Germany has won the race for coveted center back Noahkai Banks, dealing a major blow to the U.S. men's national team.
Banks has accepted a call-up to Germany's under-21 team for Euro qualifiers, which looks to spell the end of the USMNT's hopes of landing the Augsburg defender.
In order to play for Germany in three upcoming matches against Latvia, Malta and Georgia, the 19-year-old would have to file a one-time change of association request through FIFA which would permanently tie him to Germany.
According to Germany's U-21 head coach Antonio Di Salvo, Banks has "chosen to represent Germany."
“We’ve been in contact with both of them for a while now and had focused our efforts on them," Di Salvio said in a news release of Banks and fellow dual national
Louey Ben Farhat.
"I’m very pleased that we have been able to lay out a future pathway with Germany for them and that they agreed with it.”
The news is a major blow for the USMNT, which is thin at center back and loses out on a teenager who appears to have a big future in the game.
Banks could have even represented the USMNT at the 2026 World Cup, but head coach Mauricio Pochettino said in March that he called up the defender for two pre-World Cup friendlies, only to have him decline the invitation.
The defender was born in Hawaii to an American father and German-Spanish mother. After moving to Washington, D.C., Banks relocated to Germany when he was a young child. He has only represented the U.S. so far, playing at various youth levels and earning one senior call-up last September. He did not play in either of the USMNT's two September matches.
It appeared that Banks was set on representing the United States, saying in February there was "no thought" of a switch to Germany.
But only a month later, he turned down a call-up from the USMNT after admitting he was "torn" over his international future.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coveted defender Noahkai Banks chooses Germany over USMNT
