Meet 'Grandpa,' Captain of US' World Cup Team

Tim Ream is not the star most fans expected to see leading the US men's national team into its biggest World Cup yet—but that's exactly the point. In a profile for the Washington Post, Rick Maese traces how a 38-year-old defender long on the margins of the national team became its captain for a home World Cup in 2026. Teammates tease him with monikers like "Grandpa" and "Unc," but Coach Mauricio Pochettino has handed him the captain's armband in 18 of 25 matches, valuing his steadiness, reading of the game, and influence in a locker room dominated by players a decade younger. "He brings a different aura to the team," says fellow defender Sergiño Dest. "What Tim brings to the team is something that is really hard to replace."

Maese charts Ream's unlikely arc: From St. Louis youth fields to MLS, to long stints abroad at Bolton and Fulham, on-and-off national team call-ups, and a late-career return to MLS with Charlotte FC. Once a surprise pick just to make the 2022 World Cup squad at age 34, he's now set to become the oldest American man ever to play in a World Cup match. Ream insists he's not there as a token veteran but as someone still fighting for minutes. For the full story of how he got here—and what this World Cup means to him—read the full piece at the Washington Post.