There are 45 players from Major League Soccer at the 2026 World Cup, and three hail from New York City FC.
That adds another touch of local significance to soccer's most significant event, because NYCFC has never seen this level of World Cup involvement from members of its active roster.
Only one active New York City FC player has ever played at a World Cup since the club debuted in 2015: Rodney Wallace, the Costa Rican winger who was with the team for two seasons in 2017 and 2018 and made 46 appearances in all competitions for NYCFC. Wallace, capped 32 times by Costa Rica, played nine minutes as a substitute in Costa Rica's third and final group-stage match vs Switzerland at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, when they went winless and were three-and-out while finishing at the bottom of their group.
Don't let this graphic fool you: While NYCFC at various times employed past or eventual World Cup players, Wallace was the only one actively with NYCFC when he saw the field and got minutes in a World Cup.
With three current players called up in 2026 and two of them looking almost certain to be starters for their national teams, this is set to be the most NYCFC-flavored World Cup ever.
Something incredible, too, in the fact that all three called-up NYCFC players are competing in the same group, Group D, and will play head-to-head on their second matchday, when Matt Freese's United States takes on Aiden O'Neill and Kai Trewin's Australia in Seattle, Washington.
It's the first World Cup for each player, and whether or not all three players feature in that game in Seattle is part of what this post is getting into, namely, what the World Cup will look like for each of Freese, O'Neill, and Trewin. With Group D play kicking off when the United States plays Paraguay in Los Angeles, California, let's set some individual expectations for each NYCFC player and their national teams as their World Cup journeys begin.
Matt Freese
It's a simple and straightforward task for Matt Freese at this World Cup. He enters the tournament looking locked in as the starting goalkeeper for the United States, no matter how much talk there is of an unsettled goalkeeper position, or how many times USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino says he hasn't picked a starting goalkeeper.
Pochettino treated Freese like his starter during the final two pre-World Cup friendlies, and he started Freese in goal in 15 of the last 18 games played by the United States.
Andrew Leigh
Now it's up to the NYCFC goalkeeper to silence the voices in the wider USMNT space questioning his place in the lineup against Paraguay. It would go down as a legitimate lineup surprise if Freese is benched against Paraguay, so clearing the hurdle and making that lineup is the first step. From there, Freese has to step up in ways we've only seen him in brief moments while with the USMNT.
Goalkeepers always have a nonexistent margin for error given the position they play, where any gaffe or miscue can prove cataclysmic for a team's chances. For Freese it feels like there's even less margin for error than "zero," because the United States is already working with a slightly questionable defense and hoping and praying their best center-back, Chris Richards, will be fully ready for Paraguay and beyond, after watching Mark McKenzie and Miles Robinson have shaky moments while auditioning to fill Richards' shoes.
If the United States is going to succeed in what looks like a trickier group to navigate than those that occupy the other two World Cup co-hosts, Mexico and Canada, Freese will have to perform at a level above what he's shown for the national team to date. Criticism of the Wayne, Pennyslvania, native followed him out of the Germany friendly, even if it seemed like overkill, but it's clear that there is a narrative forming that the USMNT needs to abandon Freese and turn back to the more battle-tested option in Matt Turner, who started at the 2022 World Cup.
Pochettino, in not appointing Freese his outright starter, has left the door open for his own mind to change at any time during the tournament, should Freese slip up in the USMNT coaching staff's eyes. Success for Freese individually at this World Cup means remaining the starter for as long as he can help the USMNT go.
Freese's upside with the USMNT is significant, considering how he's played at best-in-MLS levels for long stretches of his time with New York City. He's yet to have an individual performance for the USMNT in which he stood on his head and was the difference between a positive and negative result, outside of the penalty shootout he helped win in the Gold Cup against Costa Rica.
So while remaining the starter is the first objective, Freese's second aim might be carrying the United States to a result they need, whether it's making clutch saves to preserve a lead in a must-not-concede scenario, or coming up big in another penalty-kick situation, with PKs an undisputed strength for Freese. He needs a performance that quiets the chatter from the Bruce Arenas of the world, and him pulling one out of his bag might be enough to cajole the USMNT deeper into the tournament than they'd go with someone other than Freese in goal.
Matthew Mangam
Kai Trewin
The least-capped member of New York City's World Cup contingent, Trewin also might be the farthest away from the status of "guaranteed starter for his country" at the tournament.
Australia coach Tony Popovic usually lines his team up with three center-backs, but he also appears to prefer Trewin to serve as a right-wing-back, out in the wide areas rather than playing centrally the way he does as either a midfielder or center-back for NYCFC.
While the 25-year-old from Batemans Bay in New South Wales started and went 81 minutes in Australia's last pre-World Cup friendly, he's been alternating with fellow right-sided defender Jacob Italiano between who starts and who comes off the bench at that position.
For Trewin, a successful World Cup is one where he ascends to a full-on starter and helps Australia escape a tough group that includes the United States, Türkiye, and Paraguay.
He only made his first appearance for Australia on November 14, 2025, but he's been involved in every match played by the Socceroos since, making four starts out of the six played in that time. Trewin's position versatility means that, even for Australia, he's functioned as a center-back in addition to a wing-back. The risk he runs is being valued more as an option off the bench who could slide in wherever Popovic has his most glaring need, either at center-back or out wide.
Australia won't be expected to score tons of goals, so their success relies on players like Trewin outperforming expectation.
If Trewin does start on the right of the Aussie defense, he'll have to contend with left-sided attacking threats like Kenan Yıldız of Türkiye and Christian Pulisic of the United States, so not the easiest possible assignments. So Trewin's success gets judged on the kind of role he can carve out for himself during the tournament, and how he holds up when defending out wide against some dangerous opponents in the first two group games.
John Baney
Aiden O'Neill
Just being healthy and available to start for the opening match is one thing that signals success for Aiden O'Neill at this World Cup. His status for the tournament was thrown into some doubt when he limped out of the NYCFC match against DC United at Citi Field in early-May, which kept him out of NYCFC's remaining games pre-Cup break.
O'Neill has been back and healthy for Australia and declared himself "fine" in an interview during the Socceroos' training camp, and he also started and played in each of their final two friendlies. There doesn't seem much doubt about him occupying one of the two midfield spots in Australia's 5-2-3 system, one that prioritizes keeping matches tight and physical.
Success for O'Neill involves making that midfield two work, especially if paired with the veteran Jackson Irvine of FC St. Pauli in Germany. Irvine, at 33-years-old, is at his third World Cup, and is coming off an injury-plagued season in Germany, after also missing the tail-end of Australia's World Cup qualifying cycle through injury. He's still the most likely midfield partner for O'Neill, so a big part of O'Neill's task will be finding the right balance alongside Irvine.
To some extent, O'Neill also needs to repay the faith shown in him by Socceroos coach Tony Popovic. Popovic has called O'Neill's name and played him in 17 of the 18 matches he's overseen as Australia coach. O'Neill retained that position while going through a tumultuous end to his time at his pre-NYCFC club, Standard Liege in Belgium. Coming to MLS with NYCFC in April 2025 didn't hurt O'Neill's standing with Australia, and now he'll have to show his level is what they need to succeed.
The midfield battles could be pivotal to deciding results against both Türkiye and the United States, so Australia's chances of advancing out of the group could hinge on how tight they can keep things in the middle with O'Neill serving as the physical, tackle-loving member of the Aussie midfield.
Matthew Mangam
