It has been more than five years since Josh Sargent has scored a goal for the United States men’s national team. But he couldn’t be off to a hotter start for Norwich City in the EFL Championship after finding the back of the net against Portsmouth, potentially playing his way back into the national team picture.
Sargent has now scored goals in three consecutive matches to start the season for Norwich City. Leading the Canaries to a second consecutive victory, Sargent has become one of the best strikers in the English Championship, but with the World Cup looming, he has yet to make an appearance for the national team since March of 2025 in a loss during the Concacaf Nations League.
After Antonee Robinson and Christian Pulisic, Sargent is arguably the best-performing American for his club, and when looking at the 62 goals that he has scored for Werder Bremen and Norwich City, that is 10 more than Pulisic’s 52 goals in that same span of time.
Even looking around the Championship, since the beginning of 2024, only Joel Piroe, Josh Brownhill, and Borja Sainz have scored more goals than Sargent’s 17. With the national team, though, it hasn’t translated, and the question is beginning to shift from will Sargent’s scoring translate to the national team to why it isn’t being prioritized.
Folarin Balogun, Patrick Agyemang, Ricardo Pepi, and Brian White have received the majority of starts under USA coach Mauricio Pochettino during his tenure so far, while Sargent has been left at home. With no one taking the reins for the starting striker role, it does make you wonder if Sargent will get another shot during the September international window. He has expressed that he wants to shine in a USMNT shirt, and Sargent also has a style that fits well with Pulisic in the attack.
Bringing plenty to a game, even when he’s not scoring, he is being a menace while pressing and providing a strong aerial presence that works when his back is to the goal. That bore fruit when Sargent played with Borja Sainz at Norwich as alongside an inside forward on the left, Sargent can add assists to his goals.
If he’s selected to face South Korea and Japan next month, it’ll be another opportunity for Sargent to show what he can do, but the onus shouldn’t just be on him. When looking at why a player’s form from a club doesn’t translate into the national team, sometimes it’s about their specific performance, but other times, they warrant a change of the system to accommodate the player. With Sargent being one of the best American goal scorers over the past few years, there’s no reason why Pochettino can’t figure out what he has in a position of need. Sargent continues to do his part in putting the ball at the back of the net, and next, it needs to be done for the Red, White, and Blue.
