Dual-nationality midfielder Timothy Tillman has committed to the US men’s national team. 

FIFA approved the player’s one-time change of association, making him eligible to represent the American team in international competition. Tillman previously formed part of the German national team, playing in official matches at  the youth level. 

Tillman was born in Nürnberg, Germany to an American father and German mother, allowing the dual-nationality figure to represent both teams at an international level. 

Despite playing in Germany for most of his career, last featuring for Greuther Fürth before joining LAFC, the player followed in the footsteps of his older brother Malik Tillman in choosing to sport the Red, White and Blue. 

“To represent the United States is obviously making me proud. I’m really honored to do so and I’m looking forward to the future with the United States,” Tillman said in a release. “Telling my family about it was really exciting. As a kid, my brother and I dreamt of playing for a national team together and now we’re one step closer.”

Tillman, who came up through Bayern Munich’s youth system, has impressed since joining the reigning MLS champions in 2023. He’s managed three goals and two assists in 13 matches across all competitions to become a starter under head coach Steve Cherundolo.  

The midfielder is the latest dual-nat player to commit to the United States, after Folarin Balogun announced his choice just last week. The two could soon feature for the senior side in the upcoming CONCACAF tournaments as the Nations League semifinals and Gold Cup take place this summer. 

Big news for the USMNT as Ligue 1 striker Folarin Balogun opts for international play with the U.S. over England. But fans should also rejoice as another USMNT striker option, FC Dallas’ Jesús Ferreira, puts in the work to arrive in the best possible shape for the U.S.

The 22-year-old netted in the 89th minute of Dallas’ 1–nil victory over Austin FC last Saturday and scored a brace Wednesday night in their 2–1 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps at Toyota Park.

Ferreira now has eight goals in 13 matches this season and is in a three-way tie for second in the 2023 MLS Golden Boot race.

Balogun’s much-awaited announcement certainly pulled the spotlight away with his 19 goals in 34 matches on his loan at Reims from Arsenal this season, Ferreira is doing his part to make himself an attractive option for interim USMNT head coach Anthony Hudson for the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup this summer.

“I’m just setting personal goals for myself and trying to better myself for the team,” Ferreira said after the match. “I’m finding that rhythm I had again, getting into pockets and spaces in the box. My teammates are trusting me to be the guy to score goals, and I’m happy we did a good job today.”

The good news isn’t tied exclusively to USMNT hopes and aspirations as Dallas is also enjoying an upswing from his productivity, sitting in the third spot of the Western Conference with 21 points and are unbeaten in their last three matches.

Ferreira, a Dallas homegrown player, added to his growing tally of milestones as his latest brace is the eighth time in his career that he nets multiple goals and adds to his 44 career goals, putting him in third place in Dallas history two goals behind Kenny Cooper.

His good form has fueled European transfer rumors with Ferreira himself denying a rumor of Serie A champion Napoli putting in an offer for his services.

In the meantime, Ferreira’s focus is on the club he’s called home since 2016.

“At the end of the day we’re a team trying to win games, make the playoffs, and win the MLS Cup,” he said. “We all know that when someone is down we have to support them and continue on and push the next person. The level tonight was there, the guys were hungry and we showed that we’re here to get points.”

A new ranking system has been announced ahead of the 2024 Concacaf Champions League in order to help determine seedings for the competition.

Despite LAFC’s dominant run over the past two seasons in MLS, the Western Conference team are ranked as third-best in the region by the new metric. This may come as a surprise to some as LAFC have booked their ticket to this year’s CCL final and have looked comfortable in most of their games this season.

Liga MX sides CF Monterrey and Club America are the top of the list. Leon, who are also in the CCL final against LAFC, are in seventh place. The top 10 list is largely dominated by Liga MX clubs with seven, leaving the remaining three being MLS clubs.

The rankings are based upon club form in domestic league and cup games as well as international club tournaments. Concacaf began tracking the form of clubs in 2017 to guide their club ranking.

Official competitions that Concacaf uses to determine rankings are: Concacaf Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, domestic first division professional league, Concacaf regional cups and member association cups.

The listed competitions are weighted in the sense that international games award more ranking points than domestic and cup games. Additionally, clubs have the opportunity to gain ranking points by defeating higher ranked opponents but can lose points if they lose to a club that is ranked lower than them with home-field advantage being factored in.

Concacaf has also launched a league ranking system which is different to the club ranking to determine how strong the respective leagues are based on their respective clubs’ performances in international competitions.

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