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St. Louis soccer fans have two more reasons to follow this year's World Cup.
The United States Men’s National Team revealed its 26-man roster for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Wednesday, and St. Louis area natives Josh Sargent and Tim Ream are joining the squad in Qatar. It’ll be the first World Cup for both players, each of whom rose through the local pipeline while spending time in the St. Louis Scott Gallagher and St. Dominic High School soccer programs.
The U.S. national team, which failed to quality for the World Cup in 2018, will begin group play on November 21 against Wales. The Americans will face England on November 25, before wrapping the group stage against Iran on November 29. The last time the United States appeared in the tournament in 2014, its roster also featured some St. Louis flavor thanks to the inclusion of midfielder Brad Davis, a product of Chaminade College Preparatory School and Saint Louis University.
Sargent represented the U.S. at Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups in 2017. The 22-year-old forward has spent the past two years in England playing for Norwich City, where he leads the squad with eight goals this season.
“Josh is an example of doing a lot of things well,” U.S. national team coach Gregg Berhalter said during Wednesday’s announcement. “He’s also competing against these guys from England and Wales every single week. He’ll have familiarity with the opponent, which we think will be valuable. I think he gives us a physical presence with his aerial duels and competitive nature that’s going to help this group.”
With Sargent in the fold, the 2022 team has nine players aged 23 years and under—the most since the United States’ 1990 squad also had nine such players on the roster. On the other end of the spectrum is Ream. At 35 years old, the defender is the eighth oldest player named to a U.S. men’s World Cup roster, and the fifth-oldest field player. Ream, who played collegiately at SLU, has been an occasional member of the U.S. national squad since 2010.
Ream has played his club ball for the English squad Fulham since 2015. He’s appeared in 14 matches for the Premier League team this season.
“Have you watched any Fulham games lately? Then you know why we brought him in,” Berhalter said. “It’s really clear. In Tim’s case, he was in the Premier League [in 2019] and he struggled. The whole team struggled. He went to the [English League Championship] and started performing better and they got promoted. Now, he’s in the Premier League and he’s a top performer for his team. It’s hard to ignore that.”
