Pochettino reportedly makes his decision: Pulisic leads the U.S. at the home World Cup, several familiar names left off the list
Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentine head coach of the United States men's national soccer team, has, according to media reports, selected the final 26-player roster for the 2026 World Cup, a tournament that will be played from June 11 to July 19 in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. Although the U.S. Soccer Federation had not published the final official list on its channels by May 23, 2026, the British newspaper The Guardian reported that Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Folarin Balogun, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and goalkeeper Matt Turner are among the players traveling. The same source states that Tanner Tessmann, Diego Luna and Aidan Morris are among the biggest omissions, three players who during the cycle had enough reason to believe they would remain in the narrower group.
If the published roster is officially confirmed, it will be Pochettino's most important selection decision since taking over the U.S. national team. According to the official biography of the U.S. Soccer Federation, Pochettino was appointed head coach with the clear task of preparing the team for a home World Cup, and his tenure has from the start been viewed through the prism of results at a tournament that should have special significance for American soccer. FIFA has confirmed that at the 2026 World Cup each national team will be allowed to register up to 26 players, the same as at the tournament in Qatar in 2022, so the coach's room for maneuver is greater than in the older format, but not large enough to avoid difficult cuts.
The core of the team remains the same, but the message of the roster is more cautious than expected
According to The Guardian's report, Pochettino has kept the main pillars of the national team who have defined the last several years of American soccer. Christian Pulisic remains the leading figure of the attacking line and the team's most recognizable player, while the creative and finishing mechanisms in the final third of the pitch should be built around him. Gio Reyna, despite a turbulent national-team period after the 2022 World Cup and varying continuity in club football, according to the same report has nevertheless earned a place, which shows that Pochettino did not want to give up on a player who possesses the rare ability to play between the lines.
In attack, Folarin Balogun is also among those selected, a forward who in recent years has been an important part of U.S. plans after deciding to represent the United States. His role is especially important because the U.S. national team has for some time been searching for a stable solution at the position of a classic striker, a player who can connect pressing, play with his back to goal and finishing. In midfield, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie are expectedly included, a duo that brings balance, intensity and experience of major matches. Matt Turner, according to the listed roster, remains among the goalkeepers, confirming continuity in the back line despite pressure from younger candidates.
A media-highlighted characteristic of the roster is the numerical emphasis on defense. The Guardian states that Pochettino has included as many as ten defenders in the final squad, which can be interpreted as a decision to protect the team from injuries, suspensions and tactical adjustments during the tournament. Such a choice at the same time reduces space in midfield and in the attacking rotation, so the omissions of some players do not stem only from an individual assessment of their quality, but also from the overall construction of the team. In that sense, the roster reveals the coach's assessment that for the United States at the home tournament the decisive factors will be stability, defensive depth and the possibility of changing systems without a major drop in the organization of play.
The omissions of Tessmann, Luna and Morris raise the most questions
The names of the players who, according to available information, were not included on the final roster have caused the most reaction. Tanner Tessmann, the Lyon midfielder, is mentioned as one of the biggest surprises among those left out. The Guardian states that Tessmann was cut despite a stable club season, which is especially interesting given that Pochettino, according to the same report, opted for a relatively narrow number of central and defensive midfielders. Such a cut suggests that the coach in midfield did not choose only according to club status, but also according to the profile that fits the envisioned structure of the team.
Diego Luna is an even more sensitive case because he is a player who, during the preparations and marketing cycle around the national team, was visible in public. TalkSport reported that Luna, the Real Salt Lake midfielder, was left out despite having been perceived during the national-team cycle as a player who can change the rhythm of a match and bring a different profile in attack. According to the same outlet, his omission drew criticism from some fans, especially because ahead of the tournament he had been present in the promotional context of American soccer. In national-team terms, Luna could have offered creativity, energy and play in the half-spaces, but that profile clearly was not enough to outweigh Pochettino's other priorities.
Aidan Morris is also mentioned among the significant omissions. His case further emphasizes how much more complex the competition in the U.S. national team has become than in some earlier cycles. The United States no longer has only a narrow core of players from European leagues and MLS, but a wider pool of footballers of different profiles, which makes every decision more politically and sporting sensitive. Still, omissions of this kind will not be judged only now, but primarily after the first matches of the tournament, when it will become clear whether the coach has selected enough creativity and control for opponents who will give the United States the ball or force it into patient build-up play.
Hosting increases the pressure on the national team
The 2026 World Cup is the first edition of the tournament with 48 national teams, and FIFA is organizing it in 16 host cities across three countries. According to FIFA's official data, the tournament will have 104 matches, and the final is scheduled for July 19, 2026, at the stadium in New York/New Jersey. The United States is one of the three hosts, but also the country that will host the largest number of matches, which is why expectations for the U.S. national team are viewed not only in sporting terms, but also through the broader development of soccer in that market. Precisely for that reason, Pochettino's roster is not an ordinary personnel item, but one of the key moments in America's preparation for the tournament.
