Will Oregel, Cupps Feature at Youth World Cups?

The U.S. youth national teams were in action throughout this international window, and with a pair of World Cup competitions set to be played in the coming weeks, they were friendlies of heightened importance. While some Chicago Fire first team players have been major contributors for the U.S. throughout this cycle, they were noticeably absent from the September matches – with both Sergio Oregel Jr. and Christopher Cupps remaining in Chicago through the international break.

With the U-20 and U-17 World Cups now just around the corner, here’s where Oregel and Cupps stand – and how likely it is that they’ll feature for the United States on the international stage this fall.

Sergio Oregel – U.S. U-20s

It’s easy to forget just how young Oregel is, as it has now been four years since he truly burst into the spotlight with the Fire Academy in 2021 and signed his homegrown deal ahead of 2022. For most of that time, the Evergreen Park native was a non-factor for the Fire first team, but has been one of the stories of the season in 2025 and established himself as a key player, making 24 starts and playing 77% of all MLS minutes.

Throughout the last four years, even when he was never featuring for his club team, Oregel was a mainstay in the U.S. program and ascended his game internationally. Oregel was first called up by then-U-19 national team head coach Marko Mitrović in 2022, and has been a regular fixture under the Serb for both the U-19s and U-20s (since he took that job in 2024).

For the most recent international matches, however, a pair of U-20 friendlies against Morocco, Oregel was not a part of the U.S. team. While the Fire did indeed have a game during the international break (a 3-2 win last Saturday against the New England Revolution), that was not the reason for Oregel’s absence, and he was simply not called up by the U.S. coaching staff for the camp.

Ironically, while the 2005 birth year for this U-20 cycle is one of the weakest the U.S. has seen in years (in part because the age group’s development was severely hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic), the midfield is rather strong. Some familiar MLS faces make up that pool, with a sextet of Taha Habroune (Columbus Crew), Pedro Soma (San Diego FC), Matthew Corcoran (Nashville SC), Brooklyn Raines (Houston Dynamo), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes), and Benjamín Cremaschi (Parma, formerly Inter Miami) summoned for this camp.

“I'm grateful for all the opportunities (U.S. Soccer) have been giving me,” Oregel told MIR97 Media last month. “When I was not playing with the first team and they were still calling me up, it just shows that they believe in me. I am thankful for that.”

“We have the U-20 World Cup coming up this year. I’m excited for that, and the World Cup is obviously something that I’d love to be a part of. We have great midfielders, I'm just excited to see what happens. You never know. We're also making a playoff run, too, so I have that in the back of my mind.”

Oregel’s selection to the final roster is far from a guarantee due to his fairly unique profile that has not yet fully adapted from Gregg Berhalter's USMNT/Chicago playing identity to Mitrović’s system for the U-20s under the new sporting administration at U.S. Soccer. But even if he is picked, he could miss up to four MLS matches, the entire home stretch of the regular season leading up to a potential October 22nd wildcard game. That would certainly be a consideration that Berhalter and Co. would have to make, even if the midfield depth has been strengthened significantly since the start of 2025.

“Marko is a great coach,” Oregel said. “Very passionate and wants the best for the team always and always pushes us to be the best every day in training, never settles for less. The World Cup is a dream of mine, and being able to represent the U.S. is something I would be very proud to do.”

With the U-20 World Cup kicking off on September 27th, a decision on the roster should be practically imminent. Due to his performances for the U.S. in recent camps, Oregel is firmly on the bubble, so there will be considerations from Mitrović and his staff, as well as from the Fire if necessary. The final roster is set to be announced on September 18th.

Christopher Cupps – U.S. U-17s

There is no doubt about it that if they can navigate some obvious hurdles, this U.S. U-17 team should be a contender to be crowned world champions later this fall. The 2008 age group – which will play this edition – is one of the strongest ever in the history of U.S. Soccer and is loaded with a plethora of star attacking prospects and household names like Cavan Sullivan, Julian Hall, Mathis Albert, Máximo Carrizo, Chase Adams, and Nimfasha Berchimas.

Christopher Cupps is right there in that conversation, too. The Fire’s 17-year-old homegrown sensation has also been one of the biggest storylines in 2025 from a development standpoint, as he went from an unsigned teenage prospect to a potential starter in the space of just a few months. He’s certainly the top domestic-based U.S. center back hopeful, proving doubters wrong by exceeding every expectation set out for him in the last 18 months.

Without Cupps, the hyper-talented U.S. U-17 group looked significantly worse this window and suffered a defensive humiliation with an 8-2 implosion against the Netherlands this week. Sure, not everything would be fixed with the addition of a commanding, top-level center back, but it would solve many key issues encountered this September and restore the group’s status as one of the top U-17 squads in the tournament.

There’s only one problem – it now seems unlikely that Berhalter would be willing to let Cupps travel to Qatar for the tournament. Cupps had been allowed to miss an MLS game in D.C. for a U-17 camp in June, and suffered a lower leg fracture 20 minutes into a friendly against Japan that kept him out until August. With the tournament set to be played between November 3rd and 27th, the majority of MLS postseason play should the Fire qualify, Berhalter knows that missing one of his top four center backs would be a major concern.

“We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Berhalter said in a recent press conference. “It's way too early to see. What I do know is that the last time (he went to the U-17s), it set him back. It set him back months going to play a friendly game. We'll have to consider it.”

Cupps’ injury in a U-17 friendly – a meaningless exhibition for which he missed the opportunity to get 90 minutes of professional MLS action and went on to miss two more months – sparked discussion in Chicago and around U.S. Soccer, especially given how quickly the teenager was rising to prominence with the first team in the weeks leading up to the injury. Cupps had been quintessential to a crucial 3-1 win over Orlando City immediately before leaving for that camp, hardly putting a foot wrong against one of the Eastern Conference’s stronger sides.

Recognizing this, U-17 boss and former Fire defender Gonzalo Segares opted to leave Cupps off the September roster, hoping it would win favor with Berhalter before the World Cup call-ups are made. Because the camp falls entirely within an international window, the Fire would not have had a choice to release Cupps, but Segares made the decision so that the defender could potentially feature against the Revolution on Saturday. It didn’t pay off as Sam Rogers got the nod instead, while Segares’ U.S. suffered a pair of difficult losses over in Europe.

Soon enough, decisions will have to be made on this front. Cupps could ascend the U-17s from a talented but unbalanced group to a World Cup favorite, but if the Fire qualify for the MLS Cup playoffs, they would be without a young talent who is arguably their third-best center back.

“I know it will be a really difficult decision if I have to play playoffs for the Fire or going to a U-17 World Cup,” Cupps told MIR97 Media. “I know a ton of people are going to have their thoughts about that. So we’ll just see when I get there, many things might happen.”

A decision on Cupps will be made later as the Fire's playoff situation further develops... but there's no doubt that whichever team he spends November with will be better off and more capable of competing.