THE UNITED STATES U-20 National team is currently L'Albir, Spain where they will face Mexico on March 22 and Japan on March 24. Head coach Marko Mitrovic has called in a strong roster as the team is preparing for the 2025 U-20 World Cup which will open in September in Chile.

After successfully qualifying for the U-20 World Cup last summer under Michael Nsien, Mitrovic took control of the team following his stint as the Olympic team coach. This past fall, the team enjoyed strong results which included wins over Chile, South Korea, and then France.

Originally slated to begin in May, the 2025 U-20 World Cup is now going to take place in late September. This poses several challenges as only the back end of the tournament will take place during an international window. This will then create problems for coaches to secure the release of players – as clubs will not be required to release players outside of the windows.

Mitrovic will therefore need to have a deep player pool and a clear idea of what players he will need if various releases are not secured.

For this camp, however, Mitrovic has called in mostly his top group of players who are healthy and available.

Here is the roster and some thoughts about the team as it stands right now.

U-20 Roster for March 2025 Camp

Goalkeepers (2): Julian Eyestone (Brentford/ENG; Dallas, Texas), Diego Kochen (FC Barcelona/ESP; Miramar, Fla.)

Defenders (8): Matai Akinmboni (Bournemouth/ENG; Upper Marlboro, Md.), Noahkai Banks (Augsburg/GER; Dietmannsried, Germany), Noah Cobb (Atlanta United FC; Chattanooga, Tenn.), Aiden Harangi (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; Reston, Va.), Ethan Kohler (Werder Bremen/GER; Campbell, Calif.), Nolan Norris (FC Dallas; Fort Worth, Texas), Francis Westfield (Philadelphia Union; Philadelphia, Pa.), Joshua Wynder (Benfica/POR; Louisville, Ky.)

Midfielders (6): Matthew Corcoran (Nashville SC; Dallas, Texas), Benjamin Cremaschi (Inter Miami CF; Key Biscayne, Fla.), Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew; Columbus, Ohio), Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo FC; Chicago, Ill.), Pedro Soma (FC Barcelona/ESP; Coconut Creek, Fla.), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes; Saratoga, Calif.)

Forwards (6): Luke Brennan (Atlanta United FC; Atlanta, Ga.), Keyrol Figueroa (Liverpool/ENG; Warrington, England), Kristian Fletcher (Nottingham Forest/ENG; Bowie, Md.), Zavier Gozo (Real Salt Lake; Eagle Mountain, Utah), Ruben Ramos Jr. (Los Angeles Galaxy; La Puente, Calif.), Marcos Zambrano (Vitoria Guimaraes/POR; Gladwyne, Pa.)

Defense & goalkeeping are strong

The strength of this U-20 team is in central defense and goalkeeping. This is welcome news for the men’s side of U.S. Soccer because it has been a long time since a U-20 team as been strong defensively. The last time was in 2019 when Mark McKenzie and Chris Richards were central defenders at that age level. Since then, it has been a weakness for U-20 teams.

This year’s U-20 team has several very good prospects with Noahkai Banks, Matai Akinmboni, Josh Wynder, and Noah Cobb. On top of these four, there are other good prospects who are not on this roster – such as Bayern Munich reserve Grayson Dettoni or Stoke City’s Freddie Anderson. Banks has already featured in several Bundesliga games and Akinmboni has been on the bench for Bounemouth in the Premier League after being sold from DC United. Wynder, meanwhile, played at the last U-20 World Cup and is an anchor for Benfica B.

In front of this group there are impressive goalkeepers such has Julian Eyestone at Brentford and Diego Kochen at Barcelona. Even beyond these two, there are more goalkeepers in line such as Gavin Beavers at Nordsjaelland and Adam Beaudry for the Colorado Rapids.

For this team, the key for Mitrovic is to develop backline chemistry to make the most out of this talent. This U.S. team needs to be very hard to breakdown in the back. For youth national teams, having a strong defense can typically translate to making a very good team.

For this team, everything is built around this defense and goalkeeping.

Other camp objectives

Mitrovic has other important goals for this camp. Without injured star winger Cole Campbell not have one of its best offensive producers. But this is a good test for the coach and the team as there is a good chance that Campbell will not be there in September.

Center forward is not a strength of this team. Keyrol Figueroa was once seen as the top forward of this age group but that might not be the case anymore. Marcos Zambrano doesn’t appear to be on a high trajectory now.

The offense also has other question marks such as Ruben Ramos Jr. and Zavier Gozo who are talented but young and playing up a cycle. With any player which plays up, are they ready?

Another interesting story to follow is Luke Brennan, who hasn’t found regular minutes at Atlanta United but who has stood out with the U-20 team and has played well against some very good teams. Will he continue to be an impact U-20 player despite not getting club minutes?

Cremaschi is key

Benja Cremaschi is the key player for this U-20 team and the team revolves around him. As Mitrovic told ASN last October, it was an open question how Cremaschi would respond shifting down to the U-20 level after having played with the full national team and the Olympic team.

But Cremaschi has worked with Mitrovic a lot in his past with the U-19 and the U-23 teams. With Cremaschi now heading down to the U-20 team to work again with Mitrovic, the early responses have been very encouraging that he is willing to downshift and take this assignment. The Inter Miami product performed very well in the fall camps and looked very capable of leading the team’s midfield.

Playing time needed

The lack of playing time on this U-20 team should be a concern. Amongst too many of the integral members of the team, there just aren’t a lot of minutes.

When looking at the MLS contingent, Luke Brennan has been outstanding with this group and can’t get much time with Atlanta. Brooklyn Raines is in the same boat with Atlanta. Nolan Norris has played only sporadically for FC Dallas. Even before he moved to Bournemouth, Matai Akinmboni did not play much for DC United. Taha Habroune’s situation at Columbus is still improving, but could be better. The best club situations in MLS belong to Cremaschi and actually Matthew Corcoran – who signed for Nashville in the offseason.

Among the abroad contingent, most players are still playing reserve soccer. Cole Campbell, who is injured, looked as if he was breaking through at Dortmund, but has since moved to the second team. The best situation is Noahkai Banks who has been playing for Augsburg’s first team and is now one of the best players on this U-20 team.

Playing time is hard for young players but this U-20 team is behind previous cycles in terms of first team minutes, even with this team playing impressive soccer overall.

Westfield pushes through

One of the best and most surprising U-20 related stories in the early part of the MLS season has been Frankie Westfield getting the starting right back job for the Philadelphia Union and playing well in their first three games (all wins). That hot start has seen him get the nod this camp. Right back is now a competition with Seattle’s Reed Baker-Whiting and Stoke City’s (on loan at League Two Barrow) Leo Duru having been the early front runners. Now Westfield might just have an inside track for the World Cup spot if he continue to play well.  

If we’re looking at young Americans impressing to start the MLS season, I think Frankie Westfield has done a great job. The young Philadelphia Union right back has started the first 3 games - all wins. He’d looked very good again tonight at New England - should compete for a U.S… pic.twitter.com/wx6LwEqdyf

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 9, 2025

Final thoughts

There are a few names not in this camp (most notably Campbell) but overall, this is one of the stronger U-20 teams that Mitrovic could put together. Mitrovic seems very happy with his roster, and rightfully so.

But U-20 form changes quickly and new players can emerge suddenly to make the team. Westfield is a good example, but there will likely be others. On top of that, there will be release issues which will require a deep player pool. It’s fair to question if Mitrovic is looking at enough players or if he is very confident who he will have available in September.

For now, this camp is another important step for what looks like a very good U-20 team.