Diego Luna's rise proves annual 'Camp Cupcake' still has plenty to offer USMNT

With stars like Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah absent from the senior team all summer, Luna is quickly becoming the face of this new-look USMNT. 

He’s talented, committed, hungry and utterly unpredictable when he takes the field. But Luna’s USMNT breakthrough didn’t happen under the bright lights of the Gold Cup. It happened earlier this year during the oft-maligned, poorly understood annual U.S. Soccer camp, known rather uncharitably as "Camp Cupcake."

Camp Cupcake is something of a lightning rod within the USMNT community. Founded in 1997, it’s a set of friendlies that the team plays in January outside of traditional FIFA windows. Camp Cupcake is unsanctioned, unofficial and utterly unserious, but it does have a purpose: to give a platform to American players from Major League Soccer, many of whom are overlooked for USMNT positions in favor of their Europe-based counterparts.

The American soccer community is divided about these January games. Many fans find these games silly, pointless and far too childlike to be helpful (hence the only-sort-of-kidding Camp Cupcake nickname.) However, some, especially those who have been involved in the sport for a while, think differently. They see real value in giving MLS players a chance to prove themselves and earn a spot in the USMNT roster.

As the 2025 Gold Cup draws to a close, it’s the latter camp that looks like it’s on the right side of history — and Diego Luna is a big part of why. Luna got his USMNT start in 2025’s Camp Cupcake, playing through a broken nose to help the USMNT beat Costa Rica 3-0.

If the USMNT hadn’t played those silly, pointless, childlike Camp Cupcake matches back in January, the team wouldn’t have Luna scoring two crucial goals to book its place in the Gold Cup final. It might not have Luna at all: the Sunnyvale, CA-born athlete was also eligible to play for Mexico and could have opted to join El Tri instead.

“He’s improving, he’s getting experience,” USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino said of Luna after his Guatemala brace. “How important was January, no? We discovered a player like him and gave him confidence.

“People say [Camp Cupcake] is useless, but it’s not useless. It’s important for the national team, very important for the country.”

Luna wasn’t the only USMNT Gold Cup regular to break through during Camp Cupcake 2025. Charlotte FC striker Patrick Agyemang made his first national team appearances there too, and he’s started every single game of the USMNT’s Gold Cup run. 

Agyemang’s speed, physicality and excellent hold-up play during this tournament have earned him interest from top English clubs, with both Ipswich Town and Derby County in talks to sign him before the summer transfer window closes. 

The evolution of Luna, Agyemang and Ream should start serious conversations about the way we discuss Camp Cupcake across the U.S. Soccer landscape. 

Yes, its games are often juvenile and frivolous, but Camp Cupcake has been the difference between delight and disaster for the USMNT this summer as it navigates a tournament without any of its big-name stars.