Before last week’s stunning 5-1 demolition of Uruguay by the United States men\u2019s national team in Tampa last week, a trusted source told me something interesting: “I suspect that at least one big name won\u2019t make this World Cup roster.”<\/p>\n
The conversation stuck with me as the Americans poured in goal after goal on La Celeste<\/i>, a two-time World Cup champion. Afterward, USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino made it even more clear that he wasn\u2019t kidding when he said that there are no such things as “regulars” in his squad.<\/p>\n
Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT wrapped up 2025 with two wins. (Photo by John Dorton\/ISI Photos\/USSF\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Pochettino started 20 different players across the two hugely impressive November wins over Uruguay and Paraguay. The Uruguay win was easily the USMNT’s best performance since Pochettino \u2013 the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur coach \u2013 was hired to steer a listless American squad steadily toward the 2026 World Cup on home soil.<\/p>\n That he did it despite a glut of injures to some of the country’s most decorated and battle-tested players \u2014 forward Christian Pulisic, midfielder Tyler Adams, center-back Chris Richards and right-back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson among them \u2014 proved that the roster the Argentine is constructing will be both deep and capable of standing toe-to-toe with the game\u2019s superpowers next June and July.<\/p>\n The high quality problem it creates? Because only 26 World Cup spots are available, several deserving players won\u2019t get a golden ticket to the greatest show in sports.<\/p>\n With the USMNT now idle for four months, the competition for places will now continue at club level both at home and overseas. The 71 players Pochettino looked at up close during his first 14 months in charge will be vying for one last chance to impress next March against Belgium and Portugal \u2013 the Americans\u2019 final two games before the World Cup roster is announced.<\/p>\n Who will be on it? And will one or more of the 2022 World Cup headliners indeed be left standing in the cold? Here’s our projection as matters stand today:<\/p>\n JUMP TO: <\/strong>Goalkeepers<\/strong> | <\/strong>Center backs<\/strong> | <\/strong>Fullbacks<\/strong> | <\/strong>Holding Midfielders<\/strong> | <\/strong>Wingers\/Attacking Midfielders<\/strong> | <\/strong>Strikers<\/strong><\/p>\n Matt Freese remains looked in as the starter. (Photo by Michael Pimentel\/ISI Photos\/ISI Photos via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Starters:<\/strong>\u00a0Chris Richards,\u00a0Tim Ream Nothing happened in November that would suggest that Richards and Ream aren\u2019t still Pochettino\u2019s two best options in the heart of the American defense. That\u2019s even more true in a four-man back line, which the U.S. boss used in both games this month after experimenting with a three-center-back system earlier in the fall.<\/p>\n The two goals conceded weren\u2019t down to individual mistakes as much as poor collective defending; Pochettino was particularly unhappy with the way Uruguay scored at the end of the first half.<\/p>\n Still, with Richards staying with his club Crystal Palace to nurse a sore calf and Ream rested against La Celeste<\/i> after going 90 minutes against Paraguay, McKenzie and Trusty got an opportunity and helped themselves overall.<\/p>\n After going nearly three years between U.S. starts, Trusty is now firmly in the World Cup mix. But don\u2019t sleep on the 18-year-old Banks, who has started six of the last seven games for Augsburg in Germany\u2019s Bundesliga.<\/p>\n Alex Freeman is one of the USMNT breakout players. (Photo by MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Starters:<\/strong>\u00a0Tyler Adams,\u00a0Tanner Tessmann\u00a0 With a goal off the bench against the Uruguayans, Tessmann continued to cement himself as a key man in central midfield. Adams missed the November games because of injury, but he was back in Premier League Bournemouth\u2019s lineup in the Cherries first match after the international break.<\/p>\n Berhalter\u2019s beautiful goal against Uruguay probably secured his spot on the World Cup roster; now he\u2019ll try to lead the Vancouver Whitecaps to an MLS Cup title. Roldan keeps helping the Americans win. Morris did that in November, too, but he probably falls victim to the numbers game if the guys in front of him stay healthy and available.<\/p>\n Cardoso and Musah simply aren\u2019t playing. Last weekend, they were unused substitutes for Atl\u00e9tico Madrid and Atalanta, respectively. Unless and until that changes, they\u2019ll remain on the outside of the bubble despite their obvious pedigree.<\/p>\n Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie are also locked in. (Photo by Omar Vega\/Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n Starter:<\/strong>\u00a0Folarin Balogun Balogun\u2019s match-winning goal against Paraguay was his third in as many starts. He\u2019s the clear starter up top now, not least with Pepi once again struggling for regular minutes at PSV Eindhoven.<\/p>\n Wright had a quiet camp compared to his two-goal outburst in October, perhaps because of the muscle ailment he was diagnosed with upon his return to Coventry City in England\u2019s second tier.<\/p>\n Those three are well ahead of the pack right now, though Agyemang \u2014 who started five games for Derby County this month \u2014 is probably best positioned to challenge that pecking order in the months ahead.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Doug McIntyre<\/i>\u00a0is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered\u00a0<\/i>United States<\/i>\u00a0men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @<\/i>ByDougMcIntyre<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Before last week’s stunning 5-1 demolition of Uruguay by the United States men\u2019s national team in Tampa last week, a trusted source told me something interesting: “I suspect that at least one big name won\u2019t make this World Cup roster.” The conversation stuck with me as the Americans poured in goal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Backups:<\/strong>\u00a0Mark McKenzie,\u00a0Miles Robinson,\u00a0Auston Trusty
Just missed out:<\/strong> Noahkai Banks,\u00a0Tristan Blackmon,\u00a0<\/i>Cameron Carter-Vickers,\u00a0Walker Zimmerman<\/p>\n
Backups:<\/strong>\u00a0Sebastian Berhalter,\u00a0 Cristian Roldan
Just missed out:\u00a0<\/strong>Johnny Cardoso,\u00a0Gianluca Busio,\u00a0Luca de la Torre,\u00a0Aidan Morris, Yunus Musah, Timmy Tillman<\/p>\n
Backups:\u00a0<\/strong>Ricardo Pepi,\u00a0Haji Wright
Just missed out:<\/strong>\u00a0Patrick Agyemang,\u00a0Damion Downs,\u00a0Brian White,\u00a0Josh Sargent<\/p>\n