Doug McIntyre
Soccer Journalist
Patrick Agyemang was playing Division III college soccer the last time the U.S. men’s national team sent anything resembling a first-choice squad to the Concacaf Gold Cup.
It was the summer of 2019, and Agyemang was about to enter his second season at tiny Eastern Connecticut State University, a 30-minute drive from his hometown of East Hartford. His goal of becoming a professional soccer player — let alone a legitimate candidate for the USMNT’s 2026 World Cup squad — was a distant dream for the then-19-year-old striker.
“Obviously, I had doubts,” Agyemang told FOX Sports in a recent phone interview. “I’ve always had the utmost confidence in myself. But I wasn’t sure. I’m playing D-III, and all I really knew was guys get drafted from Division I. Where I’m from, not many people make it in this game.”
Jump forward five years, and Agyemang is about to come full-circle. On Saturday in East Hartford, he’ll likely take the field as the U.S.’s starting striker in the Americans’ pre-Gold Cup friendly against Türkiye. With top forwards Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi unavailable because of injury, Agyemang figures to log big minutes in the national team’s final tournament before the main event next summer. A strong showing would go a long way toward sticking around for the World Cup.
And there’s no reason to think Agyemang won’t have one. A towering center forward at 6-foot-4, he has succeeded at every level he’s played at so far. His stellar two seasons at ECSU got him a transfer to D-I school Rhode Island. In December 2022, expansion team Charlotte FC picked him 12th overall in the MLS SuperDraft.
This winter, he earned a January camp invitation to the USMNT on the strength of his breakout 2024 MLS season, during which he had 10 goals. He then scored in January exhibitions against Venezuela and Costa Rica, which earned him a roster spot for the Nations League finals in March.
Playing alongside first-teamers like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie, Agyemang had the Americans’ only goal in a 2-1 loss to Canada in the third-place game. Over what was a disastrous weekend for Mauricio Pochettino’s team, the play of Agyemang and Diego Luna — who helped set up Agyemang’s strike — was the lone silver lining.
“I think the confidence in him has grown,” Luna said this week of his fellow USMNT newcomer.
[RELATED: Diego Luna’s unlikely USMNT path and a possible World Cup spot]
“Just to feel like you’re able to compete and play with these guys and contribute with a goal — it’s a good feeling,” Agyemang said. He’s carried that self-belief into this camp.
“You look at a forward and you can tell when they’re confident; they start taking their chances a little bit better,” U.S. defender Walker Zimmerman said following Tuesday’s training session in Chicago. “They’re more energized to make those extra runs on both sides of the ball. And that’s what he’s doing right now.”
Patrick Agyemang was one of the USMNT’s lone bright spots during the Nations League campaign in March. (Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Still, Agyemang has plenty of room to improve. Pochettino described him as “raw” in January. Privately, the Argentine has encouraged him to be cleaner on the ball, though Poch is clearly happy with his progress. He and assistant Miguel D’Agostino even went to visit with Agyemang and veteran defender Tim Ream at Charlotte’s training facility this spring.
“First touch, the first movement to get the separation between defenders — those are little things I’m definitely trying to learn,” Agyemang said. “They want me to believe in myself, because they see potential to keep going.”
After almost a year together in Charlotte, Ream has gotten to know Agyemang well off the field, too.
“He’s got a personality,” Ream said. “He’s not quiet or shy, he has his opinions, but he’s also a sponge.
“He’s trying to constantly improve and be a better player in the locker room, in video sessions, constantly asking questions,” continued Ream, a veteran of the English Premier League and the 2022 World Cup, where he played every minute of the Americans’ four games. “That’s kind of what propels you and helps you get to that next level.”
USMNT veteran Tim Ream has been a mentor for Patrick Agyemang at MLS side Charlotte FC. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
Agyemang’s performances for both the national team and The Crown are generating interest from European clubs. A move overseas seems inevitable at some point, before or after the World Cup.
But before that comes Saturday. Agyemang’s parents and two older brothers have yet to see him play for the U.S. in person. They’ll get that opportunity just steps away from where Patrick’s unlikely journey began.
“I’ve always dreamed of playing in that stadium,” said Agyemang, who has asked U.S. Soccer for 25 tickets to Saturday’s match. “That it can potentially happen this week is surreal.”
The same can be said about his journey to this point.
“To see where I’ve come from, even two years ago, to where I am today, that development is crazy,” Ageymang added.
“I just want to keep going.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
Mauricio Pochettino Names Final USMNT Gold Cup Roster | SOTU
The USMNT’s final 26-man roster for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup is here. With Sergiño Dest and Zack Steffen being added to a long list of key players missing out, the spotlight turns to the youth-driven squad. Alexi Lalas, David Mosse, and special guest Rob Stone break down who’s in, who’s out, and what it means for the U.S. heading into the tournament and leading up to the summer of 2026.
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