scoring reality.
USILAW salutes them. America, watch your team because your team looks like America. And your team carries the spirit and dreams of a country. A credo and a cause worth rooting for, worth defending and worth coming together over. The American story is our teams story and the teams story is a reflection of our stories.
About USILAW USILAW is a Global Immigration Law Firm that specializes on U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Law. We help match talent with opportunity. We deconstruct complex legal issues into achievable goals. Our robust solutions are drawn from deep legal expertise and broad experience. USILAW attorneys and staff are leading immigration law practitioners who combine knowledge with passion. For more information, visit www.usilaw.com
Media Contact: William Taylor. Partner, E: william@usilaw.com: T: +1-415-307-1175