New York City FC won't play again until Saturday, September 13 in Chicago, but a number of New York City FC players will be away and occupied with their national teams in the days between Major League Soccer matches.
The count is nine players receiving call-ups from their countries for matches played during the September international window. Every international match is significant, but two of the nine called-up NYCFC players are in their country's squads for crucial qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, so the stakes will be extra high for them.
Below you'll find a rundown of each New York City player's international commitments: Who called them up, plus the when, where, and why of each of their national-team matches.
Matt Freese, United States
Matches: International Friendlies, vs South Korea, Saturday, September 6, Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, NJ; vs Japan, Tuesday, September 9, Lower.com Field, Columbus, OH
Watch: TNT, HBO Max, Peacock (English); Telemundo, Universo (Spanish)
This summer's Concacaf Gold Cup provided Matt Freese his first real USMNT opportunity and he ran with it, starting throughout the tournament and breaking out by making a bunch of clutch saves in a penalty shootout win over Costa Rica.
Freese returns for the first post-Gold Cup camp and now sits in the somewhat surprising position of the most experienced goalkeeper on the latest USMNT roster, albeit with just seven caps with the senior national team and with all seven of those appearances coming this summer.
Set up for September, presented by Allstate! 22 of the 23 roster spots are confirmed, with an additional player to be added at a later date.
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@usmnt.ussoccer.com) August 26, 2025 at 1:32 PM
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Roman Celentano of FC Cincinnati and Jonathan Klinsmann of Cesena FC in Italy's Serie B are the only other called-up goalkeepers, so Freese – fresh off his summer breakout – looks likely to remain Pochettino's clear No 1 in goal, for now.
If Freese does start again, he and his USMNT teammates will be in for tough tests from two of the top national teams from Asia, first South Korea on September 6 and then Japan on September 9. Freese could play in the familiar setting of NYCFC's sometimes-home over in New Jersey, Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison. He also might get a first look at new LAFC star Son Heung-min in the South Korea match, an added test given the hype that surrounds Son, hype that's intensified since his MLS arrival.
We have even more on Freese's latest USMNT call-up here.
Alonso Martínez, Costa Rica
Matches: 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, at Nicaragua, Friday, September 5, Estadio Nacional de Futbol, Managua, Nicaragua; vs Haiti, Tuesday, September 9, Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica
Watch: Paramount+
Alonso Martínez will try to guide Costa Rica to the World Cup, as the Ticos kick off the Third Round of Concacaf qualification with a trip to Nicaragua followed by a home match against Haiti.
Martínez had a strong showing at the Gold Cup this summer with two goals and one assist while Costa Rica went unbeaten (outside of penalty kicks) in their four matches, ending their run with a shootout loss to Matt Freese and the USMNT in the Quarterfinals. Prior to the Gold Cup, Martínez had one goal and two assists in his most recent World Cup qualifier with Costa Rica, which came in an 8-0 away win over Bahamas on June 8.
Under recently-appointed Costa Rica national team coach Miguel Herrera, Martínez has formed a dangerous double-threat with fellow forward Manfred Ugalde in attack. Those two had a combined four goals and three assists at the Gold Cup, and they'll be looking to carry that form into these two big qualifiers. Martínez individually was in great form for NYCFC prior to this September call-up, scoring eight goals across his 11 appearances with NYCFC since returning from Gold Cup duty in early July.
Aiden O'Neill, Australia
Matches: International Friendlies, vs New Zealand, Friday, September 5, GIO Stadium Canberra, Australia; at New Zealand, Tuesday, September 9, Go Media Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
Australia confirmed their place in the field for the 2026 FIFA World Cup earlier this summer when they earned back-to-back wins over Japan and Saudi Arabia. Aiden O'Neill started in both those crucial June qualification matches and now returns for a pair of friendlies against the regional rivals from New Zealand. Canberra in Australia is 14 hours ahead of New York City, while Auckland, New Zealand is 16 hours ahead, so it won't be super convenient to follow O'Neill's international action in real time, with Eastern kickoff times at 5:45 am and 3:00 am, respectively.
