The U.S. men’s soccer team will play at Subaru Park in November

Six years since the U.S. men’s soccer team last played in the Philadelphia area, the wait for the program’s return will finally end this fall.

The Americans will play Paraguay on Nov. 15 at Subaru Park, multiple sources with knowledge of the matter told The Inquirer, with an official announcement expected this weekend.

Ticket details and the kickoff time also will come with that announcement.

Why not play at Lincoln Financial Field? Though the date is a Saturday when Temple’s football team is off, there is an Eagles home game the next day. U.S. Soccer doesn’t want to play a game on a field with gridiron lines or on a grass surface that’s been worn down by football players.

The last time the U.S. men played here was in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup at the Linc. Their last visit for one of U.S. Soccer’s own games was in May 2018, a few months after the failure to qualify for that year’s World Cup.

This time, the circumstances will be very different. It will be the team’s next-to-last game of the year and their third-to-last game before the 2026 World Cup kicks off on home soil.

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That should mean fans get to see players whom manager Mauricio Pochettino expects to be on the World Cup squad. Pochettino has said he sees this month’s games against Japan and South Korea as the last chance to judge new faces before starting to narrow down the depth chart.

It also could be a homecoming for the many Philadelphia-area products in the U.S. pool these days, some of whom have said over the years that they want a game here. But could is a key word right now.

While Hershey’s Christian Pulisic almost certainly will be there (though he and his family are based in Florida these days), Medford-born Union alumni Brenden and Paxten Aaronson have seen their stocks fall recently in midfield. The same goes for Delaware native Mark McKenzie at centerback. Pochettino didn’t invite any of them to this month’s squad.

Downingtown’s Zack Steffen, meanwhile, has missed two shots to play for Pochettino this year because of illness and injuries. The veteran goalkeeper is healthy now, so his omission this month was another plot twist.

» READ MORE: Zack Steffen made his case to play for the USMNT when he faced the Union in July

Wayne’s Matt Freese, who started at the Gold Cup, was one of three goalkeepers invited this time. Given his experience, he is expected to start at least one of this month’s games against South Korea on Saturday (5 p.m., TNT, Universo) or next Tuesday’s game against Japan (7:30 p.m., TNT, Universo).

Pochettino also seems fond of another Union alumnus, midfielder Jack McGlynn, and current Union defender Nathan Harriel. But it remains to be seen where they’ll stand if Pochettino chooses to play more of his Europe-based stars as the World Cup approaches.

The Paraguay game here will be one of two contests the U.S. plays during November’s FIFA window. The other reportedly will be three days later against Uruguay at the NFL stadium in Tampa, Fla. Confirmation of that also is expected this week.

After November, there will be just two games in March left before Pochettino picks his World Cup team next June.

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Because the game here will be the first game in the window, the U.S. squad likely will spend a week of training camp in the area beforehand. If that happens, and if they use the Union’s newly expanded facilities in Chester, it will be a nice endorsement of the club.

The U.S. women’s team also gave an endorsement when they chose to play Portugal on Oct. 23 in Chester. It will be their first game in that FIFA window, meaning they’ll also likely borrow some of the Union’s space.

Both games will be during the MLS playoffs, which means Subaru Park will be quite busy. The women’s game falls between the wild card round (which the first-place Union almost certainly won’t be in) and the first full round. The men’s game falls between the first and second rounds, and the league will pause its schedule for the FIFA window.

Sept. 6: vs. South Korea in Harrison, N.J., 5 p.m. (TNT, Telemundo 62, HBO Max, Peacock)

Sept. 9: vs. Japan in Columbus, Ohio, 7:30 p.m. (TNT, Telemundo, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

Oct. 10: vs. Ecuador in Austin, Texas, 8:30 p.m. (TNT, truTV, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

Oct. 14: vs. Australia in Commerce City, Colo., 9 p.m. (TNT, Universo, HBO Max, Peacock)

Nov. 15: vs. Paraguay in Chester, Pa., time TBA (TV TBA)

Nov. 18: vs. Uruguay in Tampa, Fla, time TBA (TV TBA)

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