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Top 50 players in the USMNT player pool: Never a better time for the program

U.S. Soccer called up 23 players for the USMNT’s CONCACAF Nations League semifinal and another 22 for Olympic training camp this week, with three more players joining the fray after injuries to Josh Sargent, Luca de la Torre, and Gaga Slonina.

The group of Olympic hopefuls wasn’t simply the next 22 up given the age restrictions on Olympic rosters, but it’s still relatively wild to read the names of players who aren’t among those 48 players given that this United States national team program wasn’t even regularly qualifying for the World Cup until the 1990s.

[ MORE: USMNT upcoming schedule, latest results ]

Cameron Carter-Vickers misses out after a minor injury suffered as arguably the best player on Scotland’s best club team, Celtic FC. Also injured is Lennard Maloney, a close to full-time starter for Bundesliga side Hoffenheim, while Utrecht winger Taylor Booth has been out for about a month after scoring five times in an Eredivisie week.

Sheffield United may be a 20th-place Premier League side, but Auston Trusty is a regular starter on a club in the top division in world football. And Brandon Vazquez has eight goals in 13 appearances for Liga MX side Monterrey. Players like John Brooks (Hoffenheim), Jordan Pefok (Gladbach), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC), Erik Palmer-Brown (Panathinaikos), Richy Ledezma (PSV Eindhoven) are out of the mix for various reasons but would’ve been shoo-ins for so many previous squads.

We’ve often power ranked the USMNT’s pool as a Top 25, but instead let’s use this international break to rank the Top 50 players in the USMNT player pool. Be gentle with us.

Top 25 50 players in the USMNT player pool right now

Before we go any further with this list, here’s a reminder of how we sort the talent with some ground rules:

The ranking is meant to illustrate who would be most likely to positively affect a USMNT match, regardless of manager or teammates, right now.

Health doesn’t matter to our rankings if a current injury isn’t one that could drastically alter the player’s skill set moving forward.

Age/potential/experience doesn’t matter either, at least not much; It’s how likely you are to contribute to the team if put on the field right now. Obviously, Paxton Aaronson is a better long-term prospect than Jordan Morris, but the Seattle Sounders forward is currently better prepared for the stage than the Philadelphia Union youngster.

Finally, if you’re breaking a tie between players… ask which you’d be more upset to hear was unavailable for a USMNT camp.

(Last ranking in parenthesis. It’s been over a year, so that part could get wild)

  1. Christian Pulisic, AC Milan (4)
  2. Weston McKennie, Juventus (1)
  3. Yunus Musah, AC Milan (3)
  4. Antonee Robinson, Fulham (7)
  5. Tyler Adams, Bournemouth (2)
  6. Sergino Dest, PSV Eindhoven (10)
  7. Timothy Weah, Juventus (14)
  8. Johnny Cardoso, Real Betis
  9. Giovanni Reyna, Nottingham Forest (8)
  10. Folarin Balogun, AS Monaco
  11. Tim Ream, Fulham (17)
  12. Luca de la Torre, Celta Vigo (22)
  13. Cameron Carter-Vickers, Celtic (16)
  14. Matt Turner, Nottingham Forest (21)
  15. Chris Richards, Crystal Palace (11)
  16. Ricardo Pepi, PSV Eindhoven
  17. Josh Sargent, Norwich City (12)
  18. Malik Tillman, PSV Eindhoven
  19. Joe Scally, Borussia Monchengladbach (18)
  20. Haji Wright, Coventry City (19)
  21. Ethan Horvath, Cardiff City
  22. Walker Zimmerman, Nashville SC (9)
  23. Gianluca Busio, Venezia
  24. Kevin Paredes, Wolfsburg
  25. Brenden Aaronson, Union Berlin (5)
  26. Auston Trusty, Sheffield United
  27. Lennard Maloney, Heidenheim
  28. Kristoffer Lund, Palermo
  29. Brandon Vazquez, Monterrey
  30. Jordan Pefok, Borussia Monchengladbach (6)
  31. Miles Robinson, FC Cincinnati
  32. Mark McKenzie, Genk
  33. Gaga Slonina, Eupen
  34. John Brooks, Hoffenheim
  35. Jesus Ferreira, FC Dallas (13)
  36. Jordan Morris, Seattle Sounders
  37. Esmir Bajraktarevic, New England Revolution
  38. Tanner Tessman, Venezia
  39. Taylor Booth, Utrecht
  40. James Sands, NYCFC
  41. Bryan Reynolds, Westerlo
  42. Aidan Morris, Columbus Crew
  43. Cade Cowell, Chivas
  44. Erik Palmer-Brown, Panathinaikos
  45. Matt Miazga, FC Cincinnati (24)
  46. Julian Gressel, Inter Miami
  47. Djordje Mihailovic, Colorado Rapids (23)
  48. Caleb Wiley, Atlanta United
  49. Cristian Roldan, Seattle Sounders
  50. Zack Steffen, Colorado Rapids (14)