Dual nationals who could suit up for the US.

The Olympics might have some appeal.

 

Olympics will probably have a completely different roster from the Copa America and the top guys will be at the latter... in any case both will be in the US so that's nice.

 

Chase needs to first get his career back on track. He fell out of favor quickly at Stuttgart and got hurt pretty badly, and only recently returned to action with Salzburg but I really don't know about his long term potential as he's still very raw. Terrific athlete but needs a lot of polishing.

North Korea isn't returning to the World Cup anytime soon, but generally the Japanese-born guys who played for NK are not dual nationals per se. They come from a segment of the population who historically have held a special form of Japanese permanent residency for former imperial subjects, and either have South Korean passports or no passport at all (i.e. effectively stateless) - it used to be a pain for these folks to naturalize to Japan, and in fact "becoming Japanese" is still frowned upon by some older folks in their community. The guys selected to the North Korean national team receive DPRK passports through a semi-official representative organization for the community of pro-North ethnic Koreans in Japan. However this demographic is dwindling through aging, assimilation, intermarriage, naturalization, and switching allegiances (pro-North -> pro-South).

Back on the topic, in the past there weren't many Japanese-American dual nationals worth courting. I guess there was Gotoku Sakai (technically a German-Japanese-American triple nat), Dan Schmidt (a fringe-level goalkeeper who was part of Japan's Qatar squad), Bobby Wood (who was never really on Japan's radar), and only recently Zion Suzuki and Anrie Chase. Nozawa at Royal Antwerp might be worth a look, and Japan U19 forward Jelani McGhee could come into play at some point. IMO the citizenship thing doesn't really come into play given how the Japan MoFA has treated "natural-born" dual citizens in the past.

 

I think McKennie and Richards are biracial. I know Adams is.

 

Appreciate the response- particularly on the Zainichi players like Jong Tae-Se and others.

 

There's a group of pro-North Koreans living in Japan? WOW!

 

Who are we paying attention to for the 2030 cycle?

Banks
Culbreath
Okoh

Who else?

 

Well given how Brain Freeze performed:

Taishi Brandon Nozawa

Anrie Chase is only 22, gotta monitor him too... does Luca Koleosho still play soccer?

Edit: Montrell Culbreath needs to be targeted now not two years from now...

Montrell Culbreath is a baller 🌟#U19EURO pic.twitter.com/nM9IPxv9bA

— UEFA Men's Youth (@UEFAMensYouth) July 8, 2026

 

Wow our team was so embarrassingly bad that it's actually helping with dual nat player recruitment, that's almost impressive!

Won't be apparent for a few years to the casual fan, but the best thing that happened with last night's USMNT debacle is my son is disgusted & embarrassed by the USMNT performance & has decided it's his responsibility to do something about it over the next 4-5 WC cycles 💪🏻😉🇺🇸

— Geezy (@Papagay01286916) July 8, 2026

Papo Gordon (‘11) has committed to the US program.

This is a big deal. A top talent in the 2011 age group who was very much not a lock to play for the USA down the road. https://t.co/QcG6MwUva7

— USMNTProspects (@ProspectsUsmnt) July 8, 2026

 

That is correct. I would add that many biracial people of Black American descent identify as both biracial and African American/Black. While that may seem contradictory at first glance, I can say from personal experience that those identities are not mutually exclusive and can coexist quite naturally

 

Signing with Klutch, hanging with LeBron, going to the ESPYs Balogun seems to be enjoying himself and the sort of thing that other dual nationals may notice.

Folarin Balogun of the USMNT joins LeBron James on “The Shop”: pic.twitter.com/F4AU2ZWceJ

— Kalan Hooks (@KalanHookstv) July 17, 2026

 

Austyn Jones and Jykese Fields are a couple others. I hope the powers that be are thinking strategically about leveraging the LA Olympics to bring some of these players into the fold.

 

I missed this interview with Taiga Hata where he says:

This means it's possible that Hata is a US citizen and therefore eligible to represent the US, depending on the exact dates and circumstances.

 

I feel like Balo is a fantastic inheritor of the crown of most popular and marketable US player.

Between him and Tillman, there’s a little bit of a foothold there in the populace.

 

Landon Emenalo spotted wearing a USMNT shirt 👀 🇺🇸 https://t.co/TCRW9lPDg3 pic.twitter.com/fjvQ0uc7Yw

— MP 🇺🇸 (@UnderratedUsmnt) July 20, 2026

 

Yeah feels like it might be Balogun’s team now.

 

We've come a long way since the days of Jean Harbor!

 

And even longer since Alabama A & M. was a national soccer power!

Back in the late 70s I watched them beat University of Tampa and USF, two decent programs, 6-0, 6-0, in consecutive games.

 

Yeah though his son is an insane athlete who sadly is playing football and not soccer.

 

Oh dude I loved Jean Harbor. Old school Rapids forever.

 

What do you guys think about Mexico’s federation putting more effort into recruiting dual nationals developed through MLS? Do you think this will have a huge effect on the USMNT?

 

Only a minor one, imo. Over the past 15-20 years, how many Mexican Americans have been really impactful for either team? At the present moment, Pepi has been solid, with the potential to become really good. Vargas hasn’t done much for Mexico, but he could in time. After that, you have guys like Brian Gutierrez and Zendejas who aren’t more than pretty good concacaf level players.

 

We got Diego Luna. End of discussion.

 

I mean it’s nothing new, they’ve been putting in such efforts for awhile now. But more indication of issues within their own developmental system than anything else. We’ll have to continue to battle for guys but that’s not a new phenomenon and I’m sure we’ll win some and we’ll lose some.