How USMNT participant pool has developed since 2022 World Cup, and what it means for 2026

As the ultimate whistle blew on its 3-1 defeat to the Netherlands within the 2022 World Cup spherical of 16, the U.S. males’s nationwide workforce confronted a very unusual 3.5 years. As co-host of the expanded 2026 World Cup, the workforce was already certified and subsequently would not play one other really significant match till the World Cup started.

There could be loads of headlines to return, after all — splitting with Gregg Berhalter, rehiring him, firing him after bombing out of the Copa América group stage, profitable two Nations Leagues, shedding two Gold Cups, hiring Mauricio Pochettino — and so they all had which means. However the one factor that actually mattered was how the workforce would look in the summertime of 2026.

Following Saturday’s loss to Belgium in Atlanta, the U.S. has three matches remaining earlier than that World Cup run begins: They’re going to host Portugal in Atlanta on Tuesday, then play Senegal in Charlotte (Could 31) and Germany in Chicago (June 6), after which it is showtime. With the ultimate run-up underway, let’s take a step again and take a look at Pochettino’s lineup picks and the way the participant pool has modified for the reason that motion in Qatar concluded. Loads of 2022 stalwarts have remained within the combine, and whereas depth has elevated properly in plenty of positions, a scarcity of depth in central protection may trigger issues.

So, too, may a scarcity of chemistry: Jeff Carlisle’s most up-to-date projected U.S. starters (all of whom are bolded within the sections beneath) have nonetheless by no means truly seen the pitch collectively.

Let’s go place by place.

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– Carlisle: USMNT handed a actuality test by Belgium
– O’Hanlon: Does the U.S. lastly have sufficient depth to compete?
– What’s it like taking part in for Pochettino? U.S. gamers hold forth

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Goalkeeper

Minutes-adjusted common age below Pochettino: 28.4

Incumbents who remained concerned:
1. Matt Turner (31): 810 minutes below Pochettino
2. Zack Steffen (30): 90 minutes

New names to emerge:
1. Matt Freese (27): 1,170 minutes below Pochettino
2. Patrick Schulte (25): 90 minutes

After his stable efficiency in Qatar, it was straightforward to pencil Turner’s identify in because the doubtless beginning goalkeeper in 2026. However his struggles on the membership stage — he barely performed after shifting to Arsenal in 2022-23, was poor on mortgage with Nottingham Forest, barely performed on mortgage with Crystal Palace and is now again on mortgage (from Lyon) with the New England Revolution — opened the door for a usurper. Freese took benefit.

Freese has logged extra minutes than Turner below Pochettino, and in Turner’s final two U.S. matches, he has allowed 9 objectives with a save proportion below 50%. Freese’s shot-stopping statistics and buildup play have each been a bit higher, and whereas it would not really feel like there is a gulf separating these two, Freese definitely appears to have the lead.

The way forward for the place is in first rate form so long as youthful gamers proceed to push Freese. Columbus’ Schulte, FC Cincinnati‘s Roman Celentano and San Diego FC‘s Carlos Dos Santos (all of whom are 25) may proceed to construct their profiles, and whereas no teen has emerged as a surefire future star, there are candidates. Gaga Slonina (22) was one of the vital thrilling teenage prospects within the participant pool 4 years in the past, having already established a stable stage of play for the Chicago Fireplace; he has been misplaced within the Chelsea mortgage military for some time, nevertheless, and desires some stability. However he is nonetheless younger. So is Barcelona B goalkeeper Diego Kochen (20). Chris Brady (22) is carving out a distinct segment with the Chicago Fireplace, too.

There may very well be plenty of jostling for place on the depth chart right here over the approaching years, particularly if Freese would not utterly lock down the No. 1 spot.

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Middle-back

Minutes-adjusted common age below Pochettino: 30.6

Incumbents who remained concerned:
1. Tim Ream (38): 1,558 minutes below Pochettino
2. Chris Richards (25): 1,094 minutes
3. Mark McKenzie (27): 899 minutes
4. Miles Robinson (29): 532 minutes
5. Walker Zimmerman (32): 187 minutes
6. Cameron Carter-Vickers (28): 90 minutes

New names to emerge:
1. Tristan Blackmon (29): 174 minutes below Pochettino
2. Auston Trusty (27): 100 minutes
3. George Campbell (24): 88 minutes

No place group has modified much less over the previous 4 years than this one. At occasions, that seems like a very good factor. On Saturday, it didn’t.

