ATLANTA (Nov. 6, 2026) — U.S. Soccer announced today that two Atlanta United 2 players, goalkeeper James Donaldson and midfielder Ignacio Suarez-Couri, were selected by head coach Alex Aldaz to the final United States Under-17 Men's National Team roster for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar. Donaldson and Suarez-Couri are the 10th and 11th players to represent Atlanta United at a FIFA U-17 World Cup and the 16th and 17th players to represent Atlanta United at any FIFA youth World Cup.
The tournament, which runs Nov. 19-Dec. 13, will see the U.S. take on Montenegro at 9:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 21, Chile at 9:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 24 and Algeria at 10 a.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 27 before potentially beginning its knockout campaign on Monday, Nov. 30. All three of the USA’s Group J games will be played at the Aspire Zone Sports Complex in Al Rayyan/Doha, with the final staged at the Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium and Khalifa International Stadium for specific matches. All matches will be streamed on FS2 and FSD.
Donaldson has made 10 appearances for the U.S. across the U-15, 16 and 17 levels, including two appearances at the CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Feb., where he kept his first competitive international clean sheet in an 8-0 victory against St. Vincent and the Grenadines and helped the U.S. clinch qualification for the 2026 FIFA U-17 World Cup. For ATL UTD 2 this season, Donaldson made seven starts, tallying 17 saves and keeping two clean sheets. On April 10, in a 2-0 win against Inter Miami CF II, Donaldson made his first professional appearance and kept a clean sheet, becoming the youngest-ever ATL UTD 2 player to do so.
Suarez-Couri has previously been selected to the U.S. U-16 and Venezuela U-17 national teams, but he made his official international debut with the U.S. U-17 group on June 7 against Brazil. For ATL UTD 2 this season, Suarez-Couri appeared in 24 matches, making 16 starts, scoring five goals and providing two assists, making him the youngest ATL UTD 2 player to reach five goal contributions in a season in the MLS NEXT Pro era. On July 22, he made his MLS debut at Charlotte FC, appearing as an 89th minute substitute after signing a Short-Term Agreement.
