It's national team call-up season, with an official FIFA international match window open and in place from June 2 through June 10, and other summer international tournaments like the Concacaf Gold Cup quickly approaching on the horizon.
New York City FC features multiple players who receive calls from their national teams, so we're going to use this as a central post in which to track all the NYCFC international call-ups for this latest period of national team activity.
Below you'll find a running list of each confirmed NYCFC call-up as well as the who/when/where/why details for the matches they'll be playing.
We'll keep updating this through the year as more and more international call-ups continue to roll in, so check in whenever you're wondering whether or not a NYCFC player is heading off to represent their country.
Matt Freese, United States
Matches: 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup, vs Trinidad and Tobago, June 15; vs Saudi Arabia, June 19; vs Haiti, June 22
Finally, Matt Freese gets a USMNT call-up for a competitive tournament.
Freese, who was named to the 27-player June training camp roster back in May, is one of three goalkeepers to make the 26-player roster for the tournament. He will be joining Chris Brady of Chicago Fire and Matt Turner of Crystal Palace. Turner has 49 caps for the USMNT, while both Brady and Freese have zero.
You can read more about Freese's call-up here.
Aiden O'Neill, Australia
Matches: FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, vs Japan, June 5; vs Saudi Arabia, June 10
New York City FC can now officially say they've had a player called up to the Australia national team, as recently-signed Aiden O'Neill is joining the Socceroos next week for two massive 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
O'Neill is named in the 26-player squad that will try to seal Australia's qualification for next summer's World Cup. Competing in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Australia currently has one hand on a World Cup berth – they're in the third round of the qualification process, which sees the teams who finish top two in each of the three third-round groups automatically qualify.
Australia sits second in their group, ahead of Saudi Arabia but behind Japan, the two teams they face during these final two matches during the third round of qualifying. O'Neill will, for the first time as a New York City FC player, make the lengthy trip from the East Coast of the United States to Australia, as the Socceroos host Japan in Perth before traveling to Jeddah to play away to Saudi Arabia.
The 26-year-old midfielder made 19 appearances with Australia to date, last playing in their two World Cup qualifying wins in late March against Indonesia and China. He'll be logging some serious airline miles but it might be worth it if it means quicker qualification. If Australia doesn't finish in one of the top two spots in their group during this round, they'd still have a chance to make it during the fourth round of AFC qualifying where an additional two World Cup spots are available.
Alonso Martínez, Costa Rica
Matches: World Cup Qualifiers, vs Bahamas, June 7; vs Trinidad and Tobago, June 10. Concacaf Gold Cup, Group A: vs Suriname, June 15; vs Dominican Republic, June 18; vs Mexico, June 22
New York City FC's leading scorer is heading out on national team duty for the majority of the month of June. Alonso Martínez was just named in Miguel "Piojo" Herrera's 26-player squad for Costa Rica's two June World Cup qualifiers and the Concacaf Gold Cup.
You can read more here about Martínez's call-up for at least five important matches for Los Ticos as they eye a spot in next year's World Cup, and a decent run in this summer's Gold Cup.
Andrew Leigh
Jonathan Shore, United States U-19
Matches: Friendlies in Marbella, Spain, vs Spain on June 7, and Ukraine on June 10
Make it three New York City FC Homegrown players called up by three different United States youth national teams, as midfielder Jonathan Shore is heading to Spain with the US U-19s for a pair of friendlies against European opponents.
Shore and his 19 teammates were called into Spanish training camp by US U-19 coach Rob Valentino, the ex-Atlanta United FC interim manager last seen knocking Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF out of the 2024 MLS Cup Playoffs. All the players summoned by Valentino are age-eligible for the FIFA U-20 World Cup that's taking place in Chile this September 27 through October 19.
