Ricardo Pepi Called into National Team Duty for World Cup Qualifiers

FRISCO, Texas (September 29, 2021) – FC Dallas Homegrown striker Ricardo Pepi has been called up by U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Gregg Berhalter to represent the United States in the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Jamaica, Panama and Costa Rica.

Pepi will report to camp following FC Dallas’ home match against Minnesota United FC match on Saturday, Oct. 2.

This is Pepi’s second call up to the USMNT following his senior team debut in September where he scored his first USMNT goal and recorded two assists in the 4-1 win against Honduras on Sept. 8 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Pepi became the second-youngest USMNT player to score in a World Cup Qualifier at 18 years and 242 days old and was also the second-youngest player to make his senior team debut behind Christian Pulisic who made his debut at 17 years and 193 days.

Pepi also became the fourth-youngest player to score in his USMNT debut, trailing only Juan Agudelo, Josh Sargent and Landon Donovan. He’s the first USMNT player to score while making his international debut in a World Cup qualifying match since Eddie Johnson in 2004 and is the youngest to score while making his debut in WCQ.

The El Paso, Texas native has scored 15 goals and recorded four assists across all competitions for FC Dallas. Pepi became the youngest player in MLS and FC Dallas history at 18 years and 196 days old to score a hat trick when he scored three goals in the 4-1 win against the LA Galaxy on July 24, 2021. Pepi participated in his first MLS All-Star Game on Aug. 25 and scored the game-winning penalty for MLS to beat LIGA MX 3-2 in penalties following a 1-1 draw in regulation. He also participated in the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge a day prior and won the Cross and Volley Challenge for MLS.

He signed with FC Dallas as the 26th Homegrown in club history at 16 years and 163 days old on June 21, 2019. He is the first true pathway player to start his youth soccer career in the FC Dallas-El Paso affiliate before joining the FC Dallas Academy in 2016, signing with FC Dallas’ USL League One affiliate North Texas SC as their first-ever player signing in 2018, and lastly the senior team. 

The USMNT are third in the Concacaf World Cup Qualifying standings with five points and a 1-0-2 record. The USMNT will face Jamaica in Austin, Texas (6:30PM CT; ESPN2, TUDN, Univision), Panama in Panama City, Panama (5PM CT; Paramount+, Universo) and Costa Rica in Columbus, Ohio (6:00PM CT; ESPN2, TUDN, UniMás).