Tyler Adams returns to USA roster for Nations League finals

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentMar 13, 2024, 03:59 PM ET

Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.Midfielder Tyler Adams has returned to the United States men’s national team roster for the first time since the 2022 World Cup, as the USMNT looks to claim the Concacaf Nations League title later this month.

AC Milan winger Christian Pulisic and Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie also headline the 23-player roster selected by head coach Gregg Berhalter on Wednesday.

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The U.S. will be aiming to win the Nations League for the third time and will face Jamaica in the semifinals on March 21 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The final and third-place matches will take place three days later at the same venue, with Mexico and Panama the other teams involved. The U.S. players will begin reporting March 18 in the Dallas metropolitan area.

Pulisic is the most-capped player on the roster with 64 appearances. Fulham defender Tim Ream is next with 55.

“The objective ahead of us is clear. We want to compete for our third Nations League title and continue to challenge ourselves to succeed in knockout round matches,” Berhalter said as part of the announcement. “This is a group of players with a lot of experience in these types of matches and we look forward to the opportunity.”

Adams has overcome injury to join the USMNT for the first time since he captained the team at the World Cup in Qatar more than 15 months ago. The 25-year-old is joined by Norwich City forward Josh Sargent, who has also been hampered by injuries since that tournament. Adams has dealt with a recurring hamstring problem, while Sargent suffered an ankle injury back in August that kept him out for four months.

Just hours after the roster was announced, Adams made his first Premier League appearance of the season when coming on as a 71st-minute substitute in Bournemouth’s 4-3 win over Luton Town.

“This decision was basically the output of months of communication with his club, to track where he’s at, to see the levels that he’s performing at in training, the loads that he’s doing and training,” Berhalter said of Adams during a media availability.

“And then finally a conversation with his coach two days ago, and really hearing from the coach, where he thinks Tyler’s at, he couldn’t say enough good things about him. Certainly they think at the club that he has enough to play up to 45 minutes for us.”

“So once we heard that, we jumped at that idea because he means so much to the team, both on and off the field. It’ll be nice to get him back. His last time with the national team was at the World Cup, so he’s been missed for a while and it’ll be nice to get him back into this group.”

Sargent has been in prolific form since his return in late December and has scored a total of 12 goals in 19 league and cup matches this season. Ten of those goals have been scored since the start of 2024.

All told, 21 of the 23 players have been part of at least one Nations League-winning squad. Seven took part in both championship runs: Sergiño Dest, McKennie, Yunus Musah, Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson and Tim Weah. Dest is suspended for the semifinal against Jamaica after receiving a red card in the USMNT’s last CNL contest at Trinidad and Tobago last November.

“Of all the times that we had to pick squads, this was probably the most difficult squad we’ve had to pick due to the nature of the competition, or the level that players are performing at and the depth we have in our national team pool now,” Berhalter added.

The Reggae Boyz are familiar foes for the U.S., with the two teams squaring off 32 times in their history dating back to 1988. Twenty-two of those encounters have come in official competition, including four in the past three years. While the U.S. holds an all-time advantage of 19-3-10, seven of the past 10 matches have been decided by a goal or less.

Full USMNT roster (Club/Country; Caps/Goals):

GOALKEEPERS: 22-Drake Callender (Inter Miami; 0/0), 18-Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City/WAL; 9/0), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 37/0)

DEFENDERS: 2-Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 32/2), 23-Kris Lund (Palermo/ITA; 3/0), 16-Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 13/0), 13-Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 55/1), 3-Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 14/1), 5-Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 39/4), 12-Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 28/3), 19-Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 8/0)

MIDFIELDERS: 4-Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 36/1), 15-Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 9/0), 14-Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 20/0), 8-Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 49/11), 6-Yunus Musah (AC Milan/ITA; 33/0), 7-Gio Reyna (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 24/7)

FORWARDS: 20-Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA; 8/3), 17-Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 8/0), 9-Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 22/10), 10-Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 64/28), 11-Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 23/5), 21-Tim Weah (Juventus/ITA; 35/5)