This World Cup cycle started for the U.S. males’s nationwide soccer staff with younger holdovers from the Qatar journey, new gamers searching for alternative and, with out fanfare, veteran middle again Tim Ream, the oldest member of the 2022 squad.
On the time it appeared clear the St. Louis native would stay on the scene to, for all intents and functions, assist bridge the hole and provide stability forward of soccer’s jamboree coming to North America in 2026.
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Alongside the best way, nevertheless, Ream stored his place — for interim coaches, for Gregg Berhalter’s second tenure and now for Mauricio Pochettino.
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And with eight months and three coaching camps remaining earlier than the World Cup squad is ready, 38-year-old Tim Ream seems virtually sure to not solely make Pochettino’s roster, however stay in rivalry to begin within the Group D opener June 12, 2026, at SoFi Stadium in higher Los Angeles.
“I do know I stated after the final World Cup that, OK, it might be my very first and final,” the Charlotte FC participant stated Monday, at some point after celebrating his birthday. “And, you understand, right here we’re.”
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The previous Fulham standout was amongst 26 gamers invited to camp in Austin, Texas, forward of Friday’s pleasant in opposition to Ecuador. Subsequent comes Australia on Oct. 14 within the Denver suburbs.
By means of 14 U.S. matches this yr, Ream leads the staff in minutes performed and is second to left again Max Arfsten in begins. In all 10 beginning assignments, Ream has worn the captain’s armband.
“Once I consider Tim, I consider poise, I consider management, I consider management in each facet,” U.S. midfielder Cristian Roldan stated. “He brings a special aura to the staff, and he creates a very good setting, a very welcoming setting for lots of fellows. That is the kind of chief we’d like.”
That Ream stays a pivotal piece after enjoying each minute on the 2022 match might be obtained in several methods. On the constructive aspect, he continues to supply the expertise, management and knowledge very important to World Cup preparation and the precise competitors for a program nonetheless discovering its method on the worldwide scene.
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On the flip aspect, the shortage of positional depth has left Ream virtually indispensable — even together with his bodily limitations. “Pay attention: Everyone knows I am not the quickest,” he stated with a smile.
Tim Ream of america heads the ball through the second half in opposition to Japan throughout an Worldwide Pleasant at Decrease.com Discipline on September 09, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
(Ben Jackson/USSF through Getty Photos)
In the mean time, with World Cup veterans Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson not at full energy, Ream and Crystal Palace’s Chris Richards are the one positive bets on a backline that would embody two or three middle backs. The opposite central defenders in camp are Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers, Toulouse’s Mark McKenzie and FC Cincinnati’s Miles Robinson.
Ought to somebody supplant Ream, “I am the previous man within the nook, handing out orange slices and giving pep talks to those guys,” he stated. “Then, OK, I’ve nonetheless contributed one thing to the staff setting, to the tradition, however my goal and my aim is to be beginning video games. Whether or not that occurs or not is clearly right down to me, however then additionally right down to different selections and right down to different gamers and their kind, as effectively.”
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Choice to subsequent summer time’s squad would make Ream the oldest U.S. participant at a World Cup for the reason that program started qualifying repeatedly for the match in 1990. In 1994, Fernando Clavijo was 38, however 4 months youthful than Ream could be subsequent summer time.
Requested Monday to share tips on profession longevity, Ream stated, “I don’t suppose now we have lengthy sufficient to take a seat right here and undergo every thing. To be trustworthy, discover a good lady to have your again and cool down along with her.”
Kristin, his spouse of greater than 13 years, can also be a former Saint Louis College soccer participant.
On the sector, Ream burdened the significance of “discovering issues that give you the results you want,” he stated. “What works for me is not going to work for Christian [Pulisic]. What works for Christian in all probability would not work for me. It is discovering even the small issues that enable you alongside in that path. Adaptability is a big one — having the ability to adapt to completely different teaching types, to completely different managers, to completely different leagues.”
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Ream tailored final yr, when, late within the MLS season, he signed with Charlotte after greater than 12 years in England with Bolton Wanderers and Fulham. Below English coach Dean Smith, Charlotte enters the worldwide break in fourth place within the 15-team Jap Convention and guaranteed of a playoff berth. The Queen Metropolis aspect lately boasted a nine-game profitable streak, tying a league document.
Ream’s capability to increase his profession — each on the membership and worldwide stage — has impressed his teammates.
“He is basically revitalized his nationwide staff profession at an older age, and it supplied me with slightly bit extra added motivation to get again right here, to essentially imagine that I might get right here,” stated Roldan, 30, a 2022 World Cup participant who, till final month, had gone greater than two years and not using a call-up. “He is an instance which you can not solely play at a very excessive stage, however maintain that all through your profession. And what Tim brings to the staff is one thing that’s actually exhausting to switch.”
