Mauricio Pochettino hasn’t wasted any time turning the page on the World Cup cycle. With the tournament behind him, the USMNT head coach used his September/October roster announcement to dig deep into the player pool, calling in 13 uncapped players, including 16-year-old phenom Cavan Sullivan for a stretch of four friendlies against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada.

Stars like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie were left off the group. More than a dozen players, many of them uncapped, got their first look at the senior level instead. It’s a squad built for experimentation. Buried among the bigger headlines are four lesser-known names worth keeping an eye on. Here’s what to know about each of them.

Ellis has taken an unusual path to get here. The 19-year-old forward from Wellington, Florida, actually started his youth career in Inter Miami’s academy before crossing over to rival Orlando City in 2023, eventually becoming the club’s 19th Homegrown signing. Since making the leap to the first team, Ellis has quickly cemented himself as one of Major League Soccer’s brightest talents. 

“[My confidence is] good, I mean, not overconfident,” Ellis shared earlier this season. “I’m still adjusting to the level, and I can keep on improving. But it’s good that I’m getting goals and assists because ultimately that’s what I want to do most.”

Leading the line alongside France and Atletico Madrid legend Antoine Griezmann, Ellis has bagged one goal and 10 assists in 18 MLS matches. The Florida native has shown himself to have burgeoning technical ability on the ball despite having the build of a more downhill forward. Where exactly his skillset fits into Pochettino’s system is a question mark, but those skills are worth watching nonetheless. 

At 6-foot-7, Pierre is hard to miss, and Philadelphia has been counting on him to be their next great homegrown center back. He was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Haitian parents and raised in the Philadelphia suburbs, and scouts have praised him for combining his size with speed, defensive strength and a genuine passing ability. Some in the organization consider him the best center-back prospect in Union history. 

He signed his first Homegrown deal through 2028 and made his first-team debut in 2025 before missing time with a knee injury. This year he added a loan spell in Denmark with Lyngby to his résumé, sharpening his game against senior professionals overseas. Though since returning to Philly, Pierre has become a stalwart in the backline for one of the hottest teams in MLS. What’s more, the big defender has chipped in with four goals of his own in just 10 MLS games. 

He arrives in this camp as one of three Union teenagers called in, alongside Sullivan and fellow defender Frankie Westfield. Both Pierre and Westfield are considered strong candidates for the 2028 Olympic squad, which makes this September window a rare chance to bank senior experience before their own age-group cycle really gets going.

Mehmeti’s rise has been one of the more eye-catching stories in MLS this year. The 17-year-old central midfielder, born in New York City, has started 24 games for Red Bull New York in 2026 and become a fixture in the club’s midfield well before most players his age get a real sniff of first-team minutes. 

What stands out isn’t just that he’s playing, it’s how he’s playing. FotMob data places him in the 89th percentile for defensive contributions among his position, and he ranks similarly high in tackles, interceptions and recoveries, all while posting the highest overall rating among RBNY’s usual starting XI. Longtime MLS midfielder and analyst Dax McCarty has singled him out for his composure, noting that Mehmeti carries himself with a calm, wise-beyond-his-years quality rather than the nervous energy typical of young players. 

He joins Red Bulls teammate Julian Hall as part of the club’s new wave in this camp, giving Pochettino two more building blocks from a New York pipeline that’s quickly become one of the league’s most productive.

Schwake’s path is the least conventional of the four, and arguably the most compelling. The 25-year-old goalkeeper was born in West Hartford, Connecticut, and played a single collegiate season at DePaul before heading overseas. He grinded through loan spells in the lower tiers of Scottish football and a stint with CD Castellón in Spain’s second division before Nashville brought him home in January 2025. 

He spent last season as Joe Willis’s backup, then took over as Nashville’s full-time starter in 2026 and has quietly been one of the best goalkeepers in MLS this year. Through 25 matches, he’s conceded just 21 goals, the best defensive record in the league, and racked up 11 clean sheets along the way. 

By one advanced metric, his save output ranks second only to New England’s Matt Turner in goals saved above expected since American Soccer Analysis’s database began tracking the stat back in 2013. Schwake has never represented the U.S. at any level, so this call-up marks his introduction to the national team program entirely, a notable vote of confidence for a goalkeeper who took the long way to get here