USMNT call up Ricardo Pepi, Christian Pulisic for World Cup qualifying matches; Jordan Morris returns

Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams highlight the United States men's national team roster for manager Gregg Berhalter ahead of the three-game World Cup qualifying window that begins next week.

The roster also includes Ricardo Pepi, fresh off his transfer from FC Dallas to Augsburg earlier this month.

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Through eight of 14 matches, the United States sits second in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying standings with 15 points — a point behind first-place Canada and a point ahead of Mexico and Panama. The top three teams automatically qualify for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, while the fourth-place finisher will play a single-match qualifier in June.

The United States hosts El Salvador in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday (7 p.m. ET, watch LIVE on ESPN2) and plays at Canada in Hamilton, Ontario, on Jan. 30 before finishing the window against Honduras in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Feb. 2.

The 28-man roster features the return of Seattle Sounders FC forward Jordan Morris, who missed most of the 2021 Major League Soccer season with an ACL injury and did not take part in the first eight World Cup qualifying matches. Morris is one of 13 MLS-based players on the roster, including 17-year-old goalkeeper <a _ a href=«https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/286774/Gabriel-Slonina» id="" player soccer>Gabriel Slonina

, who is one of four goalkeepers (Zack Steffen, Matt Turner, Sean Johnson).

Timothy Weah, one of the standout players for the USMNT through qualifying, had been a question mark due to an injury he suffered in December with Lille, but he was included after returning to action this week.

The midfield options include