There aren’t many players who have a career path like Charlotte FC’s Patrick Agyemang.
In his final match before leaving for his first competitive games with the U.S. men’s national team, the 24-year-old striker scored one of his trademark goals, sneaking behind a defense and finishing first time.
While he impressed USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino with a goal against Venezuela in a January friendly, his MLS performances, most recently highlighted by the goal and 2–0 Charlotte FC win over FC Cincinnati on Saturday, set him up for even more success.
What a week for Patrick Agyemang. 🇺🇸
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 16, 2025
Charlotte leads 2-0. pic.twitter.com/omDtkOj1Su
Not only is he heading into the Concacaf Nations League camp as a fresh face, but he enters in strong form and won’t have insurmountable competition, with Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi missing the camp due to injury.
“It’s cool [to go into camp after scoring a goal]; it’s something I ideally wanted. In the first few games, I didn’t get a goal or assist or anything, so to have this heading into [USMNT] camp is cool,” Agyemang said after Saturday’s match. “At the end of the day, I always back myself no matter what, so even if I hadn’t scored, I would still be ready to go.”
Long Journey Leads to MLS Success, First Competitive USMNT
However, his journey to MLS and the national team is seldom paralleled. Growing up as the son of Ghanaian immigrants just outside Hartford, Connecticut, soccer was always a significant part of his life, as his parents handled multiple jobs. Yet, despite thriving in high school and local soccer, he never got a call from a top NCAA school when college came around.
He signed on with the NCAA DIII program at Eastern Connecticut State before quickly impressing and catching the eye of DI program, Rhode Island, where he moved for his final two years of college soccer.
With 19 goals and 12 assists in 37 matches over three seasons with Rhode Island, MLS clubs began to look at him, with Charlotte FC eventually trading up in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft to select him 12th overall. Since then, he’s quickly climbed through the club’s system, pushing past his time with MLS Next Pro side Crown Legacy FC and establishing himself as the first team’s talismanic attacking force.
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Neither club nor player has looked back since the 2023 SuperDraft, as he’s only continued scoring, putting himself in contention to start meaningful games for the USMNT.
Heading into camp in form brings an entirely new edge to his potential and where he could reach, even as he still enjoys his starring early years of professional soccer in Charlotte. At the same time, his profile at six-foot-four is unlike any other American striker within the USMNT's top pool of players.
“I think he’s still a little bit raw, it's a little bit a player that you can feel that he can evolve and learn a lot,” Pochettino said of Agyemang after naming the roster. “But I think the potential and the characteristics, if he continues his progression, we can talk about for the future in a very good striker, and now it's up to him.”
New Opportunities Loom
While he’s found quick success in MLS, translating that into the national team could open up significant opportunities in the future, not only for bigger contracts down the road but potential moves abroad.
In the upcoming camp, he’ll work to outplay Norwich City’s Josh Sargant, thought to be the top–choice striker in Pochettino’s side, amid a successful season in the English Championship. As much as beating him out remains a possibility, Agyemang will at a minimum, hope to shine above the other MLS attacking call-ups in Vancouver Whitecaps FC’s Brian White and Real Salt Lake’s Diego Luna.
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There won’t be much training in the camp, but he could be in contention to play in the semifinal against Panama. Should he impress there, the opportunity to start against a testing Canadian or Mexican side, potentially for a trophy, could arise.
Not many NCAA DIII soccer players make it to the professional game, and even fewer rise to the glitz and glamor of MLS. But for Agyemang, he’s checking that all off his list and quickly becoming a piece of the U.S. men’s national team’s outlook to FIFA World Cup 2026 and beyond.
“[Agyemang] has been frustrated the last few games,” Charlotte head coach Dean Smith said of the striker’s performance. “Today, I thought his running gave [Cincinnati] real problems; he got the reward with his goal, and it will take him into the U.S. fixtures with a lot of confidence.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Charlotte FC's Agyemang Finds Form Ahead of USMNT Camp.
