The selection of Medford’s Brenden Aaronson and Park Ridge’s Matt Turner to the U.S.
Men’s National Team squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup follows a trend.
But it’s not just Aaronson and Turner make the team for the second consecutive World
Cup, it’s that New Jersey has had at least one representative on each World Cup team
since the U.S. returned to being a regular fixture in the event in 1990.
Aaronson and Turner include a list that includes John Harkes, Tim Howard, Tony
Meola, Tab Ramos, Claudio Reyna and Greg Berhalter (who was on the team as a
player and served as head coach).
Ramos, who immigrated to the U.S. and Kearny from Uruguay at age 11, said he
knows why.
“It’s grit,” he told BINJE at a Bank of America event. “You need to be tough to succeed
as an athlete in this state, nothing comes easy. But I think we like it that way. If it was
easy, everyone would do it.
“That’s the mentality we brought to training camp. We were eager to show that we are
tougher and stronger than everyone else there.”
That certainly showed when New Jersey was at the forefront of the drive to return to the
World Cup. Ramos joined two of his friends from Kearny, keeper Tony Meola and
midfielder John Harkes, in the effort.
“We weren’t going to accept losing,” he said. “We were going to learn from our losses.”
New Jersey has played a key role in the revitalization of the sport in the U.S.
Ramos, Meola and Harkes all returned to the squad in 1994, when the World Cup was
last played in the U.S. They were joined by a young Claudio Reyna, who became the
first player to be on four World Cup squads (‘94, ‘98, 2002, 2006).
Reyna was the captain and star player when the U.S. had its best-ever finish (in the
modern era), reaching the quarterfinals in 2002.
That Jersey toughness has been on display every Cup since.
And to be clear, that Jersey grit didn’t just start in 1990.
The men’s team that competed on the 1930 World Cup team that advance to the semifinal, the nation’s best finish, had a number of players from Jersey.
Jimmy Douglas, a native of East Newark, played every minute as a goalkeeper, recording shutouts against Belgium and Paraguay.
Tom Florio, a native of Harrison, was the captain of the squad and scored a goal in the opening match. He went on to captain the 1934 team, too.
New Jersey’s history in the World Cup is found on the women’s event, too.
There has been a woman from New Jersey on every team since the famed 1999 squad, including some of the all-time greats: Tobin Heath (4 times, 2 titles), Carli Lloyd (4 times, 2 titles), Heather O’Reilly (3 times, 1 title) and Christie Rampone (5 times, 2 titles).
Casey Murphy and Alana Cook were on the 2023 team.
“Jersey kids know how to compete,” Ramos said.
