Max Arfsten debuted for the U.S. men’s national team at left back in January 2025 and has now appeared in 16 games for Coach Mauricio Pochettino. One of Arfsten’s five assists came in a 2-0 win over Japan when he faked out Henry Mochizuki and delivered a perfect cross for Alex Zendejas. 

Before that stellar performance, Arfsten started five 2025 Gold Cup games, including a shootout win over Costa Rica in which he scored and assisted in the 2-2 tie. In a 2-1 win over Paraguay, his cross set up Gio Reyna’s 4th-minute goal.

In 2025, Arfsten led the USMNT field players in starts (16) and minutes (1,085) — and did so as an outlier in this era of American soccer. Unlike the vast majority of Pochettino’s player pool, Arfsten played college soccer before going pro. He never appeared for a U.S. youth national team nor did he play for a pro team’s youth academy.

We spoke with Arfsten as he started preseason camp with the Columbus Crew, and after he visited his hometown of Fresno, California, where Arfsten played for the California Odyssey Soccer Club and San Joaquin Memorial High School.

Max Arfsten (left) and Cristian Roldan warm up ahead of their starts against Japan last September. Arftsen’s cross set up Alex Zendejas’ goal in the 2-0 win. (Photo: Mike Woitalla)

SOCCER AMERICA: Most of your current teammates skipped college to go stright into pros after playing for pro club youth academies. In your case?

MAX ARFSTEN: I was never in an academy. San Jose was too far for my family, and so was L.A., and those were the only two options. So I went the Division I college route.

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Soccer America Executive Editor Mike Woitalla has written freelance articles about soccer for more than 30 media outlets in nine nations. The winner of eight United Soccer Coaches Writing Contest awards,…
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