US Under-23 national team names 20-player roster for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying

The United States announced their 20-man roster for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying on Thursday, establishing the U-23 group that head coach Jason Kreis can utilize at this month’s tournament in Mexico. 

“We know that qualifying will be a challenge, but it’s a challenge that we’re ready for. We’ll need all 20 players on this roster to contribute for us to achieve our ultimate goal of qualifying for the Olympics,” Kreis said in a US Soccer release. “We’ve had a productive training camp in Guadalajara and our players are hungry for the opportunity to compete. After starting this journey nearly two years ago, we’re excited to get started with the tournament.”

The roster includes 16 players from 11 MLS clubs, pulling from a 28-man training camp that spent recent weeks in Guadalajara ahead of Group A competition. Some MLS highlights include Colorado Rapids left back Sam Vines, San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Jackson Yueill and FC Dallas forward Jesus Ferreira – a trio that’s emerging with the senior side, too.

From overseas clubs, Internacional midfielder Johnny Cardoso, Pumas winger Sebastian Saucedo, VfL Wolfsburg winger Ulysses Llanez and Norwich City FC forward Sebastian Soto all made the final cut. Saucedo and Soto both have Real Salt Lake roots, an MLS club that’s also represented via goalkeeper David Ochoa, right back Aaron Herrera and center back Justen Glad.

Aside from RSL, the other MLS clubs with multiple representatives are San Jose (Yueill, goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski), Colorado (Vines and winger Jonathan Lewis) and Orlando City SC, who have midfielder Andres Perea and winger Benji Michel both included.

The US begin their qualification bid on March 18 against Costa Rica, then await Group A games against the Dominican Republic (March 21) and Mexico (March 24). The top two teams advance to the semifinals, with the finalists earning Concacaf’s two spots in the Tokyo Olympics.

The US have missed the last two Olympic tournaments, failing to qualify in 2012 and 2016. The current iteration was originally scheduled for March 2020, but was postponed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s the entire roster, which includes age-eligible players who are born on or after Jan. 1, 1997. Due to the global and domestic club soccer calendar, some top age-eligible players weren't released by their clubs for Concacaf Olympic Qualifying.