ATLANTA, Ga. – Toward the end of media availability at the Arthur M. Blank National Training Center, Red Bull New York and uncapped midfielder Adri Mehmeti lightly corrected himself when talking about what it’s been like to be on the same U.S. Men’s National Team roster as midfielder Tyler Adams, fellow Red Bull product and Mehmeti’s complement at the podium:
“Just being able to learn from the older guys, the experienced guys – they’re not that old,” Mehmeti said before going on to share what he’s learned from Adams in the first days of USMNT camp.
Adams is three years shy of 30 – hardly “old.” Still, the average age of head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s 28-man squad is 22 years and nine months – more than four years younger than the average age of the roster that represented the Stars & Stripes this summer at FIFA World Cup 2026. Of the current roster, 13 players are uncapped, including Mehmeti, and the average number of caps is a mere 17.
So, with his 58 caps, including four in this summer's World Cup, Adams is far and away one of the most seasoned in the bunch.
Youth is on display on Pochettino’s roster for two matches in September plus two in October against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada. The U.S. Youth National Teams have played a major role in the development of players past and present, giving a new crop of players an opportunity to earn meaningful minutes at the international level.
Adams is an example of this in action and a reason why Mehmeti, the 17-year-old from New York, cited him as a role model. Before becoming the 2022 U.S. Soccer Male Player of the Year, starting four of the team’s five matches in the USMNT’s most recent run in the World Cup and holding the midfield at his current club AFC Bournemouth in the English Premier League, Adams played for several U.S. Youth National Teams. Like Mehmeti and many of the youngsters he’s training alongside this week, the pathway has proven to be vital preparation for the largest stage of the sport.
“For me, the youth pipeline is incredibly important for what U.S. Soccer wants to become,” Adams said. “You create these relationships and chemistry with kids your own age or playing up age groups, etc. That prepares you, so that when you come into camp, you have these relationships on the field already.”
His journey through the youth program began when Adams was just 14 years old, two years before he became the first-ever New York Red Bulls II signing in history. Alongside him at that camp were fellow 14-year-olds and future USMNT teammates Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie.
The three have since been named to multiple FIFA World Cup rosters for the U.S. Together, they traveled to Qatar as part of one of the youngest squads in the 2022 tournament and earned second-place in the group, thanks to a decisive goal from Pulisic in the third match of the group stage versus IR Iran. Four years later, all three went to the West Coast to help the USMNT win Group D and set a new program record for most wins in a single World Cup.
Since they were teenagers, these players have grown into mainstays for the USMNT program, the result of years playing together at the youth national team level, as Adams explained:
“When I look at the players that I came through with, and the impact that we've been able to have on the senior National Team now, there's this ability of trust, of chemistry, of understanding the places that we want to be on the field, the responsibilities that we have on the field, the characters that we are, how we balance, those kinds of things. So, we can't take for granted the opportunity to play with a Youth National Team. I think it's the same as the senior National Team. Obviously, that's the goal that you want to reach, but you have to take the necessary steps.”
The first step for Adams came when he played under former USMNT standout and 1994 World Cup representative Hugo Pérez. On this week’s episode of the U.S. Soccer Podcast, Pérez said the group of 14-year-olds he coached has gotten to the top of their sport by refusing to be “comfortable souls.” They pushed themselves – left the country to play with Youth National Teams when they were young – and grew to become “part of a generation that has been at the top, at the elite, for some time now.”
“It’s a pleasure to see them where they are now and how they started because you know you can have the talent, but it doesn’t guarantee you’re going to get there,” Pérez said.
Miles Robinson (left), Sebastian Berhalter (middle) and Tyler Adams (right) at USMNT training at the Arthur M. Blank U.S. Soccer National Training Center (Photo by: Taylor Banner/U.S. Soccer)
Adams went on to compete in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile and later in the 2017 Concacaf Championships with the U-20 Men’s National Team. From there, he earned his first MNT call-up at the age of 18 in November 2017 – one year older than Mehmeti is now. One year after his first call-up, Adams scored his first career international goal against none other than Mexico, a fierce rival that the U.S. will meet again in this FIFA window on Oct. 3 in Glendale, Ariz.
Like Adams, eight of the uncapped players named to this roster represented the U.S. at youth World Cups, gaining valuable experience in competitive environments. Five were part of the 2025 U-20 FIFA World Cup (Cole Campbell, Zavier Gozo, Peyton Miller, Brooklyn Raines and Frankie Westfield) and three were part of the 2025 U-17 FIFA World Cup (Mathis Albert, Julian Hall and Cavan Sullivan).
“I played in the Under-17 World Cup and in the Under-20 World Cup, and that prepared me for the international level here because the international game is much different than playing in your respective league,” Adams said. “So, you can't take those opportunities for granted.”
An incredible opportunity lies ahead for each of the 13 uncapped players on the roster who carry the hope of seeing their names added to the list of 62 to debut under Pochettino. They will also look to remain in contention to be part of future squads that will represent the U.S. at the 2028 Summer Olympics and 2030 FIFA World Cup.
These inexperienced players also have the chance to learn from the group of veterans in this camp, those who wear the same badge and once wore the same uncapped boots. U.S. Soccer has shown that the pathway is in place for players like Mehmeti to follow in Adams’ footsteps. It will take hard work, determination and discipline – but the example has been set.
“Tyler and I have a similar pathway,” Mehmeti said. “He went through the Red Bull system as well, same position, and watching him at the highest levels, you can see the character that he has and the personality – what he’s willing to do with and without the ball. Watching him, he’s been a role model for me because hopefully one day I can take that similar pathway that he’s taken.”
