IRVINE, Calif. — It was a much quieter and subdued day at the United States men’s national team’s training camp Tuesday as the Americans prepared for the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
But for three players wearing the crest, it carried something extra.
They carried California.
From the agricultural heartland of Fresno to the nearby neighborhood of Pico Rivera, and the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, defender Max Arfsten, midfielder Cristian Roldan and forward Haji Wright represent the only California-born players on the 26-man USMNT roster.
In a tournament that will be played largely on American soil, and for the U.S. mostly in Los Angeles, the journey for these three players feels uniquely personal.
“When you’re a kid, you dream of this. You dream about moments like this,” Roldan told The California Post of his World Cup homecoming. “So I’m just trying to soak it all in. It means the world to me.”
For Roldan, that reality hits from multiple directions. The veteran midfielder grew up less than 30 miles from the USMNT’s base camp in Irvine. Every day as the team drives into training, he spots familiar freeway signs and catches a glimpse of the landscape that serves as a reminder of where his story began.
Team USA’s second game will also take him home. The U.S. will take on Australia in Seattle on June 19, where Roldan went to college and became one of MLS’s most respected midfielders with the Seattle Sounders.
“To be able to play our second game in Seattle, where I’ve matured a whole lot as a professional, as a human being, is special,” Roldan said. “I hope that we have really good memories in these two special places.”
Every four years, the World Cup represents a globe-spanning spectacle.
Wright understands that feeling.
Wright plays weekly for Coventry City in England’s Championship, but his roots are in Los Angeles where he chased a soccer ball through the youth ranks of the LA Galaxy’s academy.
“Growing up in LA, it was always soccer, soccer, soccer,” Wright said.
The pressure was real. The expectations were constant. Southern California has become one of the nation’s most fertile soccer pipelines, producing generations of professional players. Wright was one of the kids expected to make it.
Now he’s returning as a World Cup forward.
What makes it even more remarkable is that despite being born and raised in L.A., Wright has never played a professional match in Southern California.
That all changes Friday at SoFi Stadium.
“It means a lot,” Wright said. “I’ve never played in Southern California as wild as it seems. It’ll be like a childhood dream come true.”
Wright was asked if family and friends have hit him up for tickets.
“Everybody has,” Wright said with a laugh. “It’s a lot.”
For Arfsten, the World Cup journey feels deeply rooted in sacrifice.
The Fresno native’s first phone call after learning he had made the final roster was to his parents.
“They helped me achieve my dreams,” Arfsten said. “They drove me to places all over California.”
That sentiment is familiar to countless soccer moms and families across the Golden State: long drives up and down Interstate 5, weekends consumed by tournaments, and countless hours behind the wheel for their children to chase their dreams.
Now their son is headed to a World Cup.
Arfsten will have a homecoming of his own if the U.S. wins its group.
The top seed in Group D gets a round of 32 match at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, just a two-hour drive from Fresno.
Three players with roots in California.
As the World Cup unfolds, the spotlight will naturally fall on stars, tactics and results.
Yet woven into the tapestry of this American team are three men who grew up under California skies with a chance to return home and make history.
For Arfsten, Roldan and Wright, their journey to the 2026 World Cup didn’t just lead them back to America.
It led them home to California.
