Today on ESPN, the United States unveiled the 26-man roster for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers that begin Friday night in New Jersey against Costa Rica (6:30pm ET, ESPN and Univision) and continue on September 5th against Honduras in San Pedro Sula (5:30pm ET, beIN Sports and Universo). Camp will open up tomorrow as the team seeks to get 6 crucial points and inch closer to qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
Here are the 26 players who USMNT coach Bruce Arena will call upon in the upcoming matches:
Goalkeepers (3): Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids), Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders (9): DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Eric Lichaj (Nottingham Forest), Tim Ream (Fulham), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)
Midfielders (9): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
Forwards (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Hamburger SV)
Bruce Arena is clearly going for 6 points from these two matches, as he brings in the heavy hitters for this match. The USMNT will be without some key players on defense, as DeAndre Yedlin and John Brooks will miss the qualifiers due to injury. Still, this is mostly the roster that most fans would expect with a few surprises such as Cristian Roldan and Eric Lichaj.
The wait is over. Our roster for #USAvCRC, Presented by @VolpiFoods1902, and #USAvHON is here!
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) August 27, 2017
Let's #Get3 (twice): https://t.co/PpfN2y7Q9g pic.twitter.com/hDOD3OaJDq
Hit the comments to let us know what you think of the 23-man roster!