Mauricio Pochettino has named his roster for the September international window. The United States men’s national team will host South Korea and Japan in friendlies during this window, as the clock ticks towards the World Cup, facing two teams who have already booked their tickets to next summer’s tournament. After disappointing in Concacaf Nations League play and falling to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, there will be pressure on the USMNT to perform well in these games, especially for Christian Pulisic, who makes his return to the national team after opting out of Gold Cup play in order to rest and recover.
But while Pulisic is back, that doesn’t mean all the stars are back in the squad. Weston McKennie was not called up for these matches. McKennie missed the Gold Cup due to Club World Cup duties with Juventus, but the 26-year-old has 60 caps for the national team and hasn’t missed a regular camp since September of 2024. Forward Folarin Balogun also wasn’t called up, with Norwich City’s Josh Sargent making his return to the squad in the striker role. Pochettino stated that McKennie was left out of the squad because he knows what he can do, and that the midfielder had a disjointed preseason due to the Club World Cup. He didn’t dismiss the need for players to perform, but this exclusion doesn’t close the door on McKennie’s involvement with the national team.
Matt Turner and Zack Steffen also didn’t make the cut as Matt Freese is the only goalkeeper with a cap in the squad. Pochettino will dig deep into the player pool during this September window as four players can earn their first caps for the USMNT, and nine players have fewer than 10 national team caps. That continues a Pochettino trend of wanting to explore all options ahead of the World Cup, but does bring up the question of when Pochettino will settle on a core squad. Pochettino did peel back the curtain a bit on what goes into his roster selection when speaking about the squad.
“For me, all the players are important. The individual situations are important, and to analyze and make the decisions and have a plan for them. We have a roster of 65 players that we’re going to be assessing every week and it’s for them to perform and for us to select the best players to make a roster with a good balance,” Pochettino said.
“We don’t have much time because we started last October and it has been less than one year and I think for us it’s important to get a chance to work with the players because we know what some players can provide and now is a chance for different players like Sebastian Berhalter or Luca De La Torre.”
There are only 289 days remaining until the 2026 World Cup kicks off in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and this squad is no closer to being settled, but this camp will play a large role in who has a chance to break into a more settled squad. Some regulars like Sergino Dest, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Tyler Adams, and Pulisic may be here, but with rotation happening at key positions, chemistry will be hard to come by.
Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati; 0/0), Matt Freese (New York City FC; 7/0), Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena/ITA; 0/0)
DEFENDERS (8): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 10/1), Noahkai Banks (FC Augsburg/GER; 0/0), Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 0/0), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 33/2), Alex Freeman (Orlando City; 7/0), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union; 1/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 74/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 31/3)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 50/2), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 6/0), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC; 31/1), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 12/3), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo; 11/2), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew; 1/0)
FORWARDS (5): Damion Downs (Southampton/ENG; 5/0), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 78/32) Josh Sargent (Norwich/ENG; 28/5), Tim Weah (Marseille/FRA; 44/7), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 11/1)
Mixing it up
Only six players currently in this squad were in the 2022 World Cup squad for the USMNT. Pochettino has shown that he will call in anyone who he feels is fit for the side and that he isn’t afraid to make tough decisions, but with so much change so close to the World Cup, it’s a head scratcher. Some of the new faces, like Alex Freeman, have shown that they’re ready for the step up to the USMNT in their cameos, but others, like returner Alex Zendejas, have struggled during the season. Zendejas hasn’t scored for Club America since their first match of the season but will get a chance to show why he should be in the World Cup squad.
Pochettino repeatedly stressed that this is the last chance to dig deep into the player pool, which makes it curious how things will look during an October international window that sees the USMNT face Ecuador and Australia, because that will be closer to the World Cup squad.
Sergino Dest returns
Set to make his first appearance for the USMNT since March of 2024, Dest will be a welcome sight in the camp. He’s recovered from his ACL tear and back in the mix for PSV, and now is back with the USMNT. Dest was called into camp ahead of the Gold Cup but he wasn’t ready to contribute to the team and was sent back to his club. Yet to make an appearance under Pochettino, seeing Dest will be critical because his style meshes well with how Pochettino wants fullbacks to play. Comfortable pushing high up the pitch, Dest overlapping with Tim Weah can create space for Pulisic that hasn’t been seen recently. The camp comes too soon for Antonee Robinson, who is regaining fitness of his own but when the USMNT gets both starting fullbacks in action, that will improve the attack drastically while offering continuity in defense, while the goalkeeper position is figured out.
