Not Texas or California: The USMNT 2026 World Cup core is born and bred in this state
The ‘big two’ states may get much of the attention, but one specific part of the country has become the main producer of talent for Mauricio Pochettino.
If you were asked which part of the United States produces the most players for the USMNT, California or Texas would probably be your first guesses.
They’d would, however, as you’ve likely gathered from the headline, both be wrong.
As the United States gets ready for its final group game at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with a place in the last 32 already secured, there’s one clear trend hiding in the roster. The Northeast has become the team’s biggest talent factory, with Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey producing more players than any other part of the country.
How the Northeast is helping the USMNT
Let’s start with Pennsylvania.
Christian Pulisic, Matt Freese and Auston Trusty all come from the Keystone State, while neighboring New York has Tyler Adams, Joe Scally, Mark McKenzie and Tim Weah, who was born in Brooklyn.
Cross into New Jersey and you’ll find Matt Turner and Brenden Aaronson.
Put those three states together and you’ve got nine players in the squad, comfortably ahead of anywhere else in the country.
California, despite its huge youth soccer scene, has three representatives: Max Arfsten, Cristian Roldan and Haji Wright. Texas, meanwhile, contributes just one player, striker Ricardo Pepi, who was born in El Paso.
USMNT’s international flavor
The birthplaces become even more interesting once you look beyond the United States.
Sergiño Dest was born in the Netherlands, Antonee Robinson in England, Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter in England, Malik Tillman in Germany and Alejandro Zendejas in Mexico. Folarin Balogun was born in New York City before growing up in England.
Check out the full USMNT roster and birth places.
It’s a reminder that this team has been shaped by all kinds of backgrounds, even if many of its biggest names first learned the game in the suburbs of Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey.
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