Chicago Fire FC and U.S. Soccer today announced that Chicago Fire Academy defender Christopher Cupps has been named to the U.S. U-17 Men’s Youth National Team roster that will compete at the 2025 Concacaf U-17 Qualifiers. Defender Chase Nagle will join the squad as a training player until February 10. The Concacaf U-17 Qualifiers will take place Feb. 3-16 in San Jose, Costa Rica.
U-17 USMNT head coach and former Fire player Gonzalo Segares will lead his squad against the US Virgin Islands at 7 p.m. CT on Feb. 10, followed by a match against St. Kitts and Nevis at 7 p.m. CT on Feb. 12. The U.S. will close out the group stage against Cuba at 7 p.m. CT on Feb. 15. The first two matches will take place at the Estadio Nacional in San Jose and the third match will be played at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela.
A member of the Academy at the U-19 age level, Cupps featured consistently for Chicago Fire II during the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season. Cupps played in 15 matches (10 starts) and logged 975 minutes for Chicago Fire II in 2024. Cupps also participated in the first leg of preseason training camp with the Chicago Fire first team, playing 45 minutes against Brazilian club Fortaleza on Jan. 19 and 90 minutes against Western Conference rival Sporting Kansas City on Jan. 25.
Most recently, Cupps joined the U-17 USMYNT for a domestic training camp in West Palm Beach, Fla., in November. He was also part of the U-16 USMYNT that traveled to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in May 2024 for international friendly matches against Argentina and Uruguay. It is the first time Nagle will participate in a USMYNT training camp.
