Roster announcements are coming fast and furious for the World Cup, and the United States will follow Tuesday when it names its 26-man squad for the competition that will mark the biggest moment in the national team’s history.
While coach Mauricio Pochettino has likely already made most of his decisions, this weekend — which is also the last of the season for domestic leagues in England, Spain and Italy, after the German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 wrapped up last weekend — doubles as the last chance for players to state their case. Or, for some who are roster locks, simply to board the trans-Atlantic flight to New York for Tuesday’s roster announcement in good spirits.
Here are four big USMNT questions we’re considering going into the weekend.
Can Christian Pulisic end his scoring drought?
Aside from who makes the roster, the single biggest story around the USMNT right now is Christian Pulisic’s form.
While his underlying numbers have been fine, and even decent, Pulisic’s lack of goals since the new year is at minimum, a psychological shadow hanging over him right now. He played 14 minutes off the bench for Milan last week, netting an assist — just his second goal involvement of any kind since the new year — on the game-winner against Genoa.
This weekend’s game against Cagliari (Sunday, 2:45 p.m.) is Pulisic’s last chance to change the narrative before he arrives in New York for Tuesday’s roster reveal, as well as a huge game for his team, which is in a four-way fight with Roma, Juventus and Como for the last two Champions League spots in Serie A.
So, unlike some other USMNT regulars in action this weekend — namely Jedi Robinson (Fulham), Brenden Aaronson (Leeds) and Alex Freeman (Villarreal) — Pulisic is playing in a match with substantial stakes on the last weekend of Europe’s club season.
It seems clear that the scoring drought has worn on Pulisic. Ending it now, instead of having it as an ongoing thread into camp, would be huge for his psyche going into the biggest tournament of his career.
Is there a dark horse?
Three MLS players to watch this weekend, two of whom are uncapped and the third of whom hasn’t been in a USMNT camp since September: Zavier Gozo, Jack McGlynn and Julian Hall.
Gozo, who reports indicate is on the USMNT’s preliminary list of 55 players, looks like the one with the best shot of a surprise inclusion on the World Cup roster. The Real Salt Lake winger has been scoring at an impressive clip, with four goals in his last four games heading into Saturday’s match against Minnesota United, and the 19-year-old seems like the sort of player whose energy could be valuable off the bench in a World Cup.
McGlynn, who’s in action for Houston Dynamo against the Galaxy on Saturday, has forced his way back into the midfield conversation after foot surgery forced him into missing the end of 2025. Hall, the longest long shot of the group, would likely only become an option if Pochettino wanted a fourth true striker, but the 18-year-old already has 12 goals this season with the Red Bulls, including a hat trick less than two weeks ago.
As for who this group is in competition with, names like Diego Luna, Alejandro Zendejas and Gio Reyna — attacking midfielders with national team pedigree, but who either weren’t in March camp or, in Reyna’s case, haven’t played regularly at the club level — come to mind. Malik Tillman has been viewed as a lock, but after other confederations have left out some huge names (Cole Palmer and Phil Foden for England, João Pedro for Brazil) his lack of playing time for Bayer Leverkusen over the season’s last two months feels a little harder to dismiss.
Four center backs or five?
It feels pretty safe to say that Chris Richards, Tim Ream and Mark McKenzie are locks, unless Richards’ injury situation gets significantly worse between now and Tuesday. A fourth center back — probably Auston Trusty, but possibly Miles Robinson — will surely be on the plane as well.
But is there room for five? Well, the USMNT certainly needs to give themselves more options. Richards (ankle) is expected to be good to go for the World Cup, but that’s a situation which could require some caution. Ream is expected to play for Charlotte FC this weekend, but was held out last weekend for load management and has struggled through the early part of his age-38 season. It doesn’t seem like a position where Pochettino can afford to skimp on depth.
He could, however, cheat a bit.
Alex Freeman and Joe Scally would both be classed as outside backs, but both could feasibly start on the right side of a back three if needed and adapt to a more defensive role. It would be a pretty big surprise if Freeman wasn’t named to the roster; Scally — whose season with Borussia Monchengladbach ended last weekend — is right on the bubble. Tanner Tessmann, who should be fairly safe in making the roster, can also drop from defensive midfield to center back if needed.
Does some combination of those players allow the U.S. to feel safe at center back and beef up its depth elsewhere? That’s something Pochettino and his staff will be wrestling with as it gets down to the final cuts.
The Gio question
OK fine, we’ll talk about Gio Reyna.
Given the way Pochettino has handled the polarizing winger over the last two international windows, it would qualify as at least a little bit surprising if Reyna wasn’t on the squad, though the question of whether or not it’s deserving is a separate matter.
Reyna’s playing time at Borussia Monchengladbach was an issue all year, but while he never broke into the starting 11, save for a brief spell in December, Reyna did get consistent minutes off the bench over the season’s last six weeks. If Pochettino was willing to bring him in back in March after Reyna had gone just as long without playing at all, it’s hard to see how playing time could be a justification to leave him off now.
Reyna did also put in a goal on May 9 against Augsburg, his first since scoring for the national team against Paraguay and his first all year for Gladbach.
Most important, though, is that Pochettino has treated him as a player whose natural talent — something no one doubts — requires accommodation. No one expects Reyna to start at the World Cup, but it’s easy to picture him coming on in the second half and changing a game. Maybe Pochettino changes his mind at the 11th hour, or maybe he ends up convinced that someone else — Gozo? — can fill that role well enough that it eliminates the need to bring Reyna.
Right now, though, you wouldn’t bet on it.
