Over a dozen players will represent Atlanta United and Atlanta United 2 for their home countries during the June FIFA international window. With rare World Cup Qualification opportunities up for grabs, this could be a key window for several of our young stars.
We have already reported on the many academy prospects representing their countries this window. Luke Brennan and Noah Cobb will represent the United States for friendlies against Colombia (June 7) and Egypt (June 10) in Egypt in preparation for the U-20 World Cup this Fall.
Dominick Chong Qui, Kaiden Moore, Braden Dunham, and Santiago Pita will represent the US on the U-18 team in the UEFA Friendship Cup in Switzerland from May 30th to June 11th. The US was drawn into Group A against France, Australia, and Argentina. If the US advances, they will face the winners of Group B (Japan, Portugal, Senegal, and Uruguay).Â
Ajani Fortune will represent Trinidad & Tobago for two high-pressure World Cup Qualifiers against Saint Kitts & Nevis (June 6) and Costa Rica (June 10) with the hope of advancing to the third round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers. Trinidad & Tobago currently sits second in their group between first-place Costa Rica and third-place Saint Kitts & Nevis. The top 2 teams advance to the third round with the opportunity to secure one of the three remaining qualification spots for the 2026 World Cup or a play-in against another federation. This is the best opportunity for Trinidad & Tobago to qualify for the World Cup since 2006, when they made their first and only appearance in the tournament. Fortune could also represent Trinidad & Tobago at the CONCACAF Gold Cup later in June.
Efrain Morales returns to Bolivia for two CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers against Venezuela (June 6) and Chile (June 10). Morales has become a consistent part of this Bolivian World Cup Qualification campaign since he made his debut in November. With Bolivia sitting one point out of the interconfederation play-in spot held by Venezuela and four points ahead of last-place Chile, these could be vital fixtures if Bolivia is going to earn its first qualification since 1994.
Sitting just behind Efrain Morales and Bolivia is Luis Abram’s Peru. With 10 points through 14 matches and 5 points behind Venezuela for the interconfederation play-in spot, Peru has a steep hill to climb. They will take on sixth-place Colombia (June 6) and second-place Ecuador (June 10).
Miguel Almiron’s Paraguay is in a far better position with 21 points across 14 matches. Paraguay will host Uruguay (June 5) before traveling to Brazil (June 10) for a chance to break the three-way tie for third place. Paraguay has already drawn Uruguay and beaten Brazil, so they should feel confident about their chances during this window.
Bartosz Slisz will travel to Poland for an international friendly against Moldova (June 6) ahead of a UEFA World Cup Qualifier in Finland (June 10). Slisz has played 15 matches for Poland since 2021. Poland currently leads Group G of UEFA qualification with victories over Lithuania and Malta. Finland sits in second with a win against Malta and a tie against Lithuania.
Saba Lobjanidze will travel to Georgia for a pair of friendlies against the Faroe Islands (June 5) and Cape Verde (June 8). Lobjanidze will look to add to the three goals in 38 matches he has played for Georgia since 2017. Georgia was drawn into Group E of the UEFA World Cup Qualifiers with Spain, Turkey, and Bulgaria. Their qualification campaign will kick off in September against Turkey and Bulgaria.
Emmanuel Latte Lath will travel to Toronto with Côte d’Ivoire to face New Zealand (June 7) and Canada (June 10) in a pair of international friendlies. This will be his third call-up since making his debut in World Cup Qualification against Gabon one year ago. Côte d’Ivoire leads CAF World Cup Qualification Group F with 16 points across 6 matches, with 5 wins and 1 draw. Côte d’Ivoire will play Gabon and Burundi in September with the hope of adding some distance between themselves and the next two teams below them in the group standings.
Atlanta United 2 goalkeeper Jonathan Ransom will travel to Spain with Canada’s U-17 National Team in preparation for the U-17 World Cup in February. Canada will play Japan (5 June) and the USA (7 June) in Albir, Spain. Canada is one of eight teams from CONCACAF to qualify for the U-17 World Cup, winning Group A. Ransom’s Atlanta United 2 teammate Cooper Sanchez will also be in Spain preparing with the United States U-17s after their successful qualification campaign. Sanchez will face Sweden (June 5), Canada (June 7), and Japan (June 10) in Valencia, Spain.
We wish these players well as they compete for their national teams.
Let us know in the comments which of these matches you look forward to watching and which World Cup Qualification campaigns you will be following.
Whats the deal with Atlanta United 2 and Fifth Third Stadium in Kennesaw. Both May home matches were moved the visitors stadium and both June home matches have been moved to Athens, all due to the very vague “stadium availability”. That could mean the toilets are backed up or could mean there’s contract issues between Atlanta United and Fifth Third. What’s going on???
The field at Fifth Third Bank Stadium is in really rough shape, so bad that the team has determined it cannot be played on.
I guess they are hoping to fix up the field before KSU football season starts then?
Happy to see youngsters getting starts in these windows… or in general.
This is actually really depressing – to have that many players being called up internationally, and to have the performance and record that we have.
to be fair, a lot of the times, the club team performance doesn’t exactly mean much when it comes to getting called up to the national team. like Matt Turner keeps getting called up to the US team, when he barely plays with his club team.
I think the point is more that there is talent on the roster, but it’s not producing. Out of our key lineup guys, Saba, ELL, Miggy, Slisz, Abram, and Gregerson (when healthy) are all regular call ups for their respective NTs. Miranchuk used to be before Russia invaded Ukraine and got banned from any international competitions.
That’s a lot of guys that rate with some pretty decent NTs. We can’t get them to perform better than the sum of their parts. Maybe it’s coaching, but maybe it’s also a lack of fit with the entire roster.
hopefully Latte can regain some confidence playing with the national team, get a couple of goals. also nice that he doesn’t have to travel far for his international friendlies, so he will be fresher than those traveling to Europe
It blows my mind that Santiago, Tbilisi, and Cairo are comparable distances. Morales (if the match against Chile is in Chile), Saba, Brennan, and Cobb will be racking up those frequent flyer miles.