Mauricio Pochettino is going to have a lot of trouble choosing who makes the cut in his squad for the 2026 World Cup
Who would’ve thought would be the case just over two months ago, when the Yanks lost 2-0 at home to South Korea to drop their 2025 record against fellow World Cup entrants to 2W-5L with the wins against Haiti — at the time not yet a World Cup team — and Saudi Arabia?
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That record now stands at 6W-1D-5L after Pochettino’s men sandwiched wins over Japan and Australia around a draw with Ecuador, then rolled through November friendly wins over Paraguay and Uruguay.
Yes, they were at home, but so is the World Cup and Pochettino was without so many key pieces.
But how key are they?
Club season is looming large and the March international break’s friendlies should be intense as Pochettino just watched a number of perceived outsiders or bubble players thrive against the nations ranked 15th and 39th in the world.
So presuming Pochettino doesn’t ‘pull a Klinsmann’ and roster Luca Koleosho while dropping Christian Pulisic or something, here’s what we think may happen this summer.
Who will make the USMNT’s 2026 World Cup roster? Mauricio Pochettino’s good headache
At the moment, the World Cup squad size is expected to be 26 despite some rumors of an increase to 30 players.
Then-manager Gregg Berhalter used this positional breakdown for the 2022 World Cup: three goalkeepers, nine defenders, eight midfielders, and seven forwards. There’s plenty of room for debate over the primary positions of players in those last two groups, but it’s a good guide.
Goalkeepers
This could go in just about any direction. Matt Freese looks nailed-on as Goalkeeper No. 1. The NYCFC man has started 13 of the last 14 games., though those represent all of his caps. 2022 World Cup starter Matt Turner was not called into camp this window, while Jonathan Klinsmann, Roman Celentano, and Patrick Schulte were with the team but did not see any time. Ethan Horvath, Diego Kochen, Drake Callender, Zack Steffen, and Chris Brady have all been called into a camp over the past year.
Turner, Steffen, Schulte, and now Freese have been No. 1 goalkeepers for the USMNT at some point in their careers, while Horvath and Sean Johnson have plenty of experience. Pochettino isn’t exactly worried about future experience — this is his cycle and he’s not expected to stay in the international game — but he still may plug a young player into his group of three. The third spot behind Freese and Turner is so uncertain, and for the moment we’ll say the choice that means Pochettino has the sons of two former USMNT coaches on the roster. If Johnson is still in Poch’s mind, though, that might be the simple solution.
Projected World Cup squad goalkeepers: Matt Freese (NYCFC), Matt Turner (New England Revolution) Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena)
Defenders
Pochettino’s quite successful use of fullbacks Joe Scally and Alex Freeman as part of his back three muddles the positional waters here, so we won’t distinguish center backs from fullbacks and just call this a pool of nine. It’s also been a mostly healthy group aside from Cameron Carter-Vickers’ longer-term injury and Antonee Robinson’s struggles to get back to health.
This may be the biggest question mark outside of goal, not in terms of who’s involved but in terms of variable for World Cup success. Pochettino’s certainties at this point feel like Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Max Arfsten, Sergino Dest, Alex Freeman, and — health-pending — Antonee Robinson. That’s four fullbacks and only one (Freeman) who Pochettino has used inside a back three.
So if we say there are three spots remaining, we can bet on at least two being center backs. Mark McKenzie captained the Yanks against Uruguay and Miles Robinson has been in an awful lot of teams. So we’re down to one spot for: Scally, John Tolkin, Auston Trusty, veteran/experience wild card Walker Zimmerman and cap-tie/youth wild card Noahkai Banks. We suspect it’s really down to Scally or Trusty, and that this won’t be decided until the very last moment. Recency bias will dictate our selection.
Projected World Cup squad defenders: Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergino Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando City SC), Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach), Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
That leaves 14 spots for the rest. And oh boy is that tough.
Central midfielders
There’s plenty of carryover between attacking mids and wingers, but we’ll do our best to slot players into the right spot. This one is a huge headache.
(First big inhale) Tyler Adams is a force and Tanner Tessmann is ascending to that level. Weston McKennie is a Juventus regular. Johnny Cardoso was a big summer buy and is a regular when healthy for Atletico Madrid. Sebastian Berhalter’s dead ball service and fire have made him a revelation. Cristian Roldan and Aidan Morris are steady and clearly valued by Pochettino.
(Second big inhale) Malik Tillman might’ve been the program’s best player in September and October and has been quite good for Bayer Leverkusen. Jack McGlynn is a total X-factor and at 22 feels like one of the program’s next big things. Luca de la Torre is solid and liked in the room. James Sands has come through the ranks with a lot of the guys and is a key piece at St. Pauli. Yunus Musah is versatile and once felt a lock for a 10-year run of call-ups but hasn’t been with the team since earning cap No. 47 versus Canada in March’s Nations League third place game.
In short, yeeeeesh.
The very final spots will come down to Pochettino’s preference. He’s loved Cristian Roldan. Berhalter is a live wire and the set piece skill hearkens back to Michael Bradley’s near-elite levels. The resumes of McKennie and Cardoso will continue to be burnished while MLS is in offseason mode. Morris has been solid. Musah may grow in Antonio Conte’s plans
The final decision may come down to Pochettino’s fondness for Roldan — who has been at his USMNT best since the boss pulled him back into the fold — the high ceilings of Cardoso and McKennie, and Berhalter’s ebullient fall. And it really may come down to Roldan versus Cardoso.
Projected World Cup squad center midfielders: Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Tanner Tessmann (Lyon), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Johnny Cardoso (Atletico Madrid)
Wingers
Another headache area made downright splitting by the performance of Giovanni Reyna during the November break. Christian Pulisic has been one of the best players in Serie A and remains the face of the program. Weah is a no-brainer due to performances for club and country. Diego Luna is beloved by Pochettino and the fan base as a breath of fresh air and total wild card in attack.
Alex Zendejas has shown serious flair while wearing the shirt as of late and Brenden Aaronson’s Leeds form is as good as ever. McKennie, Tillman, and McGlynn can all play here, too.
Yet with McKennie able to play wing and Tillman fine there in a pinch, this number might be slimmer than first thought.
Projected World Cup squad wingers: Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Timothy Weah (Marseille), Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Monchengladbach), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United)
Center forwards
This is another terrific and welcome problem for Pochettino. Folarin Balogun is the man, but the list of big finishers available to him is long. Haji Wright is delivering time and again for Frank Lampard at Coventry City. and Ricardo Pepi doing the same for Peter Bosz at PSV. Josh Sargent has worn the captain’s band for Norwich City, while Patrick Agyemang is healthy and firing for Derby County. Pochettino’s liked Vancouver’s Brian White when healthy, Damion Downs impressed enough to get a move to Southampton, and — oh yeah — Timothy Weah can play here in a pinch.
Wright is the front-runner to backup Balogun. Agyemang will hope to out-perform Pepi (and that Pepi’s flubbed chance versus Paraguay lives in Pochettino’s memory). The rest will hope to get hot and demand the boss’ attention.
Projected World Cup squad center forwards: Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Haji Wright (Coventry City), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven)