The extremely lengthy air travel involved in going back and forth between New York and Australia/New Zealand can't be fun, but O'Neill will be getting used to doing it as he makes the long commute for a second time since moving to MLS. He'll have far less travel to worry about if called up for the October international window, since Australia are scheduled to play Canada in Montréal on October 10 and then the United States in Denver, Colorado on October 14.
Tomás Romero, El Salvador
Matches: 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, at Guatemala, Thursday, September 4, Cementos Progreso Stadium, Guatemala City; vs Suriname, Monday, September 8, Estadio Cuscatlán, San Salvador
Watch: Paramount+
Romero wasn't with El Salvador earlier in June for two other World Cup qualifiers and the Concacaf Gold Cup. New York City FC's backup goalkeeper turned down a potential call-up so he could stay with his club and start while Matt Freese was absent on his own international adventure with the USMNT this June.
That gamble paid off for Romero, as he played well in his first three MLS starts for NYCFC, conceding two goals (one an own goal of his own making) while going 2W-0D-1L playing in place of Freese. It was enough to earn Romero a return to the El Salvador squad as they begin the next critical round of World Cup qualifying.
Mario González of Alianza FC functions as El Salvador's first-choice goalkeeper, as he started in goal for all six El Salvador matches played to date in 2025. Romero's last appearance for La Selecta came on November 18, 2024, against Montserrat in Concacaf Nations League while rotating with González.
It will be interesting to see if Romero's positive showing with NYCFC this summer gets him a chance with the national team during qualifying.
Mitja Ilenič, Slovenia U-21
Match: UEFA U-21 European Championship Qualifier, at Norway U-21, Tuesday, September 9, Marienlyst Stadion, Drammen, Norway
Mitja just played a UEFA U-21 Euros for Slovenia this summer, starting all three group-stage matches against the U-21 squads of Germany, England, and Czechia. Slovenia lost to Germany and Czechia but held England to a 0-0 draw, impressive given that Young Lions squad included numerous players from the English Premier League – namely Harvey Elliott, James McAtee, Ethan Nwaneri, Elliot Anderson, and Tino Livramento.
Now Ilenič returns to the familiar U-21 level as Slovenia begins the process of qualifying for the 2027 edition of the biennial tournament. Ilenič has 17 career appearances with the Slovenia U-21s but remains stuck on the one cap with the senior Slovenia national team. The 20-year-old wingback hasn't played much of late for New York City FC, appearing to be firmly second-choice behind Tayvon Gray since May.
NYCFC played 21 matches across all competitions since May 1 and Ilenič only made it into the Starting XI three times in that stretch. In the nearest-term, Ilenič has been an unused substitute in all three MLS matches New York City played since returning to the league after being eliminated from Leagues Cup in early August.
Ilenič was mentioned as a transfer candidate this summer, with New York City reportedly seeking €4 million to sell the promising young attack-minded defender, and reportedly with five European teams holding some degree of interest in the player. It's not clear how much of a future he has in MLS, but at least Ilenič continues to feature heavily for his country's U-21 squad.
Jonny Shore, United States U-19
Drew Baiera, United States U-19
Máximo Carrizo, United States U-17
Peter Molinari (NYCFC II), United States U-17
Matches: None/U-19 MNT and U-17 MNT to train concurrently from September 1-8 at McCurry Park in Fayetteville, Georgia
Sizable group of New York City FC Academy products heading to what US Soccer is calling a Domestic Identity Training Camp for players from U-17, U-19, and U-20 age groups.
The four NYCFC players called up are split evenly between the U-19s and U-17s, but they'll be training concurrently at one big training camp held near US Soccer's new national base of operations in Atlanta, Georgia. This big youth training camp is part of a newfangled youth development approach being spearheaded by US Soccer's Sporting Director, Matt Crocker. Crocker is calling it "The US Way" and describes it as "a shared philosophy, a strategy and a practical toolkit to enable excellence at every level of the game," but in this instance, it means calling up a bunch of young Americans for a week of training.
Peter Molinari, 16-year-old member of NYCFC's MLS Next Pro squad, was a late call-up for the US U-17s, added by US Soccer after the initial U-17 roster release. This season, Molinari has 20 appearances with NYCFC II and also made the bench four different times for the MLS team, though has yet to make his full professional debut with NYCFC.
