By comparison, predicting the United States men’s national team’s 26-player roster before the 2026 FIFA World Cup was a breeze.
There were a couple of minor surprises — Alex Zendejas and Miles Robinson in! Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann out! — but by and large, the players Mauricio Pochettino selected for the eventual round of 16 run were no-brainers for anyone who had been paying attention in the months leading up to the tournament.
Signed to a new four-year contract afterward, Pochettino’s first post-World Cup squad will drop on Thursday ahead of stateside exhibition games against Peru, Chile, Canada and historic rival Mexico.
Who makes this one is far less clear.
Speaking with reporters on Labor Day, Poch said the USA’s September/October camp would mix youngsters and World Cup veterans. Although he seemed to suggest that 30 players — including four keepers would be summoned to Atlanta starting Sept. 20 — my understanding is that the final list could be a little smaller.
Will Christian Pulisic be on it? That’s the biggest question ahead of Thursday’s announcement. Un unused substitution in each of AC Milan’s first three games of the new season, the USA’s longtime headliner made his first appearance of the 2026-27 campaign on Saturday, coming off the bench for the final 31 minutes and providing as assist to help the Rossoneri salvage a point against Lazio.
We’ll see if that’s enough to get Pulisic recalled.
(Photo by Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Meantime, Cavan Sullivan has clearly done enough to warrant an invitation.
The 16-year-old Philadelphia Union prodigy scored twice on Sunday night in a 5-0 drubbing of San Diego. He has now has made goal contributions in seven consecutive matches, with five goals and six assists in that span.
Add in the fact that there’s no under-23 national team programming until November and Sullivan, expected to be a key figure for what will become the 2028 Olympic squad, and the playmaking winger’s inclusion seems even more certain.
Figuring out who else will be there isn’t easy. With the 2030 World Cup cycle almost upon us, here’s my best educated guess:
*Denotes a player who is injured
GOALKEEPERS
Just missed out: Matt Turner
During last week’s videoconference with reporters, Poch said he’d bring in four keepers. Freese, 28, was the World Cup starter and gained crucial experience that should help him over these next four years. Brady, the USA’s No. 3 behind Freese and Turner, has been superb for the Chicago Fire during the second half of the MLS season. The 25-year-old Schwake has been even better for league-leading Nashville, while 20-year-old Barcelona prospect Kochen, on a season-long loan to Danish club Lyngby, is finally getting a run of first team stats.
Turner, the 2022 No. 1 lost his place to Freese last year and will turn 36 during the 2030 event. With a wide-open race brewing over the next four years, he could be the odd man out this camp.
FULLBACKS
Just missed out: Luca Bombino, Max Arfsten, Joe Scally, Tim Weah
As one of the Stars and Stripes’ most respected leaders, having Jedi around the next generation in their maiden camp could be invaluable. The veteran left back has started all four of Fulham’s Premier League games so far, including all 90 minutes in Saturday’s scoreless tie at Liverpool.
When asked about potentially omitting players who just joined new clubs, Poch name-checked Arfsten. So let’s assume he’s out. Same for the uncapped Bombino, 20, who moved to Stoke City on Deadline Day. That could open the door for the 24-year-old Bello to return to the national team for the first time since 2022. The former Atlanta United left back made his UEFA Champions League debut last week with Austria’s LASK.
World Cup goalscorer Freeman has emerged as a starter in his first full season with Villarreal, while fellow right back Westfield, 20, is quickly becoming one of the best at the position in the domestic circuit. He could get a look over known quantities like Scally and Weah this window.
CENTER BACKS
Just missed out: Miles Robinson, Tristan Blackmon, Cameron Carter-Vickers
Richards enters the 2030 cycle as he did the last one: as the Americans’ best central defender. There’s a gaping hole next to him now, though, with the soon-to-be-39-year-old Tim Ream surely having worn his country’s colors for the last time. Trusty, who made a late press to claim a World Cup spot and scored in the meaningless group stage loss to Türkiye, figures to be the next left-footed man up, while the popular McKenzie should maintain his role as a serviceable option at age 27.
