The United States will boast a young team at the World Cup and with that young team, they will also have a young leader in Tyler Adams. During World Cup qualifying, USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter used rotating captains with Christian Pulisic and Walker Zimmerman before settling in on Adams, who wore the armband in seven of his 12 qualifying appearances.
Berhalter on Sunday, a day before Monday's opener against Wales, announced that Adams will be the captain during the tournament in Qatar, making history in the process. Each member of the team was given a vote and Adams was selected to become the youngest World Cup captain in USMNT history at 23.
"It's a huge honor for me, obviously, to be named captain of this team," Adams said. "A very young team, but a lot of credit to my teammates because anyone throughout our leadership council can wear that armband and represent us with pride and represent us in the right way."
This may be Adams' first World Cup, but outside of DeAndre Yedlin that rings true for the rest of the team. Adams has taken on leadership roles in the past and is well experienced both in Europe where he has 116 appearances for RB Leipzig and Leeds United to go along with 32 senior caps for the national team.
The 2022 team ties with the 1990 side for the most U-23 players on the team with nine in a list that includes Adams with the youngest trio being Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna, and Joe Scally who are all 19. This is a team that has grown together with 14 players all representing the team at a FIFA youth World Cup and they have also won the Concacaf Gold Cup and Nations League in the lead-up to this World Cup. Those 32 caps are seventh most on the team with Yedlin leading the way with 75 caps to his name.
When someone needs to settle the team down, they'll look to Adams but that doesn't mean that he'll be the only person providing leadership as it's a group effort among everyone in the side. Adams is able to get vocal to organize the team and has impressive awareness in space which will be on display against Wales on Nov. 21 to kick off their World Cup journey.
