Meet the USMNT's next generation: A guide to 12 new names in Pochettino's camp

The United States men's national team will use the coming multi-week FIFA window to fast-track its next wave of talent. Mauricio Pochettino has named 13 players who have yet to earn a senior cap, an unusually high number that turns the upcoming friendlies into an extended audition for the group expected to carry the program toward the next World Cup cycle and beyond.

Cavan Sullivan, the 16-year-old playmaker already producing in MLS, is the headline name, but the squad is filled with far more than one prodigy. Goalkeepers, full-backs, center-backs, midfielders and attackers who have taken meaningful steps at club level now have the chance to establish themselves on the international stage.

• Pochettino has called up 13 uncapped players in a single FIFA window.
• Cavan Sullivan, at 16, is the most high-profile name on the roster.
• Right-back Frankie Westfield ranks among MLS leaders in progressive passes alongside Messi and Carles Gil.
• Cole Campbell has already scored in the Bundesliga for newly promoted Elversberg.
• Dual-national striker Julian Hall is being courted by Poland.

Goalkeepers on the rise: Kochen gains seasoning in Denmark while Schwake anchors Nashville

Diego Kochen, a 20-year-old on loan from Barcelona to Danish side Lyngby, is navigating a steep learning curve in the Superliga. His newly promoted club has won just one of its first nine matches and conceded 16 goals, numbers that are hardly alarming for Barcelona or Lyngby because the priority is simple: get the Miami-born goalkeeper real professional minutes.

Kochen already has a taste of the senior national team environment, having joined the World Cup squad as a training player. Scouting reports from Europe highlight his proactive approach to claiming crosses, a promising trait given his relatively lean frame. If Pochettino hands him minutes in this window, it will be a first true look at what Kochen can offer.

Zack Schwake brings a more experienced profile to this group of newcomers. He joined Nashville in 2025 after loan spells in Scotland and two years with Castellón, and he now owns the starting job outright. Schwake has backstopped Nashville to the best record in MLS this season, with a legitimate shot at a new single-season points mark.

His 0.81 goals allowed per game is eye-catching, even if it says as much about the defensive structure ahead of him as it does about his own play. The separator for Schwake is that he continues to keep clean sheets under heavy shot volume, while also offering reliable cross claiming and tidy distribution that limits costly mistakes. He is not a late bloomer as much as a seasoned professional with clear room to grow, particularly in possession.

Fixing the back line: Westfield, Pierre and Miller address long-term needs

Right-back has quietly been one of the thinnest spots in the US player pool for several cycles, especially after Pochettino moved Sergiño Dest into a wing role because of his defensive limitations. Frankie Westfield offers a potential answer. A member of last year's U-20 World Cup squad, he has thrived in his first season as Philadelphia Union's first-choice option at the position.

Westfield delivers a steady stream of crosses and has become increasingly comfortable switching play to the opposite flank. What truly separates him, though, is his progressive passing. Rather than relying on carries and short combinations to advance the ball, he takes it upon himself to break lines with incisive distribution. With a quarter of the MLS season remaining, only three players have completed more progressive passes than Westfield: Carles Gil, Joaquin Pereyra and Lionel Messi. No other defender appears in the top eight.

At center-back, Neil Pierre is emerging as a cornerstone for Philadelphia. The 6-foot-7 defender spent part of 2026 on loan at Lyngby, then returned this summer and quickly became a set-piece scoring weapon. But Pierre is far more than a towering target in the air: interim manager Ryan Richter has encouraged him to be the back line's proactive distributor.

Pierre sends 38% of his distribution upfield, placing him near the top of MLS center-backs in that category. He also ranks in the upper percentiles for high defensive actions and balls won in midfield, profiling as a front-footed defender who wants to engage early rather than sit in. Much of the buildup to this window has focused on Noahkai Banks' decision to commit to Germany instead of the country he represented at youth level. If Pierre continues refining his defensive and passing game, that setback could become little more than a footnote.

Peyton Miller rounds out the defensive newcomers. Since Alphonso Davies left Vancouver for Bayern Munich, MLS has sent a wave of homegrown left-backs to Europe with mixed returns, a list that includes Caleb Wiley, John Tolkin, George Bello, Sam Vines and Kevin Paredes. Of the current crop, Miller is viewed as having the highest ceiling.

That is, if he keeps playing at the back. Miller has increasingly been deployed as a right winger since the World Cup break, and the results have been striking. A brace against Orlando took him to seven goals on the season, along with four assists mostly created through cutbacks and squared passes into the box. Should he feature at left-back for the United States, those attacking instincts could provide a useful alternative to the more complete Antonee Robinson.

Attacking talent in full bloom: Albert, Gozo and Mehmeti push for minutes

Mathis Albert shares top billing with Cavan Sullivan as the headline attacker of this US generation, though his current situation is very different. While Sullivan enjoys regular MLS starts, Albert remains largely a training player at Dortmund, not even holding down a consistent place with the club's second team.

