The Multi-Eligible Player Recruitment Thread (2026 WC Cycle Edition)

If people think #dualnationalpanic is crazy now, early-to-mid-2000s was a different level. Mostly because the pool was much smaller. These are the days before the MLS homegrown initiative even existed. Vincenzo Bernardo is a perfect example. A kid who never did anything, but since he was at Napoli the board went into meltdown mode. Meltdown mode culminated with Jonathan Gonzalez. Ever since Jonathan Gonzalez the hyperventilating hasn't been as extreme. Like with Obed Vargas and Esmir Bajrakterevic. We say "that's too bad" and then move to focusing on the next guy. Most of us anyway. There are still the stragglers who think the USMNT exists in order to cap-tie dual-nationals.

 

Zelalem was poor on youth teams before any injuries.

 

Well, he blew out his knee while playing for the U20s and.....................so we'll never know. Was never the same. We'll never know. There are lots of guys like that. Marc Pelosi at Liverpool (Germany dual-national). Double fracture in his right leg playing for Liverpool U21s. Never the same. We'll never know whether he'd have been a USMNT-caliber player or not. [FYI, a relative of Nancy Pelosi's husband. I forget how.]

I think the first notable youth player of this modern era who was totally derailed by injury was Charles Renken. Dual-national as he was born in Zambia. Dubbed a real rising star, and a player we tracked religiously on these boards. He joined Bradenton and the U17s in 2007 as a 13 year old. Signed by Hoffenheim and stashed at the Vancouver Whitecaps academy until he could move to Europe. But a series of knee injuries just totally ruined any chance of a high-level career. That one always saddened me because he never even got started. At one point he was playing in the Swedish 7th tier.

Now an academy coach with St. Louis. Right?

 

There is a Gedion Zelalem superfan on Twitter to this day... I suspect it's either Zelalem himself or a close relative.

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What happened to the Mukwelle Akale superfans??

 

When your Twitter ID is "@GloriousGedi", you are kinda telegraphing your intentions.

 

The timeline on Gedion is that he failed on his loans to Rangers (then in Scotland’s 2nd tier) and VVV in the Dutch 2nd tier. Both loans had a cheap option to buy, neither club was interested.

this was before his first knee injury. After the second failed loan, he went to the U-20 WC in 2017. It was there when he hurt his knee in the first game against Ecuador (first half, trailing 2-0). He was very bad in that first half hour, playing absolutely no defense. His replacement, Derrick Jones, was a huge help defending the middle of the field and allowing the US team to comeback and earn a draw.

He was in a bit of a nose dive, even before his first injury

 

Zelalem was -- and is -- very skilled, but he's very small, and he doesn't translate his skill into really progressive movement or danger creating movement. He can receive a ball, hold a ball (if he doesn't get knocked off it) and pass a ball to someone close and often sideways, but there's not a ton of value in that.

People got hyped over him partially because of Badge FC but also because it's just a fundamental overrating of touch and basic ball skills. They are important, but they aren't enough.

 

I’d argue Zelalem had some fancy skills with how he could create and interpret space, but he didn’t have translatable skills to being a good soccer player in pro football. It looked nice in the youth game against the large majority who didn’t become pros where he’s just overall more talented than virtually all of them, but when he faced some real competition you saw that he didn’t really pose any threat to score or assist goals, he didn’t work hard off the ball, he didn’t have a tremendous passing range. He was just one of these tweener 8/10’s that had talent, but not real substantive tools to impact a high level pro football match.

 

Klinsmann also didn't help cool the hype when he said Zelalem was ready to help the USMNT right then in 2015 as a 17 year old, before he even played any first team minutes. It was irresponsible. He should have just said he's a young player, let's see how he does with our youth teams.

Klinsmann wasn't helpful with conveying a proper understanding of how youth players should be viewed when comparing them to veteran players. He was the biggest problem when you consider the caps he gave out to players who had either very limited first team minutes, no first team minutes, and in one instance still in college.

 

Finally a Polish prospect who can run and dribble with the ball. Szymon Lyczko (‘06, RW, 🇵🇱) is looking really good for Stal Rzeszow in the Polish 1 Liga.