The draw for that U-20 World Cup is fast approaching, scheduled for tomorrow on May 29. Shore did not participate with the US during the U-20 World Cup qualification tournament and only recently turned 18, but he's now part of the group trying to earn a possible spot at the U-20 World Cup, and while playing at a higher level than his expected age group. It's a fast track for Shore that likely stems from his MLS breakthrough with New York City FC this season, as the Manhattan-born midfielder has played in 14 of 15 league matches and has made 11 starts in total between MLS and US Open Cup.
Drew Baiera, United States U-18
Matches: UEFA Friendship Cup from May 30-June 11 in Nyon, Switzerland, vs France on June 1, Argentina on June 4, and Australia on June 7
New York City's Homegrown right-back is back in action with the United States youth national team setup. Drew Baiera is one of 20 players called up to the United States U-18 squad by coach Marlon LeBlanc as they head to Switzerland to play in the UEFA Friendship Cup.
According to the US Soccer roster announcement, "All players are age-eligible for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup and this age group will form the core of the team that will attempt to qualify for the 2027 edition of the tournament," so this is a squad of some significance making the trip to Nyon on the shores of Lake Geneva. The 18-year-old Baiera made another recent appearance with the United States U-18, joining the squad in Marbella, Spain for a training camp that ran from March 17-25 and included games against Morocco and Norway.
Baiera now heads back on national team duty while still waiting to make his MLS debut – he has been an unused substitute on the bench for Pascal Jansen seven different times this season and played in the US Open Cup loss to Pittsburgh, but is still waiting for his first taste of MLS action. At the Next Pro level, Baiera has six appearances in 2025, most recently going the full 90 minutes in NYCFC II's 2-2 draw with Chicago Fire II at Belson Stadium on May 23.
Máximo Carrizo, United States U-17
Matches: Friendlies in Valencia, Spain, vs Sweden (June 5), Canada (June 7) and Japan (June 10)
Carrizo is back with the US U-17s after captaining the team through Concacaf's U-17 World Cup qualifying tournament in February. He and the rest of the players called in by US U-17 coach Gonzalo Segares for this training camp in Spain remain age-eligible for the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup, taking place in Qatar between November 3-27.
Carrizo scored five goals and collected two assists across two appearances during the United States's successful qualifying campaign, which included an absurd 22-0 win over the US Virgin Islands and a tighter 2-0 result against Cuba to seal qualification for this fall's World Cup.
The promising 17-year-old also looked decent in his longest cameo to date with New York City FC in MLS when he played 25 minutes on Matchday 13 in the 0-0 draw at DC United. Carrizo has two goals and three assists in six 2025 appearances at MLS Next Pro level with NYCFC II and heads back to the U-17 national team to do some summer preparations for this fall's big tournament.
Mitja Ilenič, Slovenia U-21
Matches: UEFA U-21 Euros in Slovakia: Group Stage vs Germany (June 12), England (June 15), Czechia (June 18)
In 2024, Ilenič played for Slovenia in four qualifiers for the UEFA U-21 European Championship, and Slovenia didn't lose any of them. The nation booked its spot in this summer's U-21 Euros and now Slovenia faces three tough games in the group stage against Germany, England, and Czechia, all to be played in Slovakia.
Ilenič has featured for Slovenia all through the youth national team ranks and has one appearance with the full, senior Slovenia national squad, but a good showing in the U-21 Euros this summer might set him up for a graduation of sorts.
Matt Freese, United States
Matches: Friendlies vs Turkiye (June 7, East Hartford, CT), Switzerland (June 10, Nashville, TN)
A big call-up for Freese to the United States men's national team for their June training camp. We only list these two above-mentioned friendlies vs Turkiye and Switzerland, as the USMNT will go straight from those games to the Concacaf Gold Cup but it's not yet a certainty that Freese will be participating in the Gold Cup – there are 26 Gold Cup roster spots but Mauricio Pochettino called in 27 players for this training camp.
You can read more about his call-up and what lies ahead for the USMNT and their unsettled goalkeeper situation this summer, here, in our bigger post about the news of Freese heading to the USMNT.
Andrew Leigh
