What Happened
The U.S. men’s national team will make history at the 2026 FIFA World Cup when Tim Ream steps onto the pitch wearing the captain’s armband, likely for the opening game on June 12 against Paraguay in Los Angeles.
The veteran center back, born in 1987, will become the oldest player to ever play for the USMNT at the World Cup, doing so at 38 years old, overtaking Fernando Clavijo’s record from the 1994 World Cup, which was hosted solely on U.S. soil. Louis, serves as the captain for both the USMNT and MLS side Charlotte FC.
He will be 38 years and 250 days old on the opening day of the World Cup, surpassing Clavijo, who was 38 years and162 days old when he last played in the tournament for the USMNT. Ream’s age gap to the youngest player on the roster is nearly 17 years, with fellow defender Alex Freeman making his World Cup debut at 22 years old.
Why It Matters
Freeman was born in 2004, a time at which Ream was in his final year of elite youth soccer with St. Louis Scott Gallagher SC ahead of joining the Saint Louis University men’s soccer team. Here, Sports Illustrated lists out the 2026 USMNT roster by age and one momentous thing that occurred near the date of each player’s birth.
USMNT World Cup Roster By Age Tim Ream will become the oldest player to ever play for the USMNT at a World Cup. | John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images Tim Ream, 38 (Oct. 8, 1987) —In June, the n U.S. president Ronald Reagan urged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. The Wall wouldn’t fall for another two years.
Matt Turner, 31 (June 24, 1994) —That summer, the USWNT won the first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup, also hosted on U.S. soil. Cristian Roldan, 30 (June 3, 1995) —Five months later, “Toy Story” premiered in New York, becoming the first full-length film created exclusively with computer animation.
What Comes Next
Miles Robinson, 29 (March 14, 1997) —The first Harry Potter book came out in the U.S., titled “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Antonee Robinson, 28 (Aug 8, 1997) —On July 4, NASA’s Mars Pathfinder successfully landed on Mars, deploying Sojourner, the first-ever rover on the Martian surface.
Alex Zendejas, 28 (Feb 7, 1998) —Born in February, Zendejas came into the world the same month NHL players and women’s hockey were introduced to the Olympic Games of Nagano. Haji Wright, 28 (March 27, 1998) —Just days before Haji Wright’s birthday, the film “Titanic” won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture.
Auston Trusty, 27 (Aug 12, 1998) —San Francisco Giants star Barry Bonds became the first player in MLB history to hit 400 home runs and steal 400 bases in a career, before becoming enveloped in a doping scandal. Weston McKennie, 27 (Aug 28, 1998) —Earlier that summer, Frace defeated Brazil to win the ir first World Cup on home soil.