Arminia Bielefeld defender George Bello has been called up to Gregg Berhalter's United States squad ahead of key World Cup qualifiers next week in place of the injured Sergino Dest.

Dest, 21, picked up an injury during Barcelona's 2-1 victory over Galatasaray in Europe League action on Thursday.

The USMNT sits second in the CONCACAF table, four points back of leaders Canada, with three matches remaining. The top three teams in qualifying receive an automatic berth to Qatar 2022 this fall with the fourth-place team settling for a win-or-go-home playoff against a team from Oceania this summer. The United States is currently four points clear of fourth-place Panama.

The USMNT opens its remaining qualifiers on Thursday night at the Azteca. Mexico currently sits in third, level on points with the USMNT, but behind on goal differential. The US returns home to Orlando to take on Panama on Mar. 27 and then finishes off its campaign on Mar. 30 in Costa Rica.

The United States did not qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and hasn't missed successive World Cups since 1986.

UNITED STATES ROSTER FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

GK - Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest), Sean Johnson (New York City FC) and Zack Steffen (Manchester City)

DF - George Bello (Arminia Bielefeld), Reggie Cannon (Boavista), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Erik Palmer-Brown (Troyes), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), James Sands (Rangers), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami) and Walker Zimmermann (Nashville SC)

MF - Kellyn Acosta (Los Angeles FC), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Gianluca Busio (Venezia), Luca de la Torre (Heracles), Yunus Musah (Valencia) and Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)

FW - Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg), Paul Arriola (FC Dallas), Jesus Ferreira (FC Dallas), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders), Jordan Pefok (Young Boys), Ricardo Pepi (Augsburg), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund) and Tim Weah (Lille)