Christian Pulisic will return to the United States men’s national team for a pair of year-ending friendly matches in Europe, but veteran midfielder Michael Bradley will not.

Borussia Dortmund star Pulisic headlines interim coach Dave Sarachan’s 28-man roster for next Thursday’s high-profile exhibition against 2018 World Cup semifinalist England at London’s Wembley Stadium and another Nov. 20 against four-time world champ Italy in Genk, Belgium. Here’s the full squad, which has an average age of just 23 years old:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Atlanta United), Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge/Belgium), Zack Steffen (Columbus Crew)

Defenders: John Brooks (Wolfsburg/Germany, Reggie Cannon (FC Dallas), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Swansea City/Wales), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Matt Miazga (Nantes/France), Shaq Moore (Reus Deportiu/Spain), Antonee Robinson (Wigan/England), Jorge Villafana (Portland Timbers), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United/England), Walker Zimmerman (LAFC)

Midfielders: Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Tyler Adams (New York Red Bulls), Romain Gall (Malmo/Sweden) Luca de la Torre (Fulham/England), Marky Delgado (Toronto FC), Julian Green (Greuther Furth/Germany), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Weston McKennie (Schalke/Germany), Darlington Nagbe (Atlanta United), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund/Germany), Kenny Saief (Anderlecht/Belgium), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew), Tim Weah (Paris Saint-Germain)

Forwards: Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen/Germany), Bobby Wood (Hannover/Germany)

Pulisic has played just once for the U.S. this year, and was forced to withdraw from USMNT rosters in September and again last month because of injury. He’s back now, though, as is fellow 20-year-old Bundesliga standout Weston McKennie, who also missed the October matches against Colombia and Peru because of a leg aliment.

“These last two matches provide a fantastic set of challenges and experiences, so we’re excited to bring in this group of players for another huge opportunity,” Sarachan said in a press release. “Historically, England and Italy have been mainstays in the elite of national team football.

“Playing England at Wembley is the opportunity of a lifetime,” he continued. “And our players will have the added bonus of facing a team that is clearly on the rise as they showed with their run to the World Cup semifinals this past summer.”

Somewhat surprisingly, the group features seven players still involved in the MLS Cup playoffs, including Atlanta United goalkeeper Brad Guzan and midfielder Darlington Nagbe, Columbus Crew backstop Zack Steffen and captain Wil Trapp, and New York Red Bulls pair Tyler Adams and Aaron Long. The large domestic contingent is part of the reason for the expanded roster; the six players involved in Sunday’s playoff games won’t get to train until Tuesday at the earliest, just two days before the England match. But given the stature of the two opponents, Sarachan wanted to summon his strongest possible team.

“These are important matches and we only have so many opportunities every year to bring our players together,” he said. “You want to include players that you feel are vital to your program. There are other leagues around the world that have games right before and after these windows, but I feel when the national team calls there is still an importance to bringing players that we feel will be significant to the team now and in the future.”

The 31-year-old Bradley is the exception.

“Michael’s schedule the past two years with Toronto FC has been virtually non-stop and he has largely played without a break,” Sarachan said of Bradley, who has amassed 142 caps. At this stage, it made sense to give him some extra time off and also allow these games to be a platform for players that lack that kind of experience.”

Also left out was speedy 19-year-old Denmark-based winger Jonathan Amon, who made his U.S. debut last month, and Columbus Crew forward Gyasi Zardes, who leads all Americans with 20 MLS goals this season.

But Swedish-based midfielder Romain Gall made the cut, as did Luca De La Torre, who has yet to make his Premier League debut for Fulham.

Doug McIntyre covers soccer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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