The international break is here, and a slew of MLS stars are set to step up and contribute to their respective national teams in a variety of competitions.
While North and South America focus on World Cup qualifying, Europe faces friendlies and World Cup qualifiers. In total, 52 MLS players earned call-ups heading into the international window, representing 15 different nations.
In North America, the U.S. Men’s National Team takes centerstage with 18 call-ups joining from MLS clubs. Their opponents, Honduras and Panama, called in five and seven MLS players, respectively, while Costa Rica heads towards their qualifiers with nine MLS stars.
South American soccer features several MLS newcomers, including Atlanta United’s Chilean midfielder Carlos Carmona and Paraguayan midfielder Miguel Almiron. Atlanta forward Josef Martinez also earned a call-up, joining Venezuela, while Seattle Sounders star Nicolas Lodeiro leads Uruguay against Brazil in Peru.
In Europe, MLS regulars join some major European players. Laurent Ciman earned a call for Belgium for a pair of matches against Greece and Russia, while Real Salt Lake’s Albert Rusnak joins Slovakia. Meanwhile in Africa, Cameroon’s Ambroise Oyongo joins the squad from the Montreal Impact.
Here’s a look at the full list of MLS call-ups, who they’ll be playing and what teams will be shorthanded when play resumes this weekend:
MLS CALL-UPS
BELGIUM (3/25 vs. Greece, 3/28 at Russia)
- Laurent Ciman (D, Montreal Impact)
CAMEROON (3/24 vs. Tunisia, 3/28 vs. Guinea)
- Ambroise Oyongo (D, Montreal Impact)
CANADA (3/23 at Scotland)
- Maxim Tissot (D, D.C. United)
- Wandrille Lefevre (D, Montreal Impact)
- Marco Bustos (M, Vancouver Whitecaps)
CANADA U-23 (3/25 vs. Uzbekistan, 3/28 at Qatar)
- Louis Beland-Goyette (M, Montreal Impact)
- Maxime Crepeau (GK, Montreal Impact)
- Kwame Awuah (M, New York City FC)
- Jordan Hamilton (F, Toronto FC)
CHILE (3/23 vs. Argentina, 3/28 vs. Venezuela)
- Carlos Carmona (M, Atlanta United)
COSTA RICA (3/24 at Mexico, 3/28 at Honduras)
- Jose Guillermo Ortiz (F, D.C. United)
- Francisco Calvo (D, Minnesota United)
- Johan Venegas (M, Minnesota United)
- Ronald Matarrita (D, New York City FC)
- Rodney Wallace (M, New York City FC)
- David Guzman (M, Portland Timbers)
- Marco Urena (GK, San Jose Earthquakes)
- Christian Bolanos (M, Vancouver Whitecaps)
- Kendall Waston (F, Vancouver Whitecaps)
FINLAND (3/24 at Turkey, 3/28 at Austria)
- Jukka Raitala (D, Columbus Crew)
- Rasmus Schuller (M, Minnesota United)
- Alexander Ring (M, New York City FC)
HONDURAS (3/24 at United States, 3/28 vs. Costa Rica)
- Maynor Figueroa (D, FC Dallas)
- Alberth Ellis (D, Houston Dynamo)
- Boniek Garcia (M, Houston Dynamo)
- Romell Quioto (F, Houston Dynamo)
- Roger Espinoza (M, Sporting Kansas City)
LUXEMBOURG (3/25 vs. France, 3/28 vs. Cape Verde)
- Maxime Chanot (D, New York City FC)
PANAMA (3/24 at Trinidad and Tobago, 3/28 vs. United States)
- Adolfo Machado (D, Houston Dynamo)
- Miguel Camargo (M, New York City FC)
- Michael Murillo (D, New York Red Bulls)
- Harold Cummings (D, San Jose Earthquakes)
- Anibal Godoy (M, San Jose Earthquakes)
- Roman Torres (D, Seattle Sounders)
- Armando Cooper (M, Toronto FC)
PARAGUAY (3/23 vs. Ecuador, 3/28 at Brazil)
- Miguel Almiron (M, Atlanta United)
SLOVAKIA (3/26 vs. Malta)
- Albert Rusnak (F, Real Salt Lake)
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (3/24 vs. Panama, 3/28 vs. Mexico)
- Kenwyne Jones (F, Atlanta United)
- Joevin Jones (D, Seattle Sounders)
UNITED STATES (3/24 vs. Honduras, 3/28 vs. Panama)
- Dax McCarty (M, Chicago Fire)
- Tim Howard (GK, Colorado Rapids)
- Kellyn Acosta (M, FC Dallas)
- Walker Zimmerman (D, FC Dallas)
- DaMarcus Beasley (D, Houston Dynamo)
- Jermaine Jones (M, LA Galaxy)
- Sebastian Lletget (M, LA Galaxy)
- Alejandro Bedoya (M, Philadelphia Union)
- Darlington Nagbe (M, Portland Timbers)
- Nick Rimando (GK, Real Salt Lake)
- David Bingham (GK, San Jose Earthquakes)
- Chris Wondolowski (F, San Jose Earthquakes)
- Clint Dempsey (F, Seattle Sounders)
- Jordan Morris (F, Seattle Sounders)
- Matt Besler (D, Sporting Kansas City)
- Graham Zusi (M, Sporting Kansas City)
- Jozy Altidore (F, Toronto FC)
- Michael Bradley (M, Toronto FC)
URUGUAY (3/23 vs. Brazil, 3/28 at Peru)
- Nicolas Lodeiro (M, Seattle Sounders)
VENEZUELA (3/23 vs. Peru, 3/28 at Chile)
- Josef Martinez (F, Atlanta United)
- Yangel Herrera (M, New York City FC)
MLS VS. MLS MATCH-UPS
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO VS. PANAMA (3/24)
UNITED STATES VS. HONDURAS (3/24)
CHILE VS. VENEZUELA (3/28)
COSTA RICA VS. HONDURAS (3/28)
UNITED STATES VS. PANAMA (3/28)
MLS TEAMS PLAYING DURING THE BREAK
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION VS. MINNESOTA UNITED
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
- None
MINNESOTA UNITED
- Francisco Calvo (D)
- Ramsus Schuller (M)
- Johan Venegas (M)
NEW YORK RED BULLS VS. REAL SALT LAKE
NEW YORK RED BULLS
- Michael Murillo (D)
REAL SALT LAKE
- Albert Rusnak (M)
- Nick Rimando (GK)
COLUMBUS CREW VS. PORTLAND TIMBERS
COLUMBUS CREW
- Jukka Raitala (D)
PORTLAND TIMBERS
- David Guzman (M)
- Darlington Nagbe (M)
Love this write up. Thanks SBI. Very impressive list at that. Our league has come a long way.
I completely forgot Kenwyne Jones is on Atlanta
This is an impressive list. I don’t think the fear that more MLS teams will dilute the player pool is materializing. Rather, I suspect the opposite trend- it’s becoming harder for our young players to get experience at the top level in our domestic league. I don’t have data to support this…
Two things:
– US needs to stop playing on these FIFA days
– The fact the MLS has become a destination for a lot of mid-tier and upper mid-tier national teams is great and indication of growth of MLS as quality product in the football world.