This summer's Concacaf Gold Cup is approaching and New York City FC now knows that three members of the MLS squad are in contention for spots with their national teams during the tournament.
Each competing nation just released 60-player preliminary rosters, essentially the pool of talent the countries will pull from to compile their final 26-player Concacaf Gold Cup rosters. You can scroll through all the 60-name roster lists here.
Matt Freese is on the United States men's national team preliminary roster, as is Alonso Martínez for Costa Rica, while backup goalkeeper Tomás Romero rounds out the New York City group of Gold Cup hopefuls by making El Salvador's 60-player list.
MLS doesn't pause its regular schedule to accommodate the Gold Cup, so if any of these three players make the final rosters for their countries, they'll be out for the majority of June. New York City does have a lot of time off during June, as they're only set to host Atlanta United FC on June 12, then travel to face CF Montréal on June 28.
Assessing their chances
Alonso Martínez seems like a sure bet to receive a Gold Cup call-up. Costa Rica national team manager Miguel Herrera had Martínez in the Starting XI for both matches Los Ticos played and won against Belize in late March to finalize their qualification for this summer's Gold Cup.
Martínez keeps scoring goals in MLS, and he has 21 prior appearances for Costa Rica, which would all seem to solidify his standing with his national team heading into the summer.
You could make the same argument regarding Tomás Romero and his El Salvador chances. Romero was with El Salvador for two friendlies the team played in March and he's already made double-digit appearances for the national team, seeming to make him part of the plans for the Gold Cup.
Matt Freese looks like the biggest bubble case of the three NYCFC players in contention for the Gold Cup. Mauricio Pochettino gave Freese his first senior USMNT call-up in January, including him in a camp comprised almost entirely of United States-based players. Freese didn't play in either of the friendlies held during that January camp, missing out on minutes in favor of fellow MLS goalkeepers Zack Steffen and Patrick Schulte.
Freese wasn't with the USMNT for its Concacaf Nations League Finals debacle, finishing in 4th Place thanks to losses to Panama and Canada. If Pochettino is looking to make changes to wash away the disappointment of that setback, might that open a door for Freese? Below is what the New York City FC goalkeeper said about his USMNT chances when asked about it by Hudson River Blue following the 2-0 win over the Red Bulls at Citi Field.
Video courtesy of Matthew Mangam.
Other snubs, inclusions of note
It's something of a surprise to not see Tayvon Gray listed on the 60-player preliminary list shared by Jamaica. Gray was with Jamaica under their current coach, Steve McClaren, for the Concacaf Nations League knockout games the Reggae Boyz played against, and lost to, the USMNT in mid-November 2024.
He appeared in both Jamaica matches against the United States back in the fall, but wasn't with the team during either window of games Jamaica played in February and March. He might not have made Jamaica's final 26-player roster, but to not even see his name on the 60-player list counts as a snub.
One former NYCFC player included, somewhat surprisingly, on the United States preliminary roster: Richie Ledezma of PSV Eindhoven, the midfielder-turned-fullback who spent the 2023 season with New York City on loan. Ledezma is a rumored target of the Mexico national team, with El Tri reportedly trying to entice the player with both Mexican and American roots and eligibility to come play for them instead of the USMNT. Not so fast, says Mauricio Pochettino, as he dabbles with a potential Ledezma call-up, but lists him as a midfielder on the preliminary roster.
One of the two Germany-based USMNT staples who came up through the NYCFC Academy appears on the 60-player list, as Joe Scally of Borussia Monchengladbach is included and a possibility for the Gold Cup. Gio Reyna of Borussia Dortmund (for now), however, is not on the preliminary list. Dortmund is trying to sell him to a new team, and Dortmund is also participating in the Club World Cup, and Club World Cup teams were allowed to deny any call-ups of their players if they conflicted with FIFA's new favorite child of a tournament.
The ramifications for NYCFC
Losing Alonso Martínez for any amount of time is going to prove costly for a New York City team that almost exclusively relies on the Costa Rican to score the goals. If Freese and Romero both get called up as well, the goalkeeper ranks could be extremely thin for that Atlanta game on the 12th of June, scheduled for just days before the tournament kicks into gear. Greg Ranjitsingh legacy game to spoil Ronny Deila's return to NYCFC (if he makes it to June 12 without getting sacked)?
Goalkeeper absences for NYCFC during the Gold Cup aren't new, as Sean Johnson was a fixture in the tournament for a period when he regularly served as a backup keeper with the national team. Johnson's absences opened the door for Brad Stuver and Luis Barraza to get game time, but those New York City teams were different beasts compared to the 2025 version, which relies heavily on both Martínez and Freese for much of its success.
Freese is deserving of another real shot with the USMNT, but Pochettino also has more pressure on him to deliver a strong showing in this tournament than might have been expected before the flop in Concacaf Nations League. That might make it a harder sell to try out a new, uncapped goalkeeper as the games left before the 2026 FIFA World Cup continue to tick down.
The Gold Cup is coming and New York City FC stands a good chance of having some representation, but we'll have to wait to see just how much. The USMNT roster is set to be announced on Thursday, May 22, so we'll learn of Matt Freese's fate soon – and all final rosters are due to Concacaf by June 4, per Doug McIntyre of Fox Sports, so the wait won't be long to know about Martínez and Romero call-ups, too.