The most intriguing name here is Pierre’s. Philadelphia’s 6-foot-7 18-year-old has taken MLS by storm since returning from his loan to Lyngby in July, anchoring Philly’s back line and scoring four goals in his 10 league appearances in 2026.
MIDFIELDERS
Just missed out: Weston McKennie*, Johnny Cardoso, Tanner Tessmann, Gianluca Busio*
It’s two straight Prem starts now for Adams, who began the season coming off the bench for Bournemouth. Berhalter, the veteran destroyer’s understudy at the World Cup, is improving every week at ‘Boro in England’s second-tier; the 25-year-old scored twice in Sunday’s 3-2 victory over Norwich. Morris went 90 for the fifth contest running in that match.
McGlynn scored his first for Stoke on Sunday, with his right foot no less. The native New Yorker won 12 caps under Poch in 2025 before an untimely injury derailed his World Cup dreams and seems poised for a return. Same for Musah, whose insertion at halftime for Milan against Lazio was as crucial as Pulisic’s contribution later on.
McKennie is still suffering from “muscle fatigue” and hasn’t played for Juventus since the Serie A opener on Aug. 23. Cardoso and Tessmann have seen only slightly more action. The former’s 15 minutes for Atlético Madrid in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Real Sociedad was his longest run-out so far, while the latter logged only the final three minutes for Lyon in Saturday’s stalemate with Paris FC.
WINGERS
Just missed out: Christian Pulisic, Diego Luna, Alex Zendejas*
Sullivan isn’t the only teenage attacker lighting up MLS. Normally a left-sided forward, the 18-year-old Miller was deployed on the opposite flank by New England Revolution coach Marko Mitrović on Sunday and scored the game winner against Chicago (and former USA boss Gregg Berhalter). Ellis, 19, is riding a four-game assist streak for Orlando City.
As for the older heads, Dest has been brilliant for PSV all season, and Aaronson has started two of Leeds’ last three Premier League outings, splitting time between left wing and attacking midfield.
Luna could come back this month but hasn’t scored or assisted for Real Salt Lake in almost a month and didn’t feature in Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Freese’s New York City FC. That doesn’t help.
Then there’s Pulisic. Last week, Poch again appeared to criticize the star’s decision to skip the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. Yet the Argentine never left Pulisic out of a camp for it — unlike Musah, who hasn’t been back since. With Pulisic having played just a half-hour of soccer since suffering a double microfracture of his leg in the Americans’ World Cup-ending 4-1 defeat to Belgium, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager go either direction: Insist that Pulisic report anyway, or send a clear message to him and the rest of the squad that ahead of this next World Cup, every opportunity to represent the USA will be earned.
STRIKERS
Just missed out: Folarin Balogun, Patrick Agyemang*, Milan Iloski, Brian White, Haji Wright*
Finally, a full-time starter for PSV, Pepi has been his usual prolific self, scoring three times in seven Eredivisie and Champions League games. The pickings up top are slim for Poch up front after that. Balogun hasn’t played at all this season for Monaco and was left off the club’s European roster entirely following his failed Deadline Day transfer to Everton. Even if Pochettino wanted to give his top forward a run of games, the 25-year-old Balogun’s lack of match fitness might prevent it. Agyemang (still recovering from Achilles surgery) and Wright (serious quad injury) are unavailable.
That opens spots for Crystal Palace’s Gozo, 19, and maybe even Red Bull New York’s 18-year-old Hall. Poch and lead assistant Jesus Perez were at London’s Selhurst Park last week to see Gozo come off the bench for the final 17 minutes of Palace’s EFL Cup win over ‘Boro. (He also made a cameo in Saturday’s Premier League loss to Ipswich Town.) Hall, who should vie for the starting striker job on the Olympic team, has nine goals in 2,114 MLS minutes in 2026, though his last came all the way back in May. So Poch could opt for Philly’s Iloski (10G, 5A since May) or even the 30-year-old White, who notched his 15th goal in Sunday’s loss to Austin — the most of any American in MLS this season. White scored twice in seven appearances for the USA last year.
