The United States Men’s National Team roster for the 2026 World Cup is what fans have been waiting for. And we reportedly don’t have to wait the weekend to have it. Pablo Maurer and Jeff Reuter of The Guardian have reportedly leaked the entire 26-man World Cup roster ahead of Tuesday’s official roster reveal by U.S. Soccer in New York City.
According to several journalists with knowledge, players who made the roster were being informed this weekend ahead of the official annoucement, allowing them
to process their inclusion on the roster for the largest World Cup ever that begins on June 11th in Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino had some difficult decisions to make in cutting the player pool down to a roster of 26 players that will convene next week for sendoff matches against Senegal and Germany before the tournament begins.
The reported 26-man World Cup roster:
Goalkeepers (3): Chris Brady* (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese* (New York City), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
Defenders (10): Max Arfsten* (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV), Alex Freeman* (Villarreal), Mark McKenzie* (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards* (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson* (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Auston Trusty* (Celtic)
Midfielders (4): Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter* (Vancouver Whitecaps), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)
Attacking midfielders/wingers (6): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Malik Tillman* (Bayer Leverkusen), Tim Weah (Marseille), Alejandro Zendejas* (Club América)
Strikers (3): Folarin Balogun* (AS Monaco), Ricardo Pepi* (PSV), Haji Wright (Coventry City)
* Denotes first time World Cup selection
13 players reportedly will make their first World Cup, comprising half of the roster: Chris Brady, Matt Freese, Max Arfsten, Alex Freeman, Mark McKenzie, Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, Auston Trusty, Sebastian Berhalter, Malik Tillman, Alejandro Zendejas, Folarin Balogun, and Ricardo Pepi. Alejandro Zendejas, who appeared to be on the outside looking in for much of the fall and spring, made the roster due to his form over the past couple of months.
Gio Reyna makes the roster despite limited action on the club level for Borussia Mönchengladbach this season. His play during his call-ups to the national team were what won out over the lack of club minutes. Chris Richards, who hurt his ankle last week and was ruled to be questionable for the World Cup, was selected. The hope is that he will be good to go when the USMNT opens up group play in Los Angeles against Paraguay on June 12th.
Two goalkeepers will be headed to national team camp to train alongside the national team, according to a report by Yahoo! Sports’ Steven Goff. FC Barcelona’s Diego Kochen and Philadelphia Union’s Andrew Kirk will join the team for training purposes only and, per reports, are not on the final World Cup roster.
On the other side are the guys who fell just short that contributed a great deal to the USMNT over the past couple of years. Among the players missing out are Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann, Aidan Morris, Patrick Schulte, Roman Celentano, Tristan Blackmon, Yunus Musah, and Josh Sargent. Johnny Cardoso, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Patrick Agyemang are some of the players who had injuries rule them out of contention for the roster.
Xavier Gozo and Noahkai Banks were two young names that gained a lot of traction over the past couple of months for their potential, despite neither player participating in a national team camp. Ultimately, Pochettino chose to go with guys that had been established in the national team setup.
Once the USMNT World Cup roster is submitted to FIFA, changes can only be made for injury replacements. Those replacements are allowed to be made anytime up to 24 hours before the team’s opening match. At that point, the roster is locked and no changes can be made.
We’ll see on Tuesday whether the reported roster holds. But, for 26 players, they are about to receive the ultimate call to represent their country at a World Cup on home soil.
