ATLANTA – From the roster reveal in New York City to training in Fayetteville, Ga. to a huge win against 14th-ranked Senegal in North Carolina, the past week has been a whirlwind for U.S. Men’s National Team players, and for one player in particular, the eventful window included a very special and personal occasion: wedding bells.
Forward Brenden Aaronson, one of the 26 players named to the U.S. roster for FIFA World Cup 2026 by head coach Mauricio Pochettino took a brief pause from training and preparations to get married.
In the event of about a week, the 25-year-old traveled from his club Leeds United in the UK to U.S. Soccer’s Roster Reveal event to New York City, to Fayetteville for training, to South Jersey for his wedding, back to Fayetteville to re-join the USMNT for the upcoming trip to Charlotte.
“It was a whirlwind of days, but also a really amazing whirlwind of days that I’m never going to ever forget,” Aaronson told reporters on Tuesday. “It was really special.”
The wedding nuptials took place at a venue on Long Beach Island in Manahawkin, New Jersey, less than one hour from where Aaronson grew up in Medford. He met his now wife, Milana, when they were 16 years old at a Sweet Sixteen. They started dating soon after and have been together ever since.
The high school sweethearts booked their wedding venue about two-and-a-half years ago. It wasn’t until this past winter when Aaronson realized there might be a conflict when U.S. Soccer released the schedule for upcoming friendlies against Senegal and Germany. With the World Cup looming, suddenly what the two had planned for their wedding week quickly became chockfull of soccer-related activities.
“When she learned we were going to be reporting at that time… her face flushed, my face flushed, we were kind of freaking out because you put so much time and effort – I mean, she put so much time planning the wedding, it was really scary,” he said.
Aaronson was upfront about his wedding plans and told his head coach in March, well ahead of this summer’s roster announcement. Aaronson even offered to change his wedding date, telling Pochettino he’d do whatever it took to be part of the roster, but he didn’t need to change his plans to that extent.
“Being able to have a conversation with the coach, being able to go into his office, it’s open,” Aaronson said. “He’s very good at those kinds of conversations. He’s humane, too. He knows that it’s not easy being a footballer. It was an easy conversation to have with them.”
So, Aaronson departed training camp in Atlanta for his wedding in the northeast. Even though he arrived about an hour-and-a-half late to his own dress rehearsal, Aaronson had the opportunity to meet his wife’s extended family, which living and playing soccer overseas hasn’t necessarily allowed. His younger brother Paxten, a forward for Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer, served as best man and gave a speech at the wedding.
“I’m very lucky that I got to go and spend that day,” Aaronson said. “I’m really grateful to the coaching staff. It was an amazing day for myself, but I’m ready to get back to work and get ready for the World Cup.”
Planning a wedding plus the World Cup roster announcement made for a stressful period, but the midfielder said that it helped that his club, Leeds, was in a safe position in the English Premier League. The team finished 14th in the league standings and played its last three games of the regular season without any fear of relegation.
Learning whether or not he made Pochettino’s roster for the upcoming tournament on home soil was a different story. Although the former Philadelphia Union product had already been in this position before, being named to the World Cup roster in 2022, Aaronson said heading into May 22, the day that Pochettino alerted players of their roster inclusion, was the most nervous he’d ever been in his life.
“The first thing that came to my mind was how proud I was to be on this roster,” he said. “As the next two or three days went on, I was able to focus on the wedding a little bit more and think about how amazing that day’s going to be.”
Thus began the eventful week for Aaronson, one of the most capped players on the 2026 roster with 57 appearances for the USMNT. Being with Milana for nearly a decade meant they both knew what was expected when Aaronson was named to the squad. After tying the knot, Aaronson returned to the National Team. He woke up at 2:30 a.m. in the morning, barely three hours of sleep, eager to get back into the fold.
“It’s not easy to be leaving on a wedding night, but she’s been with me since the beginning,” Aaronson said of his wife. “She knows how many days we’ve been through doing all the football stuff. For her to be as cool as she is is amazing.”
Aaronson dressed for the match against Senegal in Charlotte, N.C., but didn’t play in the 3-2 win for the United States. Coming off what he considers the best club season of his career, where he led Leeds in assists, the midfielder is hopeful to play some minutes against Germany and be an impact player for the USMNT in FIFA World Cup 2026.
“I’m really looking forward to being able to, hopefully, show myself against Germany,” he said. “And if not, going into the trainings and showing what I can, making sure I can do whatever I can to get in on the pitch. And if not, supporting the guys the best I can, always. That’s always the kind of guy I am. I want to support the guys and mostly go out there and whenever I get a chance, do my thing.”
