United States, Canada release preliminary rosters for 2020 Concacaf Men’s Olympic qualifiers

The United States and Canada have released their preliminary rosters for the 2020 Concacaf Men’s Olympic Qualifying tournament, which is set to run from March 18-30 in Mexico to determine the region’s two representatives in the upcoming Summer Olympics in Japan.

No later than 10 days before the tournament, federations will need to submit a final 20-player roster for official competition. Changes will only be allowed in the event of force majeure or injury and must be made prior to 24 hours before each team’s first match. Any replacement players must come from the preliminary roster and will need to be approved by FIFA and Concacaf.

The United States preliminary roster includes 48 players, 40 of whom compete in MLS. Meanwhile, 25 of the 50 players on Canada’s roster compete in MLS. Preliminary lists were capped at 50 players.

LA Galaxy midfielder Efrain Alvarez is listed on both the United States and Mexico roster, but the 18-year-old can’t represent both countries. The federations and player would need to determine who he competes for, should he make the final cut. Alvarez has played for Mexico at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup, so a change of association request would have to be filed to pave the way for Alvarez to represent the US in official competition.

Another MLS-centric note: Neither the US or Canada rosters have Toronto FC forward Ayo Akinola on them. Akinola, 21, is eligible to represent both countries, as well as Nigeria.

United States preliminary roster

The United States roster includes midfielder Brenden Aaronson and right back Bryan Reynolds, both of whom departed MLS this offseason on multi-million transfer fees. Aaronson went from the Philadelphia Union to RB Salzburg, and Reynolds went from FC Dallas to AS Roma.

FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids both have four players included, while Atlanta United, LA Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes all have three.

Canada preliminary roster

Toronto FC leads the way with nine players on Canada's preliminary roster, while Vancouver Whitecaps FC have seven players and CF Montréal have six players. The New England Revolution and Minnesota United FC are also represented on Canada's 50-player list.