The U.S. men’s national team will not hold a January camp this year ahead of the summer’s FIFA World Cup, U.S. Soccer confirmed to The Athletic.
The decision was made in consultation with MLS clubs, which preferred to have their players available for the full preseason ahead of the start of the season. MLS is expected to kick off its season around Feb. 21. The U.S. men’s national team staff felt a January camp was not as practical this year with many of the top MLS players already identified and familiar with the team from last January and this summer’s Gold Cup, as well as other camps.
MLS teams will open preseason around Jan. 10-12. The 2025 January camp ran from Jan. 7-23.
Among the players from last January’s camp to break into contention for the 2026 World Cup squad are left back Max Arfsten, midfielder Jack McGlynn, forwards Patrick Agyemang and Brian White and, most famously, Diego Luna, whose assist against Costa Rica after suffering a broken nose propelled him into a prominent position with the national team.
U.S. Soccer will bring back the annual exercise in December 2026, with future camps likely to be held in the same month going forward.
“A core pillar of The U.S. Way emphasizes two key priorities: expanding opportunities for both youth and senior national team players and maintaining deep, cooperative relationships with our domestic leagues and clubs,” Oguchi Onyewu, U.S. Soccer’s vice president of sporting, said. “The January camp has long been an important platform for player evaluation and integration, with many current and former U.S. men’s national team players earning their first international experiences during this period. Its impact on our program’s growth and player pathway has been significant and enduring.”
For MLS-based stars like Diego Luna and Cristian Roldan, January camp has provided a platform to increase their national team standing (Scott Coleman / Imagn Images)
Historically, the January camp — held largely for MLS players during the long winter offseason — has been an important place for national team coaches to identify players. Dating back to 1999, 30 players who have debuted or earned their second cap during the USMNT’s first camp of a calendar year have gone on to make a FIFA World Cup roster.
Nine players on the 2022 World Cup squad fall under that category, including Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Walker Zimmerman, Tim Ream and Matt Turner. The list of alumni also includes five players who went on to earn more than 100 caps: Jozy Altidore, DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan.
“This adjustment is designed to preserve the developmental and evaluative benefits of the camp while alleviating scheduling strain on clubs and players,” Onyewu said. “The December period offers a more balanced window that minimizes conflicts with pre-season preparation, aligns more effectively with player recovery cycles, and continues to provide our national team coaches a valuable opportunity to assess and integrate domestic-based talent.”
Moving the camp to December permanently may also make sense as MLS is considering moving to a fall-spring calendar. That switch is expected to bring a break midseason from about mid-December through early February.
This U.S. staff has been keen to get more MLS players involved in the first-team competition. Beyond the January camp players who broke in, other MLS-based players like Sebastian Berhalter and Alex Freeman parlayed their Gold Cup showings into roles with the U.S. team. Seattle’s Cristian Roldan, who was on the 2022 World Cup roster, has also emerged as a potential fixture for Pochettino, surging onto the radar with his performances in September and October.
The staff, though, feels confident that it has a good plan with those MLS players — and that the players will have enough time to prepare for the World Cup, if not the March friendlies. MLS-based players will be three-and-a-half months into their season when the World Cup break begins.
The March 2026 international window is from March 23-31. MLS started its 2025 season on Feb. 22, and most teams had played five regular season games by March 23 of last year. Teams in the first round of the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup will begin play even earlier in the season, with those games kicking off Feb. 3-5 or Feb. 10-12. MLS teams involved include the Vancouver Whitecaps, Inter Miami, LA Galaxy, Philadelphia Union, San Diego FC, FC Cincinnati and Nashville SC, which means extra games for potential national team players such as Berhalter, Zimmerman, Tristan Blackmon and Luca de la Torre.