Even so, the talent that earned him a Bundesliga debut at a younger age than Christian Pulisic or Gio Reyna is unmistakable. A product of the LA Galaxy academy, Albert attacks the wing with dazzling intent, using his rare acceleration with the ball at his feet to glide past defenders. The rest of his skill set is still being defined, particularly whether he profiles as an upfield progressor, a chance creator or a finisher, but the foundation is clearly there.

Gavin Gozo would have been the lead story in almost any other window. His senior international debut has felt inevitable since a red-hot start to the MLS season with Real Salt Lake put him in late consideration as a World Cup wild card. He has yet to become a regular contributor at Crystal Palace, but his decisiveness and ability to squeeze threatening shots out of seemingly unpromising sequences make him a rare attacking threat.

Gozo's versatility is another asset. In MLS he also delivered strong shifts at right wing-back, which means he could work his way into Pochettino's plans at multiple spots rather than just one.

In midfield, Bikay Mehmeti is arguably the league's best prospect at the position since Tyler Adams. A fixture in the New York Red Bulls engine room, the lean six-footer already operates as his team's possession hub, leading the side in touches and responsibly linking the defensive line to the attack. It is a role he has taken on with unusual grace for a player who made his MLS debut in the opening match of 2026, showing the poise of someone with at least 100 senior appearances.

Part of Mehmeti's precocious approach comes down to how he positions himself to receive the ball, constantly adjusting his body shape to leave opponents guessing about his next move. In the final third he has already shown a knack for threading passes that create chances. Working under Red Bulls head coach Michael Bradley, one of the greatest box-to-box midfielders in US history, should be crucial in rounding out his game.

Raines, Campbell, Ellis and Hall: Four profiles built for 2028 and beyond

Jack Raines is one of several players brought into camp with an eye toward the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Born in Monrovia, Liberia, he developed at the Barça Residency Academy in Arizona, the same program that produced Bournemouth full-back Julian Araujo and RSL playmaker Diego Luna. Operating on the right side of the New England Revolution midfield, Raines is a tidy passer with natural instincts for recycling possession.

Just 22.1% of his passes go upfield, the fourth-lowest rate among 75 qualified MLS midfielders. Instead of forcing the ball forward, Raines prefers to carry it into the final third, a valuable trait for a possession-dominant team that regularly faces mid-to-low defensive blocks, which is exactly what the US often encounters in Concacaf play. He ranks in the 76th percentile among midfielders for progressive carrying and can also provide service on indirect set pieces.

Cole Campbell fits the Dortmund archetype of a direct, dribbling American winger. A summer move to newly promoted Elversberg has given him the playing time he lacked at the German giant, and it did not take long for the rewards to arrive: last month he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Elversberg manager Vincent Wagner encourages his players to compete without fear, and the Houston native has embraced that mentality. In a small sample, Campbell has shown plenty of initiative in the final third, demanding the ball in dangerous areas and looking more inclined to test the goalkeeper himself than to lay the ball off for a teammate.

Matthew Ellis is the latest player whose career has benefited from sharing a field with Antoine Griezmann, who joined Orlando over the summer. Ellis arrived in 2026 with just two MLS minutes on his résumé, yet he has already produced 11 assists in his first full season, eight of them since Griezmann's arrival after the World Cup.

Born in Wellington, Florida, Ellis has quickly established himself as an ideal running mate whenever Orlando breaks forward. He is more tricky than outright fast, using nimble movement and short-burst acceleration to separate from defenders rather than relying on long sprints. Time will tell whether he settles as a finesse striker or an attacking midfielder, but for now he gives the US another option capable of putting a back line on skates.

Julian Hall closes out the attacking list. His early season form was so strong that the Polish federation presented his mother with a national team jersey bearing her maiden name, Zakrzewski. Hall, a dual citizen, has yet to fully commit to either country, and Poland head coach Jan Urban will be watching his cap count closely: appearing in all four friendlies would permanently tie his international future to the United States.

Although his form dipped this summer along with the rest of the Red Bulls, his call-up felt inevitable after 10 goals and five assists in 2,198 MLS minutes. Hall's defining trait is his preternatural reading of space and his ability to slip into scoring positions before opponents realize what is happening. Eight of his 10 goals this season came from shots inside the six-yard box, the mark of a forward who simply knows where to be.

What is at stake for the USMNT in this camp

The decision to call up so many debutants fits the calendar. With the 2026 World Cup on home soil already behind the program, the new cycle points toward the Copa América, the next World Cup and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Pochettino needs to widen his player pool and identify which of these prospects can handle the demands of senior international football.

There is also a strategic element for the federation. Several players in this group hold dual nationality or have drawn interest from other national teams. Binding talents like Julian Hall before Poland or another federation convinces them to switch is just as important as performance on the field. Every minute they log with the senior US team matters in that battle.

Frequently asked questions about the new USMNT call-ups