FIFA's schedule shows that the United States has been placed in Group D, together with Paraguay, Australia and Turkey. According to the official schedule, the U.S. national team is set to open the group against Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles, then play against Australia on June 19 in Seattle, and the third group match against Turkey on June 25 in Los Angeles. Such a schedule brings a logistical advantage because the team does not have to cross the entire continent between every match, but the opponents offer different styles and require tactical adaptability. Paraguay traditionally brings physical toughness and defensive discipline, Australia intensity and directness, and Turkey technical and creative potential that can punish every mistake in structure.
The pressure on the United States is further heightened by the fact that home advantage is often a double-edged sword. The national team will have crowd support, better knowledge of the conditions and smaller adaptation and travel burdens than most opponents, but at the same time every match will be under intense public scrutiny. In such an environment, coaches often choose players they trust in terms of discipline and tactical execution, even when that means more attractive or younger profiles remain outside the squad. Pochettino's reported decision to emphasize defensive depth fits precisely into such a pattern.
The aim is to surpass the 2002 benchmark
The U.S. national team enters the tournament with the goal of at least repeating, and preferably surpassing, the result from 2002, when it reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. In its reviews of that tournament, the U.S. Soccer Federation highlights it as the national team's best result in the modern era of World Cups. That team beat Mexico in the round of 16 and then narrowly lost to Germany in the quarterfinals, setting a standard that no later American generation has surpassed. In Qatar in 2022, the United States advanced from the group, but lost to the Netherlands in the round of 16, which showed that the talent exists, but also that the national team still has to make a step forward against the most organized opponents.
The generation now led by Pochettino has a different profile from some previous American teams. A larger number of players have experience in European club football, and some of the key figures have already played at a World Cup. The Guardian states that the published squad would include an equal number of World Cup returnees and debutants, providing a combination of experience and freshness. That can be an advantage if the team quickly finds a hierarchy, but also a risk if the tournament raises questions about the roles of players who are not used to being substitutes or adapting to smaller assignments.
During his coaching career, Pochettino has been known for demanding pressing, high intensity and strong physical preparation of his teams. However, national-team football does not allow the same scope of daily work as club football, so success will depend on how quickly he has managed to simplify his principles and transfer them to the players. At the World Cup, especially in the expanded format, squad depth can be just as important as the strongest starting eleven. That is why the final roster is not only a list of the best individuals, but an attempt to assemble a group that can withstand different scenarios: a match in which it needs to dominate, a match in which it needs to suffer without the ball, and a match in which the decision comes from the bench.
FIFA's deadline leaves room for formal changes
According to the rules published by FIFA, the final lists of national teams for the 2026 World Cup must be submitted by June 1, 2026, and the roster may contain a maximum of 26 players. FIFA also states that a player can be replaced before the national team's first match if he suffers a serious injury or illness, subject to the appropriate procedure. This means that neither a media-published roster, nor even an officially confirmed list, has to be completely unchangeable until the first match. Still, in sporting terms the coach's basic message is usually clear already at the moment the final squad is announced.
For the players who have made the roster, a period follows in which they must confirm their physical readiness and accept their roles. For those who have been left out, especially Tessmann, Luna and Morris, the decision will be a painful disappointment because a home World Cup rarely repeats itself in a career. In the American case, additional weight comes from the fact that the tournament is seen as an opportunity to expand the fan base and strengthen the status of soccer in a country where the sport competes with very powerful domestic leagues. That is why every Pochettino decision will be analyzed in a broader context than the usual selection of 26 names.
If the roster published by the media is confirmed, the U.S. national team will enter the tournament with a clear spine, big names in attack and midfield, and pronounced defensive depth. Pulisic, Reyna, Balogun, Adams, McKennie and Turner represent the familiar core, but the story of the American campaign will not depend only on them. It will also depend on whether Pochettino correctly assesses the moment for rotations, whether the team finds a balance between control and risk, and whether the omissions that look controversial today remain only a pre-tournament topic or become key questions after its first matches.
Sources:
- The Guardian – report on the reported final roster of the U.S. national team, included players and biggest omissions (link)
- FIFA – official information on player-list rules for the 2026 World Cup (link)
- FIFA – official match schedule, groups and stadiums of the 2026 World Cup (link)
- FIFA – official information on the hosts, cities and format of the 2026 World Cup (link)
- U.S. Soccer – official biography of Mauricio Pochettino and the context of his appointment as United States head coach (link)
- U.S. Soccer – review of the U.S. quarterfinal run at the 2002 World Cup and the national team's best modern result (link)
- TalkSport – report on reactions to Diego Luna's omission from the U.S. squad (link)