The squad is finally official. Now comes the truly hard part.
We know the identity of the US men’s national team’s 2026 FIFA World Cup roster, and even if you set aside your queries about notable absences like Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann, as head coach Mauricio Pochettino insisted upon at Tuesday’s unveiling event in lower Manhattan, plenty of questions remain regarding the choices made by ‘Poch’ and his staff.
We took a spin through the list of 26 and jotted down a few areas to be mindful of as we count down to the Yanks’ Group D opener vs. Paraguay in Southern California on June 12.
Let’s start with a positive.
You may remember what a concern the No. 9 spot was for the USMNT four years ago – maybe the biggest single discussion point for Gregg Berhalter & Co., who would go on to score just three goals across four matches at Qatar 2022.
Today, the situation has improved markedly. The well-rounded Folarin Balogun – the biggest recruiting win of the Berhalter era – is the clear favorite to start. FC Dallas product Ricardo Pepi found strong form at Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven. And one-time LA Galaxy prospect Haji Wright just spearheaded Coventry City’s promotion charge into the English Premier League.
Between them, the trio bagged 56 goals across all competitions in 2025-26, and each offers subtle differences in skill set that should make the USMNT attack less predictable, and enhance the danger posed by the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Malik Tillman.
As far as big concerns go… here it is. The central midfield corps looks quite light.
Nominally, Poch brought six midfielders, but that’s because U.S. Soccer has lumped attacking mids Tillman and New York City FC academy graduate Gio Reyna in that group while categorizing Pulisic, Alex Zendejas and Brenden Aaronson as ‘forwards.’
Vancouver's Sebastian Berhalter and Seattle's Cristian Roldan are clever and adaptable, but most often work as box-to-box connectors. From where we’re standing, that leaves Tyler Adams as the sole specialist defensive midfielder, despite the Red Bull New York alum’s extensive, varied injury history over the past half-decade.
Asked about this, Poch’s answers ranged somewhere between evasive and exuberant.
“We have Tyler, we have Cristian Roldan, we have also Sebastian Berhalter that play, can play in that position,” he said of the No. 6 role. “We have players like Tillman, players like McKennie, like also Gio Reyna, and then Sergiño Dest, in his team [Eindhoven], he can play there; also Alex Freeman … Plenty of possibilities to play.”
Poch aims “to be flexible in a tactical way,” he added, “and I think this roster provides us the possibility to play with back four, back three, playing with one holding midfielder or playing with no holding midfielder, playing with three and maybe having more offensive players in front of this back three.”
OK then! Here’s what Adams said about that part.
“I've played a lot of different formations in my career. I feel like at this point in my career, I'm able to adjust and adapt to different situations,” responded the AFC Bournemouth standout. “It will be something that we train, I'm sure, going into the first two friendlies, and I'm happy we have that preparation just to try different things, iron out details, whatever it might be.
“I'm confident if I play by myself, or a double pivot with someone like Weston, who I have chemistry with, you just figure it out.”
A big part of why Poch’s central options were limited? His decision to back the squad with defenders, 10 in all, even if he seemed to quibble with his federation’s own designations on Tuesday, launching into an explanation about wingbacks like Sergiño Dest and Tim Weah being more like attackers at heart.
It certainly suggests the Yanks will play with a back three like the 3-4-2-1 system, which they’ve produced some of their best performances in over the past year or so. Bringing five center backs also hints at concerns about Chris Richards, the FC Dallas product widely seen as the USMNT’s most talented defender, who’s carrying an ankle injury projected to complicate his availability for at least the start of the World Cup.
Charlotte FC's Tim Ream, FC Cincinnati's Miles Robinson and Philadelphia Union homegrowns Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty are the others in the mix there.
“[We’re] trying to provide the right balance, and of course I think it's important to have bodies enough in center back; that is why we have five, for different reasons,” said Pochettino, who played center back for Argentina at the 2002 World Cup. “We wanted to be sure that we don't have any risk or we don't take any risk.”
Notably, Robinson, NYCFC product Joe Scally and Antonee ‘Jedi’ Robinson are all capable of filling the ‘elbow’ role of a hybrid fullback who can stay at home when others advance during possession buildups, as has often been the case in the 3-4-2-1.
As much as Poch and his players emphasized the importance of versatility on Tuesday, one Yank is in a class by himself there: Weston McKennie.
As he fielded questions from reporters, the FCD academy alum literally lost count of the number of spots he filled for Italian giants Juventus over the past season, Adams reminding him he’d also played a bit of striker for the Serie A side as well, for a total of nine or perhaps even 10 positions, often shifting roles repeatedly within a single match.
That shapeshifting quality is a major strength for McKennie, a key reason he’s become so indispensable for Juventus even as one regime after another deemed him surplus to requirements. However, it can also pose a challenge to his national team coaches.
There’s little doubt that he’s a starting-caliber contributor for the USMNT. The question is where he fits best, and whether Pochettino talks himself into playing McKennie somewhere less conventional to fix a lineup conundrum somewhere else. Will he slot in next to Adams in deep midfield, work alongside Pulisic as a high-energy pressing 10… or somewhere else entirely?
These questions could well determine this team’s ceiling.
“My mentality and the experiences I have had throughout my career, I think I'm just someone that, any way I can help the team, I'm willing to do it,” said McKennie, “whether that's [being] called upon to play as an 8, which is a position I do prefer, or call it as a right wingback, or a striker, or a center back, or a goalkeeper, or even just supporting from the sideline.
“Whatever it is, I think I'll be prepared and be able to adjust, because I think that's just the type of player I am, and whatever the coach needs, I'll be there to help out.”
