Chicago Fire attacking midfielder Robert Turdean has been selected to represent the United States at the FIFA U-17 World Cup this month. He is among the youngest players selected for the team, as he is playing up a year.
Turdean is among the most notable names on the U.S. roster, which will travel to Qatar for the tournament that kicks off on November 21st. It is the second iteration of the new format – an annual 48-team tournament always held at the Gulf State's Aspire Zone complex in Al Rayyan.
This year's U-17 World Cup is targeted toward the 2009 age group; having been born in the early days of 2010, Turdean is eligible for both this and next year's events.
2026 marks the second consecutive year that a Fire player has represented the U.S. at this tournament; fittingly, they are the Fire's top two homegrown prospects. Christopher Cupps captained a team that included Cavan Sullivan, Mathis Albert, Julian Hall, Jude Terry, and many others, but Morocco shockingly knocked them out on penalties in the Round of 32. Oscar Pineda also took part in the tournament, representing Mexico.
Turdean has featured once for the Fire first team this year. The 16-year-old started against Santos Laguna in a Leagues Cup first round game and was substituted at halftime. He appeared as a central midfielder in a 4-3-3, but has played mainly as a winger for Fire II in MLS Next Pro.
The U.S. will face Montenegro, Chile, and Algeria in the group stage. They are still searching for their first youth World Cup title at any age group.
In addition to the country of his birth, Turdean is eligible to represent Romania through his parents.
The Fire and the Chicago area have a long history of sending players to the U-17 World Cup. Two other Fire Academy prospects took the field last year: Gio Villa for the U.S. and Marius Aiyenero for Canada. Damian Łas is the other U.S. U-17 international who featured while with the Fire, doing so in 2019.
The former Fire players to attend U-17 World Cups are Jon Busch (1993), Jason Moore (1993), DaMarcus Beasley (1999), D.J. Countess (1999), Craig Capano (2001), Mike Magee (2001), Justin Mapp (2001), Florent Sinama-Pongolle (2001), Michael Harrington (2003), John Goossens (2005), Sanna Nyassi (2005), Paolo Tornaghi (2005), David Myrie (2005), Daneil Cyrus (2007), Cristian Nazarit (2007), Brendan King (2007), Kellyn Acosta (2011), Richard Sánchez (2011), and Jairo Torres (2017).
Other Chicago-area players and local youth club products to feature at the event include Michael Dunne (1991), Mike Fisher (1991), Jonathan Spector (2003), Quavas Kirk (2005), Ofori Sarkodie (2005), Josh Lambo (2007), Kirk Urso (2007), Perry Kitchen (2009), Frederick Krug (2023), Martin Krug (2023), and Chase Adams (2025).
