The Union’s Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, and Brandan Craig make the U.S. U20 World Cup team

It was no surprise, since the Union made no secret of it, and on Wednesday it became official: Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, and Brandan Craig were named to the U.S. national team for the under-20 men’s World Cup that starts May 20.

The trio, all Union academy products, are part of a 21-player squad chosen by head coach Mikey Varas. Sullivan and Craig already have left for a short training camp in Buenos Aires ahead of the tournament in Argentina, and McGlynn will leave after Saturday’s game at Colorado.

The U.S. will kick off its group stage on the tournament’s opening day, and play Ecuador (May 20), Fiji (May 23), and Slovakia (May 26).

From there, we’ll see how far the U.S. goes. The round of 16 will take place from May 30-June 1, the quarterfinals are June 3-4, the semifinals are June 8, and the final and third-place game are set for June 11. Games will be televised on Fox channels in English and Telemundo channels in Spanish.

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Clubs aren’t required to release players for youth tournaments the way they are for senior-level World Cups and continental championships along with FIFA national team windows throughout the year. And because this tournament overlaps not just with the MLS season but with the end of the European season, a number of big names aren’t on the U.S. squad.

Medford’s Paxten Aaronson, for example, will stay with Eintracht Frankfurt, even though the Union alumnus starred in the World Cup qualifying tournament. Eintracht is in the German Cup final on June 3, and Aaronson has done so well in his first few months there that the club wants to play him more.

“Unfortunately for us and for Paxten, it wasn’t able to be,” Varas said Wednesday afternoon. “But at the same time, we’re really proud that Paxten has become such an important part of Frankfurt’s team that they don’t feel that they can release him.”

» READ MORE: Ernst Tanner reveals details of Paxten Aaronson’s move from the Union to Eintracht Frankfurt

McGlynn, Sullivan, and Craig also featured on the U.S. qualifying team, helping their country reach not just this tournament but next year’s Olympics.

Notable players held back by their MLS teams include Chicago Fire midfielder Brian Gutiérrez and goalkeeper Chris Brady, and Los Angeles Galaxy centerback Jalen Neal.

(Just as notably, five days after Chicago manager Ezra Hendrickson made his announcement, he was fired with his team next to last in the Eastern Conference.)

“We’re disappointed that some players weren’t released,” Varas said. “But at the same time, our number one priority here is individual player development. So we’re also proud of the fact that these players have become so important during the cycle that they’re no longer viewed as releasable for this type of tournament.”

There was rarely any doubt about what the Union would do. Sullivan and Craig, lifelong friends from Northeast Philadelphia, always were locks to go. The team was willing to let McGlynn go even if it had made the Concacaf Champions League final, which will be played May 31 and June 4, though it would have thought hard first. Once the Union lost to Los Angeles FC, the question was moot.

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“It’s who we are — we’re not going to lie and say we’re one thing and then completely change it now,” Union manager Jim Curtin said last week.

“We’d be hypocrites,” he continued. “This is what we believed in when this club was founded. This is what we’ve believed in since I’ve been here, and to change that now would be very, very hypocritical.”

Curtin was ready for critics of his view, too.

“We have great, great, great young players, and sometimes we get in our own way and we think we can act like Europe or act like South America — but we’re not there yet,” he said. “We’re not Spain, we’re not Germany, we’re not Argentina. We’ve never won a [men’s] World Cup ever. So let’s try to win every competition at the youth level and show that we have great players, because we do, rather than the confusion of acting like we are them.”

Curtin encouraged those critics to see the players’ perspective.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for kids that they may never get back again,” he said. “So to prevent them from playing in a U-20 World Cup, I’m sorry, I don’t agree with it. Maybe I’m in the minority there, but that’s what I believe in. That’s what our club believes in.”

Varas praised the Union in turn.

“If these boys, amongst the others, have big tournaments, the team is going to do really well,” he said. “Philadelphia is a great example of a club we’re really grateful for in terms of having a clear philosophy and supporting these guys.”

Headline names from other clubs to know include goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina of England’s Chelsea; centerback Justin Che of Germany’s Hoffenheim; midfielder Rokas Pukštas of Croatia’s Hajduk Split; and winger Kevin Paredes of Germany’s Wolfsburg.

Varas said Pukstas and Paredes will join the squad after the group stage as a condition of their clubs releasing them.

» READ MORE: The Union have rarely had must-watch players. Jack McGlynn is one right now.

Goalkeepers (3): Alexander Borto (Fulham, England), Antonio Carrera (FC Dallas), Gabriel “Gaga” Slonina (Chelsea, England)

Defenders (7): Justin Che (Hoffenheim, Germany), Brandan Craig (Union), Mauricio Cuevas (Los Angeles Galaxy), Marcus Ferkranus (Los Angeles Galaxy), Jonathan Gómez (Real Sociedad, Spain), Caleb Wiley (Atlanta United), Joshua Wynder (Louisville City)

Midfielders (7): Daniel Edelman (New York Red Bulls), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Union), Rokas Pukštas (Hajduk Split, Croatia), Niko Tsakiris (San Jose Earthquakes), Obed Vargas (Seattle Sounders), Owen Wolff (Austin FC)

Forwards (4): Cade Cowell (San Jose Earthquakes), Kevin Paredes (Wolfsburg, Germany), Quinn Sullivan (Union), Darren Yapi (Colorado Rapids)