The FIFA World Cup 2026™ will serve as a momentous occasion for the USA players who will be competing in front of family and friends on home soil. But they will not be the only ones at the global finals who will be enjoying an American homecoming.
Eight other World Cup 2026 countries could boast players with ties to the USA and who could have represented the Stars and Stripes.
FIFA looks at the players hoping to reconnect with their American pasts at the global showpiece.
Bajraktarevic etched his name into Bosnia and Herzegovina lore by converting the winning penalty against Italy to send The Dragons to their second World Cup and first since Brazil 2014. Born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Bajraktarevic made his professional debut with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (MLS) and would even earn a USA senior team cap in January 2024 against Slovenia.
However, later that year he made the switch to Bosnia and Herzegovina and has not looked back since. After opening at Toronto Stadium against co-hosts Canada, his first chance to shine on US soil would be against Switzerland on 18 June at Los Angeles Stadium.
Goal-getter David was born in Bronx, New York, but was just a few months old when his family moved to Haiti and then arrived to Canada when he was six. Former USA U-20 coach Tab Ramos did extend an invitation to the striker, but his footballing heart and allegiance has always belonged to the USA’s neighbours to the north. Should Canada advance as Group B runners-up or as a third-place team, David would get a crack at playing in his birth country.
Alexander-Arnold’s time in the England fold has been reduced significantly in the last year, with his last call-up coming in June 2025. However, a return to form, combined with injury issues at right-back, could propel the Real Madrid star back into the mix. While England has always been Alexander-Arnold’s international home, he was eligible to suit up for USA through his maternal grandmother.
The Eintracht Frankfurt left-back has a very good chance of landing on Julian Naglesmann’s squad for the global finals. The son of a German mother and American father, Brown was born and raised and Germany and has never wavered in his international commitment to Die Mannschaft, despite previous interest from USA. The 22-year-old could face his father’s homeland in a pre-World Cup friendly on 6 June before the real deal begins against Curaçao on 14 June at Houston Stadium.
A quartet from Les Grenadiers all call USA their birth country. Etienne Jr., the son of former Haiti international Derrick Etienne, was born in Richmond, Virginia, and grew up in New Jersey. The winger has spent his entire professional career in MLS, but Haiti has long been his international home.
There is a strong possibility that Picault, Etienne Jr. and Lacroix all make the Haiti squad, but the task might be taller for Joseph, a 20-year-old midfielder from New Jersey who spent time in the Paris Saint-Germain youth system, but only has a handful of Haiti caps. Lacroix also grew up in New Jersey and attended the prestigious Lawrenceville School for high school and then Ivy League institution Penn for university, where he played college soccer for the Quakers. The full-back’s Haiti debut came in 2023.
Picault was born in New York and represented USA at all levels, including two caps with the senior team before pledging his future to Haiti.
With all four players hailing from the northeast region of the USA, a World Cup debut in nearby Boston Stadium on 13 June is a dream scenario.
A pair of Japanese shot-stoppers have ties to the the land of the Red, White and Blue. Suzuki, a 23-year-old who has emerged as Japan’s No1, was born in Newark, New Jersey, to a Japanese mother and Ghanian father but grew up in Japan and has always been firmly entrenched with the Asian side.
Nozawa is the son of a Japanese mother and American father and has yet to make his Japan senior team debut, but could make a late push to be included in Hajime Moriyasu’s side, which will debut on 14 June against the Netherlands at Dallas Stadium.
Being such close neighbours, it is no surprise to see Mexico with plenty of players tied to their Concacaf rivals. All four of the listed above played with USA at the youth national team level, with Araujo and Ledezma each part of Tab Ramos’ squad that reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 World Cup™ in 2019.
Alaska-born Vargas represented USA with the U-23s but made his switch to Mexico in 2024. Southern California native Araujo made one appearance with the USA senior team before joining Mexico for good in 2021, while Phoenix native Ledezma also suited up once for the Stars and Stripes before going all in on El Tricolor in 2025.
Gutierrez, who hails from the Chicago area, enjoyed two matches with USA before making his Mexico switch in late 2025. All four players have excelled of late for Mexico coach Javier Aguirre and, similar to fellow co-hosts Canada, could find themselves playing in the USA in the Round of 32 with a runner-up or third-place finish out of Group A.
Bindon was born in Auckland but moved to California at age 12 when his American mother was appointed coach of the women’s soccer team at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). The 21-year-old centre-back spent five years in the LAFC academy and was called to the USA U-19 team. He accepted in part to pay tribute to his grandfather Bill, a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded two Purple Hearts for his service with the US Army. Nevertheless, Bindon’s heart always belonged to New Zealand, and all signs point to him making a heralded return to Los Angeles in their Group G opener against IR Iran on 15 June.
