ON TUESDAY, UNITED STATES U-20 national team head coach Gonzalo Segares announced his roster for the September/October camp where the U.S. team will face Brazil on October 1 and Denmark on October at the Pinatar Arena in Spain.

The roster sees the return of 10 players who were part of the successful World Cup qualifying team that finished second in the CONCACAF U-20 Championships.

But much of the talk about the players of this age group came last week when Mauricio Pochettino named eight U-20 eligible players to the roster to the full national team. Peyton Miller, Neil Pierre, Mathis Albert, Zavier Gozo, Adri Mehmeti, Justin Ellis, Julian Hall, Cavan Sullivan.

That could mean these players are now focused on either the USMNT or the Olympic team that will soon begin play under Steve Cherundolo.

U.S. U-20 Roster

(CLUB; HOMETOWN)

Goalkeepers (2): Giorgio De Marzi (AS Roma; Rome, IT), Kayne Rizvanovich (Minnesota United FC; Mettawa, Ill.)

Defenders (6): Christopher Cupps (Greenock Morton FC; Chicago, Ill.), Pedro Guimaraes (Eintracht Frankfurt; Aliso Viejo, Calif.), Ramiz Hamouda (SV Werder Bremen; Lincoln, Neb.), Kike Martinez (Los Angeles Galaxy; Compton, Calif.), Harbor Miller (Los Angeles Galaxy; Brea, Calif.), Joshua Torquato (FC Dallas; Aubrey, Texas)

Midfielders (6): Snyder Brunell (Seattle Sounders FC; Kirkland, Wash.), Colin Guske (Real Salt Lake; Saint Johns, Fla.), Xanti Oyharçabal (Athletic Bilbao; Hendaye, FR), Cooper Sanchez (Atlanta United FC; Holly Springs, Ga.), Jonny Shore (New York City FC; New York, N.Y.), Ervin Torres (Austin FC; Laredo, Texas)

Forwards (6): Jaidyn Contreras (Tigres UANL; Frisco, Texas), Marvin Dills (Eintracht Frankfurt; Frankfurt am Main, DE), Din Klapija (RB Leipzig; New York City, N.Y.), Daniel Pinter (Inter Miami CF; Boca Raton, Fla.), Ruben Ramos JR (Sporting Kansas City; La Puente, Calif.), Darius Randell (Minnesota United FC; Monrovia, Liberia)

NOTE: Bruno Klimek (Real Betis; Mallorca, Spain) will join the team as a training

Thoughts on the roster

Segares took a pragmatic approach with this roster. Of course, he would have preferred to have had any of the eight U-20 players on the USMNT, but this is close to the best possible roster absent that group.

From the June camp where the U.S. team defeated Japan, Segares was able to bring back key players such as Marvin Dills, Snyder Brunell, Jonny Shore, and Harbor Miller.

Brunell and Shore are especially important because both players bring the ability to play both the No. 6 and the No. 8 positions, which will be important to the team at the World Cup.

In terms of key players who are not on this roster (and not with the full national team), the most notable absence is Andrei Chirila, the central defender from FC Cincinnati. Chirila has been earning consistent minutes the past two months with Cincinnati but there is the question whether he will opt to play for the youth national teams of Romania, which is the path his brother is currently on.

Midfielder Jude Terry is also a notable absence as he played with Segares with the U-17 team last cycle and is beginning to see increased minutes with LAFC. The same could be said for midfielder Alexander Shaw at Inter Miami, but unlike the other surprising omissions, Shaw was with the World Cup qualifying team in July and August.

Aiden Hezarkhani is another player who has been around this team in 2026 and his minutes have been increasing at Real Salt Lake. 

Aidan Stokes is among the better goalkeepers of this age group and is now on loan at Brentford B in England. But Segares might simply prefer Kayne Rizvanovich, who was excellent in World Cup qualifying and Giorgio De Marzi.

But the roster is a clear step up from the one that went to World Cup qualifying despite missing eight standout players to the U.S. national team. That reflects very well on the strength of this class.