US coach Bob Bradley named his final 23-man World Cup squad on Wednesday with forwards Edson Budle and Herculez Gomez among the 15 players earning their first World Cup berths.

Six of those selected have previous World Cup experience, including midfielder Landon Donovan. Like Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Steve Cherundolo will be playing in the World Cup for a third time.

Beasley's selection completes his comeback from the international wilderness after a nine-month exile from the US team that only ended in March.

Buddle and Gomez had been somewhat surprising picks for Bradley's 30-man preliminary squad, and both made the cut thanks to strong recent club form.

Buddle of Los Angeles Galaxy, is having a strong Major League Soccer season, while Gomez became the first American to top a foreign league in scoring as he tied for the high in Mexico with 10 goals for Puebla.

"Both have been in great form, scored a lot of goals this year," Bradley said. "As we move into the World Cup, players who are on a roll come in handy."

Gomez may have sealed his selection on Tuesday night, when he scored one of America's goals in a 4-2 friendly loss to Czech Republic in East Hartford, Connecticut.

Seventeen of those selected are based in Europe, four in America's Major League Soccer and two in Mexico.

Of the European-based players, eight play in England, three in Germany, two in Scotland, and one each in Denmark, France, Italy and Norway.

The players from the 30-man squad who didn't make the final cut were defenders Chad Marshall and Heath Pearce, midfielders Alejandro Bedoya, Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers and forwards Brian Ching and Eddie Johnson.

"We have been working for almost four years to reach this point, and we are grateful to all the players who have been part of the process," Bradley said.

"It's important in any team building process to get to the final 23, and clearly there were some tough decisions to make. We are confident that this is a group of players that will work together and be committed to doing whatever it takes to be successful."

The entire squad is to visit President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, prior to hosting Turkey in a friendly in Philadelphia on Saturday.

That will be their last match before departing for South Africa on Sunday. Once there they will play one more friendly, against Australia on June 5 - one week before they take on England in a World Cup opener that is a rematch of America's famous upset of the English in the 1950 World Cup.

Squad

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/ENG), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton/ENG), Tim Howard (Everton/ENG)

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes/FRA), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hanover/GER), Jay DeMerit (Watford/ENG), Clarence Goodson (IK Start/NOR), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan/ITA), Jonathan Spector (West Ham/ENG)

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers/SCO), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach/GER), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt/GER), Clint Dempsey (Fulham/ENG), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Maurice Edu (Rangers/SCO), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus/DEN), Stuart Holden (Bolton/ENG), Jose Torres (Pachuca/MEX)

Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Hull/ENG), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles), Robbie Findley (Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla/MEX)

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