Gamers like Zimmerman, Aaron Lengthy, Matt Miazga and Erik Palmer-Brown seem to have been phased out of the participant pool, however Ream performed each minute of the 2022 World Cup for the U.S., and Richards may need if he hadn’t been injured. They’ve definitely been the highest two names below Pochettino, and whereas Richards’ ongoing growth at Crystal Palace has been top-of-the-line tales for the U.S. lately, Ream has rapidly begun to look his age. He was poor on Saturday towards Belgium, and his troubles have been exacerbated by the absence of each Richards and Miles Robinson to minor accidents. With no different apparent choices, Ream and McKenzie nonetheless performed all 90 minutes.

Perhaps essentially the most fascinating query about this group, because it pertains to the World Cup, is whether or not two or three find yourself within the beginning lineup. Till Saturday, Pochettino had deployed both a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 over the earlier six U.S. matches, and the workforce went unbeaten in that span; with out Richards and Robinson towards Belgium, Pochettino went again to a 4-2-3-1, however what (and who) would possibly he select if he has all his choices accessible in June? And if he loses religion in Ream or McKenzie within the coming weeks, would possibly erstwhile fullbacks like Joe Scally or Alex Freeman turn out to be choices in a three-man again line?

Of the seven heart backs who’ve performed no less than 90 minutes below Pochettino (not together with Scally or Freeman), six will likely be no less than 31 years previous in 2030. Granted, this place tends to skew older as a complete, however contemplating the minutes-adjusted age right here is already over 30, and contemplating the shortage of reliable depth, new names will desperately have to emerge.

Perhaps which means somebody like West Brom’s Campbell or the L.A. Galaxy’s Justin Haak (24) taking up extra duty. Perhaps anticipated kids like New York Crimson Bulls’ Justin Che (22) or Bayern mortgage military member Grayson Dettoni (20) start to interrupt by means of. Or possibly the ongoing gross sales pitch to dual-national Noahkai Banks lastly succeeds. The Hawaii-born 19-year-old has already turn out to be a stellar Bundesliga defender for Augsburg and would rocket to the highest of the hypothetical 2030 U.S. depth chart if he chooses to signify this nation as an alternative of Germany. He has not but reached a choice.

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Full-back / Wing-back

Minutes-adjusted common age below Pochettino: 23.7

Incumbents who remained concerned:
1. Joe Scally (23): 581 minutes below Pochettino
2. Tim Weah (26): 521 minutes
3. Antonee Robinson (28): 356 minutes
4. Sergiño Dest (25): 214 minutes
5. Shaq Moore (29): 121 minutes

New names to emerge:
1. Max Arfsten (24): 1,112 minutes below Pochettino
2. Alex Freeman (21): 1,002 minutes
3. John Tolkin (23): 233 minutes
4. Marlon Fossey (27): 135 minutes
5. Kristoffer Lund (23): 134 minutes
6. Nathan Harriel (24): 121 minutes
7. DeJuan Jones (28): 115 minutes
8. Caleb Wiley (21): 24 minutes

In an ideal world — or a world with good participant well being, no less than — Robinson and Dest could be apparent, surefire, first-choice choices out large as both full-backs or wing-backs. They’re athletic, they’re robust in attacking roles, and at his greatest lately, Robinson has been top-of-the-line full-backs within the Premier League. However Dest missed most of 2024-25 with an ACL harm, and Robinson has spent 2025-26 battling each harm and type: He has performed just one,339 minutes in all competitions, and after recording 10 assists final season, he has only one on this marketing campaign. Neither have performed even 300 minutes for Pochettino but, and Dest was out as soon as once more with a minor harm on Saturday. In his absence, Weah struggled terribly towards Belgium’s unimaginable Jérémy Doku.

