The USA are taking on Asian powerhouses South Korea and Japan this September, so everyone is curious to see who is going to join the roster in these two crucial preparatory matchups in the buildup to the World Cup in 2026. Both of these nations have already qualified, so they are high level opponents and must be taken seriously in order to prepare for the world cup on home soil.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena)
DEFENDERS (8): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Noahkai Banks(FC Augsburg), Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (5): Damion Downs (Southampton), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan) Josh Sargent (Norwich), Tim Weah (Marseille), Alex Zendejas (Club América)
Some familiar mainstays are back in the squad which could lead to a different feel than the Gold Cup this past summer. There are also a wealth of opportunities to present debuts for players throughout the roster, so it will be interesting to see how the lineups are formed by Pochettino in this September window.
For the Wonderkid’s opinion on this roster, continue reading.
Rating: 5/10
The roster put forward by Mauricio Pochettino is a slight improvement on the US’ Gold Cup roster that was put forth by the Argentinian just a few months ago, but there are some astounding misses in the call-up that should leave EVERY head scratching. Notable misses include: Weston McKennie, Matt Turner, Mark McKenzie, Brendan Aaronson, Johnny Cardoso, Yunus Musah, Gio Reyna and Joe Scally. A few of those are understandable omissions, but for the likes of Weston McKennie and Johnny Cardoso, you’ll have to wonder why on earth they aren’t travelling to the US to take part in this international break. The MLS-heavy additions are nonsensical as the US take on world class level teams back to back and are relying on players that have yet to make a name for themselves in their own domestic league, much less Europe. If Pochettino is still thinking of experimenting, that time has come and gone. With less than a year left to prepare, the squad for the World Cup needs to begin bonding and forming camaraderie to be a powerhouse. Debuts and exclusions of no-brainer starters is going to waste even more valuable time that the United States national team cannot afford to waste. The only praise that can be allocated to this squad is that we reinstated key players like Tim Weah and Christian Pulisic to at least, sort of, get back to normalcy with this US team.