Cristian Roldan named to USMNT’s World Cup qualifying roster

No American is enjoying more team success than Cristian Roldan these days, having now compiled a 17-0-6 record for club and country in 2021. United States men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter was surely aware of that when he added Roldan’s name to the list of 26 men who will make up the roster for a trio of upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

The USMNT begins its World Cup qualifying campaign by traveling to face El Salvador on Sept. 2; then hosts Canada on Sept. 5 in Nashville, Tenn.; and finally visits Honduras on Sept. 8. Roldan will likely leave the Sounders after Sunday’s game against the Timbers and should be back with enough time to feature in the next league game, Sept. 11 against Minnesota United.

That first game sets up a potential showdown against his brother Alex, who is expected to be named to El Salvador’s squad.

Like most of his teammates for these games, this will be Roldan’s first experience in a World Cup qualifier. One of the few players on the roster with that kind of experience is former Sounders defender DeAndre Yedlin, who remains at Galatasaray and has started two European cup matches.

Detailed Roster by Position (Club/Country; Caps/Goals):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 7/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 23/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 7/0)

DEFENDERS (10): George Bello (Atlanta United; 3/0), John Brooks (Wolfsburg/GER; 43/3), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona/ESP; 11/1), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 6/0), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 45/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 12/0), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 9/3), James Sands (New York City FC; 6/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR; 64/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 17/2)

MIDFIELDERS (5): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 37/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 14/1), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 29/7), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 24/7), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 25/0)

FORWARDS (8): Brenden Aaronson (RB Salzburg/AUT; 7/3), Konrad de la Fuente (Olympique Marseille/FRA; 1/0), Jordan Pefok (BSC Young Boys/SUI; 6/1), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; 0/0), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 38/16), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 8/4), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 16/5), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 13/1)