Under the current Olympic age eligibility rules, only three players from the U.S. men’s soccer team that competes in the 2026 World Cup will be allowed to join the 2028 Olympic squad.
Men’s soccer at the Olympics typically features players under the age of 23, with teams permitted to include three over-age players.
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While the International Olympic Committee has yet to publish the official qualification procedures for the 2028 Olympics, FIFA stated last December that the age regulations will remain in effect for the Los Angeles Games.
“The men’s tournament is a U-23 competition,” the document specifies. “All players in the final competition must be born on or after January 1, 2005. However, a maximum of three over-age players may be included in the final roster.”
Currently, none of the 26 players on the U.S. World Cup roster were born in 2005 or later.
This means that any players from the 2026 World Cup team who qualify for the 2028 Olympic Games, which the U.S. secures an automatic spot for as the host nation, will need to be among the three permitted over-age players.
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If regulations remain unchanged, their club teams would also need to release them to participate in the Olympics. In other major summer competitions, clubs are mandated to release players, which may lead to reluctance from clubs to release athletes for the Olympics when they are not obligated to do so.
Nevertheless, every U.S. Olympic men’s soccer roster since 1992 has included at least one player who participated in the preceding World Cup.
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1990 World Cup and 1992 Barcelona Olympics: Chris Henderson
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1994 World Cup and 1996 Atlanta Olympics: Alexi Lalas, Claudio Reyna, and Kasey Keller from the 1990 World Cup
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1998 World Cup and 2000 Sydney Olympics: Jeff Agoos, Brad Friedel, Frankie Hejduk
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The U.S. did not qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics.
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2006 World Cup and 2008 Beijing Olympics: Brian McBride
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The U.S. did not qualify for the 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympics.