Ricardo Pepi represents the firepower the U.S. Soccer can boast heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a forward its men’s national team can legitimately build a future around.
At 6-foot-1, the 21-year-old Pepi has the versatility to either be a guy running at defenders or a position himself as a bigger body that a box-to-box midfielder or winger can aim for. His skill set is a bit of a bonus for a team with serious aspirations of going far in the World Cup as the host nation in two years.
Should he undoubtedly make head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s roster, he’ll be wearing the red, white and blue of the United States, choosing U.S. Soccer over Mexico as a dual national. Pepi is one of several players worldwide, but just the third Mexican-American alongside fellow forward Brandon Vasquez and Alejandro Zendejas to choose U.S. Soccer over the country of their ancestry.
It’s been a noticeable transition for the United States to find some of the world’s top young talent choosing to represent the United States over traditional powerhouses.
Of course, these players still have to crack the roster of some of these other nations, but just to provide a few names…
British-born defender Antonee Robinson is regarded as one of the best young prospects at the position in the world after making a name for himself with Fulham of the English Premier League. However, for the last six season Robinson has been called into U.S. senior-level training camps and most recently represented the States in their Copa America run over the summer.
Additonally, Gio Reyna is Portugese, Jesus Ferreira is Colombian and Christian Pulisic, better known to soccer fans around the world as “Captain America?” is actually of Croatian descent.
Import, export
But where the men’s team is benefitting from some of the top U.S. born players choosing to represent their birth nation, globally, women’s soccer is benefitting from American-born players choosing to play for the country of their ancestry.
Since the early 2000s, fresh off the popularity of the U.S. women’s national team defeating China to win the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, an influx of players born here, groomed in the American system, playing their soccer on the roster of universities all over the country have chosen to represent the national teams of their families, showing a complete shift in the balance.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25787247/2182164158.jpg)
According to a 2023 Stars and Stripes report, 53 American-born players wore the crest of 13 other nations participating in last year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with three of those as Latin-based countries.
Argentina (Sophia Braun), Colombia (Ángela Barón, Elexa Barh) and Panana (Carina Baltrip, Riley Tanner) all had U.S.-born dual nationals on its roster.
Now, it can be debated on both sides that these players are chose the the nation that provides the greatest chance to crack a roster spot. On the women’s side, there’s a much better chance of making onto the 23-person roster of a nation that’s not among the top 5 in the world like the United States usually is (current world No. 1).
On the other hand, for the men representing the U.S. brings both exposure alongside the opportunity to play some of the best teams in the world.
But even more importantly, like in the case of Mexican-American Ricardo Pepi, be considered among the best hope for your country to contend for World Cup glory.
