Going for gold: US men’s soccer names experienced roster for Paris Olympics

Defenders Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman along with forward Đorđe Mihailović will be the three overage players on the 18-man US Olympic men’s soccer roster after they went unused by the senior team at Copa América.

Olympic men’s soccer is largely limited to players under 23, although each team is allowed three over the age limit. Fifa does not require clubs to release players for the Olympics, but all of those named in the US squad are expected to be granted permission by their clubs.

Maximilian Dietz, a defender with Germany’s second-tier Greuther Fürth, was added by US coach Marko Mitrović after missing the June training camp before a 2-0 exhibition loss to Japan. He had been with the U-23 team in October and March.

Ten players were dropped from the June roster: defenders Jalen Neal, Bryan Reynolds and Jonathan Tomkinson; midfielders Cole Bassett, Aidan Morris and Rokas Pukštas; and forwards Esmir Bajraktarevic, Cade Cowell, Damion Downs and Johan Gomez.

The US men are in the Olympic soccer tournament for the first time since 2008 and will train in Bordeaux starting on Tuesday. They open on 24 July against hosts France, then will play New Zealand and Guinea. The top two nations in each group advance to the quarter-finals. Kylian Mbappé, who says he was eager to play at his home Games, will not be in the France squad after Real Madrid denied his release.

Fifteen players in the US squad have appeared for the senior national team for combined 114 appearances.

Zimmerman is the headliner for the US. He has 42 international appearances and last played for the US against Canada in the June 2023 Concacaf Nations League final. At the 2022 World Cup, Zimmerman played in all four matches, starting three. Cincinnati’s Robinson is another experienced hand. He was on the US roster for the 2024 Copa América but didn’t receive any playing time before the Americans crashed out of the tournament in the group stage. He has 29 international appearances, scoring the extra-time goal that beat Mexico in the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup final. He missed the 2022 World Cup while recovering from a torn achilles tendon.

Others with senior national team experience are midfielder Gianluca Busio (13 appearances); defender John Tolkin (four); defender Kevin Paredes (three); forward Taylor Booth, midfielder Tanner Tessmann and defender Caleb Wiley (two each); and forward Paxten Aaronson, defender Benjamin Cremaschi, midfielder Jack McGlynn, forward Duncan McGuire and goalkeepers Patrick Schulte and Gabriel Slonina (one each).

Dietz, defender Nathan Harriel and forward Griffin Yow have never played for the senior team.

The squad strikes a balance between those playing domestically in MLS and young players playing overseas. Ten players play in MLS, two each from newly promoted Venezia in Italy and the Dutch Eredivisie and one each from the Premier League, the German Bundesliga, the Germany second tier and Belgium’s top tier. All but Dietz played in MLS at some point or in an MLS development academy.

Omissions include Chicago Fire goalkeeper Chris Brady, Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna and FC Dallas winger Bernard Kamungo.

Tessmann will be crucial to the US’s hopes. The midfielder was the driving force behind Venezia’s promotion to Serie A this past season. He is now in negotiations to join Internazionale on an $8m permanent deal, where he will then be loaned back to Venezia to gain some experience in the Italian top flight.

Unlike the US women’s team, the American men have never won Olympic soccer gold. Their best performance was in 1904, when club teams competed and the US took silver and bronze at the St Louis Games.

In their last appearance, in Beijing, they failed to advance beyond the group stage.

US men’s Olympic roster

Goalkeepers: Patrick Schulte, Columbus Crew; Gabriel Slonina, Chelsea.

Defenders: Maximilian Dietz, Greuther Fürth; Nathan Harriel, Philadelphia Union; Miles Robinson, FC Cincinnati; John Tolkin, New York Red Bulls; Caleb Wiley, Atlanta United; Walker Zimmerman, Nashville SC.

Midfielders: Gianluca Busio, Venezia; Benjamin Cremaschi, Inter Miami; Jack McGlynn, Philadelphia Union; Đorđe Mihailović, Colorado Rapids; Tanner Tessmann, Venezia

Forwards: Paxten Aaronson, Utrecht; Taylor Booth, Utrecht; Duncan McGuire, Orlando City; Kevin Paredes, Wolfsburg; Griffin Yow, Westerlo.