Bruce Arena names 27-man USMNT roster for World Cup qualifiers vs. T&T, Mexico

This is the group Arena hopes will boost the team's chances of qualifying

By Roger Gonzalez

May 28, 2017 at 4:13 pm ET • 1 min read

On Sunday, U.S men's national team manager Bruce Arena announced his roster for two crucial World Cup qualifiers and a friendly. Here are the 27 players named by Arena, from U.S. Soccer:

GOALKEEPERS (4): Brad Guzan (Atlanta United FC; 13/0), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge/BEL; 0/0), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids; 35/0), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake; 0/0)

DEFENDERS (11): DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo; 33/6), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City; 11/1), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin/GER; 3/0), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City/ENG; 20/2), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER; 3/0), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca/MEX; 14/0), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas; 0/0), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 4/0), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna/MEX; 2/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United/ENG; 6/0), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City; 17/3)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; 2/0),Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana/MEX; 2/1),Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union; 8/0), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/CAN; 33/6), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 15/1), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers; 5/0), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 7/3)

FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/CAN; 36/16), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC; 38/18), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 3/0), Bobby Wood (Hamburg/GER; 8/4)

Not a whole lot surprises in that group. He brings the expected goalkeepers, gets some guys back from injury like Johnson and Yedlin but does name four players looking for their first WCQ appearance - Rimando, Horvath, Hedges and McCarty. He has a strong group of players led by Pulisic, Bradley, Dempsey and Altidore and some depth up top with Bobby Wood back.

The U.S. will play Venezuela in a friendly on June 3 before hosting Trinidad and Tobago in qualifying on June 8. The U.S. then goes to Mexico on June 11 for a showdown at the Azteca. The U.S. currently sits in fourth place in the standings, having earned four points in its first two matches under Arena, which came after Jurgen Klinsmann lost his job as the U.S. lost its first two games of the hexagonal.

A reminder, the top three teams clinch a ticket to Russia, while the fourth-placed team goes to a play-in game.