Weah appears extra constructed for a wing-back kind of position than full-back, however there are different choices out large. Scally has been positive for each membership (Borussia Monchengladbach) and nation, whereas Arfsten and Freeman have each compelled their approach into the World Cup dialog. Solely Ream, Freese and Richards have performed extra minutes for Pochettino, and whereas Arfsten’s defensive vulnerabilities are problematic, his 5 assists for the U.S. are essentially the most of anybody in Pochettino’s tenure.

Freeman’s athleticism — he runs the pitch like he is the son of a well-known American soccer participant (as a result of he’s) — lately drew the attention of LaLiga’s Villarreal. He hasn’t performed a lot since becoming a member of the Spanish membership, however whereas he could not begin within the World Cup, it might be a shock if both Freeman or Arfsten did not make the squad.

No matter what occurs this summer time, it feels the U.S. is extra well-stocked than ever out large. Robinson will admittedly be 32 throughout the 2030 World Cup, however even when he ages out, Dest will solely be 29, Arfsten will likely be 28, Scally and John Tolkin will likely be 27 and Freeman will likely be 25. And others, like Chelsea mortgage military member Caleb Wiley (at present 21), latest Manchester Metropolis signee Christian McFarlane (19), Vancouver Whitecaps‘ Tate Johnson (20), and even Wolfsburg’s Kevin Paredes (23) may nonetheless discover a new gear. Paredes broke by means of for Wolfsburg in 2023-24, however has battled harm since.

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Central midfield

Minutes-adjusted common age below Pochettino: 25.1

Incumbents who remained concerned:
1. Tyler Adams (27): 697 minutes below Pochettino
2. Luca De La Torre (27): 590 minutes
3. Yunus Musah (23): 461 minutes
5. Cristian Roldan (30): 332 minutes
6. Johnny Cardoso (24): 216 minutes
7. Gianluca Busio (23): 169 minutes
8. James Sands (25): 64 minutes

New names to emerge:
1. Sebastian Berhalter (24): 730 minutes below Pochettino
2. Tanner Tessmann (24): 615 minutes
3. Aidan Morris (24): 450 minutes
4. Quinn Sullivan (22): 140 minutes
5. Alex Zendejas (28): 139 minutes
6. Emeka Eneli (26): 115 minutes
7. Benjamin Cremaschi (21): 110 minutes

Here is one other space during which accidents have prevented the first-choice choices from seeing a lot of the sphere below Pochettino. Tyler Adams has been integral to the USA’ success at occasions, however he missed most of 2023-24 with harm, began solely 21 of 38 Premier League matches with Bournemouth final season and has began solely 18 of 31 this season. He was a scratch for this key worldwide window due to a minor harm, too.

Adams’ on-and-off absence has allowed Pochettino to experiment fairly a bit, and he appears to have taken a specific shine to Roldan (who had two assists towards Australia), Tessmann (who scored towards Uruguay) and Morris (who has received a team-best 18 floor duels on this six-match run). And in a pleasant flip of occasions, he appears to love Sebastian Berhalter, the son of the previous USMNT coach, fairly a bit as effectively.

Between the fellows employed by main golf equipment (Adams, Lyon’s Tessmann, Atletico Madrid’s Cardoso, Atalanta‘s-via-AC-Milan Musah) and Poch’s considerably stunning latest faves, there are many choices right here. And with Pochettino seemingly preferring McKennie in additional of an attacking position, fairly a couple of of them may make the workforce this summer time.

4 years from now, Roldan will likely be 34, and Adams and McKennie will likely be 31, however a big batch of the above guys will likely be both 27 or 28, nonetheless of their peak athletic vary. And others, like Venezia’s Busio, Houston’s Jack McGlynn (listed as an attacking midfielder beneath), Philadelphia’s Quinn Sullivan and Parma‘s-via-Inter Miami Cremaschi, nonetheless have greater than sufficient time to develop additional and make themselves apparent choices.

