The year began for Matt Freese and Max Arfsten at U.S. national team training camp in South Florida, two players largely unknown outside Major League Soccer who had been invited to the annual winter assembly derided as “Camp Cupcake” by cynical fans.
Freese was a Harvard grad with one season as a full-time MLS starter, Arfsten a three-year pro who’d followed the league’s developmental pathway.
The 2026 World Cup was on the horizon, but for most of the fringe players called into this January camp, the sport’s quadrennial spectacle was light years away.
Never mind the World Cup; would Freese and Arfsten even wear a U.S. uniform again?
Flip ahead to the final camp of the year, this week in greater Philadelphia ahead of two friendlies. It’s a full-fledged international window and, although several U.S. mainstays are absent for an array of reasons, many of Mauricio Pochettino’s regulars have reported.
But so too have Freese and Arfsten, who have not only received consistent call-ups, but become fixtures in the lineup.
Arfsten, a 24-year-old wing back from the Columbus Crew, leads the national team in starts this year with 12. He is tied for first in assists with four and is second in appearances with 14, one behind attacker Diego Luna, another prospect from the MLS grind who debuted for the U.S. team in 2024.
Freese, New York City FC’s 27-year-old goalkeeper, is tied for second in U.S. starts with 11, despite not making his international debut until June. Since that first appearance, he has started all but one match and 10 straight, rising to the top of a seven-man depth chart to make six Gold Cup starts this summer.
“After the first [call-up], I kind of thought it's never going to be this exciting again, but somehow, every time it's just as exciting. It's just as big of an honor,” Freese said this week. “Very thankful to get called in a bunch this year. … It's been an exciting year and a year with a lot of opportunity and growth, but there's more in my sights.”
Freese seems certain to start Saturday against Paraguay in Chester, Pennsylvania – 16 miles north of where he attended high school (Episcopal Academy) and in a stadium (Subaru Park) where he began his MLS career.
He will probably get the call again next Tuesday against Uruguay in Tampa – the last of six fall friendlies that have helped Pochettino taper the player pool. The U.S. team will not regroup again until late March for the final camp before Pochettino announces his World Cup roster decisions in May.
Barring injury or a precipitous performance drop, Freese and Arfsten are on track to make the 26-man squad. Beyond that, Freese is on pace to start in the World Cup. Matt Turner, the primary starter since 2021, has been No. 2 on the list since June but wasn’t called into this week’s camp, passed over for Freese, Columbus’s Patrick Schulte, FC Cincinnati’s Roman Celentano and Italian-based Jonathan Klinsmann. (Of the latter three, only Schulte, with three appearances, has played for the U.S. team.)
Arfsten’s situation is quite different than Freese’s. He has filled the void left by Fulham’s Antonee Robinson, a sure-bet starter who has not played for the national team since injuring a knee a year ago. Robinson returned to U.S. camp last month but suffered a setback and remains sidelined for Premier League club Fulham.
Pochettino does not have a wealth of depth on the left side – in this camp, John Tolkin is the natural backup – but could shift World Cup veteran Sergiño Dest from the right or use versatile winger Tim Weah, who wasn’t called in this week because of fitness concerns following a thigh injury.
Even if he does not start at the World Cup, Arfsten has gained valuable international experience and become an option in Pochettino’s newly preferred system that features wing backs instead of traditional fullbacks. (Arfsten is a wing back for Columbus.)
At the Florida camp, “I felt like I did everything I could in training to show what I can do,” he said. “And then all I really wanted was to do whatever I could at the club level to become involved in the camps to come. That was really my mentality.”
Arfsten excelled with the Crew this year, appearing in 37 matches across all competitions and posting seven goals and 10 assists – notable numbers for a player coming forward from a deep lying position. His eight regular-season assists were tied for the team lead.
The calls from Pochettino continued. He started five of the six Gold Cup matches and scored against Costa Rica in the quarterfinals.
“It's helped me become just more well-rounded as a player,” Arfsten said. “I've been a bit sharper in certain moments. Just being involved in these camps and having our coaching staff here express belief in me and give me advice on certain things has definitely helped me become more confident and grow as a player a lot.”
It was a gradual process for Arfsten, whose first pro contract after two seasons at UC Davis came with the San Jose Earthquakes’ developmental team in the third-division MLS Next Pro. Unaffiliated with San Jose’s first team, he entered the 2023 MLS draft and was selected No. 14 overall by Columbus.
Freese left Harvard early to sign with the Philadelphia Union. After 13 regular-season starts over three seasons, he was traded to NYCFC. A backup role in 2023 gave way to the starting job in 2024 and ’25. Pochettino took notice.
“It's been quite a last six months but to continuously get that opportunity from the coaching staff means a ton,” Freese said. “Having that trust is really important to me, and it allows me to play like myself and grow over these last 10-11 games. … It's important to take any opportunity – and every opportunity – to continue to grow.”
Freese cited his work with U.S. goalkeepers coach Toni Jiménez, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist with Spain whose ties to Pochettino date back to 2009.
“We obviously stay in touch when we're not in camp together,” Freese said. “He had a really successful playing career before his coaching career and he knows the right personality you need to bring, to be that rock for your team, to be that stability and to handle tough moments, tough crowds, and also to handle good moments and stay humble and work for the next save. It’s been amazing to work with him.”
Arfsten noted the strengthening chemistry among the mix of veterans and newcomers – and roster changes from camp to camp – following the team’s rocky start this year.
“A big amount of us [has] played together a lot now and have just built that chemistry and have a better understanding of what Coach wants us to do,” he said.
While the collective ambition is continuing to improve before next summer – the Americans have won three straight against other World Cup-bound teams – individuals have their eye on a roster spot.
“We all want to be there next summer, but the path to do that is to focus every single day in training in camp, as well as with your club,” Freese said. “Focus on training, focus on development, focus on performing on matchdays. I like to put the summer out of my mind, and every time when I wake up and I'm in camp, I want to show what I can do and impress.”