Needs to go to a better team, in Poland or abroad. His ball control and 1v1 dribble are amazing.pic.twitter.com/S8BeUgD2Rb

— Michal Wojcik (@MichalWJK) October 1, 2024

 

The 2023 matches were only 70 minutes long and allowed 7 subs. Concacaf called it a "developmental tournament" in their announcement. It would be odd to consider that an "official youth tournament." But FIFA rules are known for instilling confusion.

 

Feel like things have been quiet on the DNP front. Pleased with Banks and Chase progress, would be incredible gets to get either. Seems like Nathaniel Brown is going go be a wait and see one. There was some chatter about him getting looked at by the DFB/Nagelsmann

McFarlane moving to City officially, also in the wait and see bucket.

Kolesho seems to have cooled off as a senior candidate

 

I’m not ready to declare the CONCACAF U-15’s was cap-tying. There is so much confusion and there’s a lot of inconsistencies (both ways). I’m waiting for CONCACAF to clarify, or at least a more recent update from one of the participating federations.

 

Chance Cowell... Davian Kimbrough next

Maybe never in doubt given Cade. But Chance's case was interesting since 🇲🇽 recruited him early. Frequently with 🇲🇽U15s & a key player. 🇺🇸 didn't really bother with him until fairly recently. Still went with 🇺🇸

Next cycle the likes of Da'vian Kimbrough will face the same choice https://t.co/znbCaCgJMT

— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) February 4, 2025

Liam West

Start keeping an eye on 17 year old Norwegian-American Liam West 👀

West started for FC Copenhagen’s first team in their winter camp friendly against Spanish Segunda Division side Elche on Sunday.

A winger by trade, he’s the son of Brian West, a former US international 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/wJzRcczN51

— USMNT Source (@usmntsource) February 4, 2025

 

Alexander Staff... seems like he could be a key one

🧐 4 goals today for 16 yr old 🇺🇸🇩🇪 dual-nat forward Alexander Staff with Eintracht Frankfurt's u19s ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ https://t.co/FD8MoFZl98

— 🇺🇸 ⚽ east (@eastdeflection) February 8, 2025

 

He is, but one element we haven't encountered too much over the years is when a player is too good for the US program (this pops up when we're the second choice). He might simply make German teams at every single level, and there might never be a chance for the USA to convince the player.

We usually catch a break here or there when these players miss a YNT call-up or it'll take them longer to break into a senior team of a big nation, but I don't see Staff not getting called into the Germany YNT's anytime soon with how often he scores for them, and he's pretty much like the most advanced '08 in Germany when it comes to professional success.

 

Where we have our chance is when a player like Staff breaks out in the club game but isn’t quite good enough the German senior team. But we can offer a senior team call up and Germany isn’t willing to. Ultimately if it gets to that point most players don’t turn down the call.

 

I agree, but that window also may never materialize. Hypothetically he breaks out in early November, he finds success over the next three months, he has 6 goals in 10 appearances for the Frankfurt first team, and boom he’s on the German senior team radar.

I know that sounds awfully specific, but those were the months that Brown broke out, and now he’s on their senior team radar. It’s not to say we will definitely have no window, but the window we may be hoping for isn’t a lock to pan out.

 

Sure but even with Brown we have a window. Who knows what the forwards for Germany will look like as he gets older but it’s still the case that the standard for the German national team is just higher than is for us.

Even for someone who emerges quickly there’s still going to be a window when it comes to a team like Germany. The guys who are the hardest to hold onto are an Esmir type when Bosnia is offering first team opportunities and we can’t offer anyone close. And ones that tend to be the most up in the air are when it’s a dual national from a similarly situated national team (like a Japan or Mexico).

 

Yeah I would say it's far more likely that Alexander Staff plays for the US than Germany if he ends up good enough to play for either full national team. And even if he plays for Germany far more likely than him turning into a regular for them is becoming their equivalent of Teal Bunbury or Tyler Boyd where it was objectively the wrong decision.

 

Its the same thing as how CONCACAF nations like Jamaica, etc. are recruiting at the fringes of our pool. Those prospects are still good and have a chance to be REALLY good if things break right. But those players may see more of a path with Jamaica than us..........cuz we have kids like Cavan, Albert, Berchimas, Hall, etc. at the top of our pool.

Same thing. We might be able to peel these dual-nationals off from the likes of Germany. But then again, as long as Germany is offering them a path...........................the chances vary player to player. I know we tend to generalize, but each of these guys is going thru a different decision-making process.