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Wingers and attacking midfielders

Minutes-adjusted common age below Pochettino: 24.1

Incumbents who remained concerned:
1. Malik Tillman (23): 1,004 minutes below Pochettino
2. Christian Pulisic (27): 692 minutes
3. Brendan Aaronson (25): 557 minutes
4. Weston McKennie (27): 509 minutes
5. Gio Reyna (23): 145 minutes

New names to emerge:
1. Diego Luna (22): 953 minutes below Pochettino
2. Jack McGlynn (22): 441 minutes
3. Caden Clark (23): 135 minutes
4. Brian Gutiérrez (22): 118 minutes
5. Matko Miljevic (24): 110 minutes
6. Timothy Tillman (27): 90 minutes
7. Indiana Vassilev (25): 86 minutes
8. Paxten Aaronson (22): 54 minutes

Cease me if you happen to’ve heard this earlier than: With a star lacking time with harm and/or a necessity for relaxation, Pochettino has been capable of experiment inside this unit. Pulisic has been first rate below Pochettino, scoring twice with three assists from 19 possibilities created, however he has performed solely 692 minutes in elements of 11 matches. He is additionally in an enormous productiveness droop in the meanwhile. McKennie, in the meantime, has performed 509 minutes in seven.

However of their respective absences, Pochettino has gotten lengthy seems at each Bayer Leverkusen‘s Malik Tillman and Actual Salt Lake‘s Diego Luna (who’s lacking this worldwide window after solely lately getting back from harm). They’ve produced, too, combining for seven objectives and eight assists from 46 possibilities created.

McGlynn (two objectives and two assists from 13 possibilities created) has made essentially the most of his alternatives, too, and in tiny samples, each Reyna and Miljevic have produced. Miljevic, who at present performs for Racing Membership in Argentina, was nice towards Venezuela final January, however hasn’t gotten one other alternative but; Reyna, however, evidently impressed Pochettino a lot in final November’s worldwide window — he scored towards Paraguay, then recorded an help in 29 minutes towards Uruguay — that he earned a key call-up this month regardless of getting virtually no latest taking part in time along with his membership workforce (Borussia Monchengladbach). He did little in 20 minutes towards Belgium.

The long-term prognosis is thrilling. Pulisic, McKennie and even Weah may stay wonderful choices for an additional World Cup window, and based mostly on their ages, Tillman, Luna, McGlynn, Reyna and many of the different names above can hope to proceed bettering for a couple of extra years.

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Middle-forwards

Minutes-adjusted common age below Pochettino: 25.2

Incumbents who remained concerned
1. Ricardo Pepi (23): 292 minutes below Pochettino
2. Haji Wright (27): 282 minutes
3. Josh Sargent (26): 260 minutes

New names to emerge
1. Patrick Agyemang (25): 825 minutes below Pochettino
2. Folarin Balogun (24): 480 minutes
3. Brian White (30) 182 minutes
4. Damion Downs (21): 92 minutes
5. Brandon Vázquez (28): 58 minutes
6. Cade Cowell (23): 16 minutes

No place unit has developed and improved extra for the U.S. on this World Cup cycle than center-forward.

In Qatar in 2022, Haji Wright, Josh Sargent, Jordan Morris and Jesús Ferreira mixed to play 341 of 360 minutes however tried simply 10 photographs (2.6 per 90 minutes) and scored only one objective — Wright put one in late when the U.S. was down 2-0 to Netherlands within the knockout rounds. There simply wasn’t a lot to get enthusiastic about right here.

However Wright has developed right into a much better possibility at Coventry, and Ricardo Pepi is more and more harmful when wholesome (a rarity of late). Extra importantly, Patrick Agyemang has made himself more and more viable, and Folarin Balogun has flashed all of the upside anticipated of him when he dedicated to representing the U.S. in 2023.

In 1,879 minutes below Pochettino, the quartet of Balogun, Agyemang, Pepi and Wright have mixed to attain 15 objectives from 64 photographs (3.1 per 90). They’ve mixed for 3 assists from 25 possibilities created, too, and all 4 seem prepared within the urgent division.

This is not an elite unit by any means, and also you’d wish to see additional enchancment by way of pure shot quantity, however Pochettino can have a much more succesful unit at this World Cup than Gregg Berhalter loved 4 years in the past. Balogun, Pepi and Agyemang will all be below 30 in 2030 as effectively, although the depth of apparent youthful choices after Downs is questionable.