Mauricio Pochettino made clear Tuesday that his 27-man squad is not a carbon copy of his expected roster for the 2026 World Cup. There will be cuts and corresponding recalls made from the roster for the friendlies against Belgium and Portugal at the end of the month in Atlanta.
The latest roster includes four goalkeepers and 10 changes from the squad that notched impressive wins over Uruguay and Paraguay in November. Ultimately, the US men’s national team boss is trying to complete his assessments of several players, whether they’re mainstays at their clubs or struggling to see the field often enough for his liking.
“What I can tell you, that everyone is saying that maybe this is the last opportunity, but it’s not close,” Pochettino said at a news conference Tuesday. “It’s open. It’s still open. It’s not the final roster.”
While Pochettino has effectively picked apart the core he inherited from Gregg Berhalter and changed it to his liking, there are crucial decisions left to be made. Regular selections including Tyler Adams, Diego Luna and Haji Wright will miss a final rehearsal to acclimate to his system, which saw a dramatic retooling during last autumn’s windows to include a third center-back.
Pochettino specified that Adams, who missed Bournemouth’s trip to Burnley with a then-undisclosed injury, is rehabbing a quadricep issue and was given a recovery timeline of two to three weeks. Wright exited Coventry’s loss at Southampton after 62 minutes with what Frank Lampard called “a bit of a sensation in his groin”. Luna made his 2026 debut from the bench in Real Salt Lake’s win over Austin FC, his return from a knee injury. As expected, Sergiño Dest will also miss out after sustaining a hamstring injury with PSV Eindhoven.
And so, this window will resemble a last-chance saloon for some inclusions more than others. The door is still open for several players on the bubble, including Gio Reyna. The 23-year-old has played just 28 minutes of competitive soccer for Borussia Mönchengladbach this year, but his strong showing in November’s friendlies kept Pochettino wanting to see more from the former wunderkind.
“Gio was fantastic in November with us,” Pochettino said. “Before the last decision for the last roster for the World Cup, I think it’s good to see players that maybe are not playing too much, like in that case of Gio, that he’s a very talented player, and we know how he can add to the national team.
“I think we really know that he’s a very special talent and a very special player. I think to give the possibility, even if he’s not playing too much in his club, if he can be very useful for us. That is our mindset and the way that we made the decision to bring Gio in this camp.”
Adams’s absence will make it difficult for Pochettino to refine his midfield tactics, as the Bournemouth man is a mainstay of the US at their strongest. However, Pochettino backed Adams’s readiness for lineups this summer, citing his form in the September matches as well as the team’s continued success without Adams in the ensuing two windows.
This month’s engine room will see combinations between regular Pochettino picks such as Cristian Roldan, Weston McKennie and Sebastian Berhalter plus more occasional inclusions such as Aidan Morris and Tanner Tessmann. Pochettino was effusive in praising McKennie, quipping that these days, “Juventus is Weston McKennie plus 10.”
Morris was another standout in November and has remained in fine form as Middlesbrough chase promotion. Berhalter is enjoying greater lateral mobility with Vancouver this season, being encouraged to float throughout midfield to orchestrate and recirculate the ball during lengthy buildup sequences. His set-piece service has also been sharp with the Whitecaps, a useful tie-breaking factor of sorts when final decisions must be made.
Lyon has recently utilized Tessman as a makeshift center-back, an understandable test of his physique and ball-shuttling ability. While Pochettino wouldn’t commit to trying a similar role for the 24-year-old, he has been impressed.
“Tanner Tessmann is a very good player, because he has one thing that is very important: brain,” Pochettino said. “He understands soccer. He understands every single position in a way that he needs to perform and to behave, and it’s not new for me. He has the profile that can play different positions on the pitch.”
Pochettino also emphasized his confidence in Christian Pulisic in spite of a difficult stretch of form. The Milan attacker last scored on 28 December, an 11-match dry spell despite his club firmly stationed second in Serie A.
“I never measure the performance of the teams or the clubs; always, we see the player,” Pochettino said. “Christian is playing, and, of course, is not scoring. But for me, it’s not only to score goals. For me, I am happy with him and the way that he is performing, or his commitment with the team and the time that he is playing. Of course, I think it’s a great opportunity for him to join us, and to perform with us and to try to help him, to arrive in the best condition, in a good position to be selected for the [final] roster.”
Pochettino also left open the door for Noahkai Banks’s present and future with the USMNT, saying the defender was “very clear … that he is not available to be selected” for this camp. Banks has been among the brightest young defenders in Europe this season and a mainstay for FC Augsburg, but continues to draw increasing interest from Germany for their U-21 team.
While Banks was included in last September’s US squad, he didn’t see the field in either game; Pochettino said they wanted to give Banks the opportunity to play, but he was injured. He was not selected for the October or November matches.
Pochettino reminded reporters that Banks is “a young kid” aspiring toward a long career, and seemed encouraged by conversations with the player and his camp. While he said he felt like “a father figure” in these discussions, Pochettino assured the 19-year-old is still on the radar.
Banks, like all World Cup hopefuls who missed this roster, will still be watched closely by Pochettino and his staff.
“He’s not yet made a decision,” Pochettino said. “He’s in a situation that is not easy for him. We are very focused on him, because we follow him. He’s in the pool of the players that we are following [from] the moment that we signed the contract with the US men’s national team, and I think we started working to identify talent and young talent.
“It always is in our mind, but at the moment: if he made the decision, and the decision is to be with us, of course, that is going to be in our radar to see if we will select [him] or no. But at the moment, he was very clear in the situation that he is not available for not to be selected, because he has still not made the decision.”
