The United States Men’s National Team are back in action this month with friendlies against Ecuador and Australia, and after last month’s window, head coach Mauricio Pochettino said that he plans to start the process of narrowing down his potential player pool to the eventual roster that will walk out onto the field next June as 2026 World Cup co-hosts. Today, U.S. Soccer announced the 25-man USMNT roster ahead of friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguay.
There were several changes from the roster
that took the field against Ecuador and Australia in October, with injuries forcing Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah to be sidelined for this window. However, Ricardo Pepi is back on the roster for the first time in a year. Auston Trusty is also back on the roster. Gio Reyna gets what could be a final opportunity to show head coach Mauricio Pochettino that he should be on the World Cup roster when it’s named in May. Joe Scally also gets back onto the roster after a lengthy absence.
“As we continue to develop our squad and build on the culture we have created, this is another great opportunity for the players selected for this roster to prove they deserve to be on the final list for the World Cup,” Pochettino said in a statement. “It’s important that they come into this camp prepared to show their qualities on the field and their commitment to being a good teammate. We will keep working on the competitive details in training and have the opportunity to challenge ourselves against two high quality opponents from South America.”
The USMNT roster:
GOALKEEPERS (4): Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew)
DEFENDERS (9): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse FC), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel), Auston Trusty (Celtic)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew)
FORWARDS (5): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Haji Wright (Coventry City)
The USMNT take on Paraguay on November 15th at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. They then head to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa to face Uruguay on November 18th. It will be the final matches for the USMNT before the World Cup draw on December 5th.
