United States Men’s National Team head coach Mauricio Pochettino has named his 26-man roster for the upcoming October camp, where a slowly solidifying first-team roster will be tested against fellow World Cup 2026 participants Australia and Ecuador.
With the main tournament just over eight months away and the number of chances for the full team to prepare slowly dwindling, the Argentinean head coach has selected a roster with fewer surprises and experiments than the previous group that saw mixed results in the September window.
While several players are unavailable due to injury – notably Ricardo Pepi, Sergiño Dest and Johnny Cardoso – the majority of the players that would be considered top candidates for next summer’s final selection at this point did receive a call.
Pochettino’s rotation of EFL Championship forwards does continue, with Haji Wright and Patrick Agyemang this time seemingly earning spots in lieu of Josh Sargent. They are still likely behind Folarin Balogun, Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah in the pecking order, all of whom were also included in the roster. Alejandro Zendejas also earned a second straight call to join the crop of attackers.
Brendan Aaronson returns to the crew of selected midfielders, along with mainstay Weston McKennie, who was left in Turin in September, and Diego Luna, Aidan Morris, Cristian Roldan, James Sands and likely starter Malik Tillman. Also returning to the group is Tanner Tessmann, who has been turning heads as of late in the French Ligue One with Lyon, after a year gaining a foothold with the former French powerhouse.
Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna and Yunus Musah were left with their teams across the Atlantic for various reason.
While weakened by the absence of Dest, the defensive selection sees no major surprises, although the search for the other half of the central defense pairing alongside Chris Richards continues. This time, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Mark McKenzie and the returning Miles Robinson will get their shots along with the ageless veteran Tim Ream to partner the budding Crystal Palace star.
In the outside defender spots, notably Antonee Robinson returns, and will likely be a starter in one or both games, after having a slow start to the season with Fulham due to injury. Rounding out the defensive corps are Pochettino favorites Max Arfsten and Alex Freeman.
Four keepers were called, with the current apparent starter Matt Freese being joined by the dethroned Matt Turner, along with the still-uncapped Chris Brady and Columbus crew starter Patrick Schulte.
The team will begin gathering on Sunday in Austin, where they will prepare for the game against Ecuador kicking off at 8:30pm Eastern Time on Saturday, October 10 in the Q2 Stadium. Four days later, they will host Australia in Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce, Colorado, kicking off at 9pm Eastern Time.
With Ecuador holding the #24 spot in the current FIFA rankings and Australia one spot below, and both teams having already qualified for the World Cup, these games will certainly be the most realistic test to date for Pochettino’s work thus far with the team. The US is currently ranked 16th by FIFA, however due to their guaranteed placement in the upcoming group-stage draw, there is a non-negligible chance that they could be facing either team in a few months with much more on the line.
More importantly, after a year of mixed results and often head-scratching performances by both the team and head coach, US fans will be expecting to finally see an exit from the seemingly endless “get to know you” phase, and develop a firm picture of where this team stands against realistic competition.
Detailed Roster By Position (Club/Country; Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (4): Chris Brady (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Matt Freese (New York City FC; 9/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 3/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 52/0)
DEFENDERS (8): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 12/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 19/0), Alex Freeman (Orlando City; 9/0), Mark McKenzie (FC Toulouse/FRA; 22/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 77/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 33/3), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 50/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 35/3)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 53/9), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 14/3), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 60/11), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 9/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 39/0), James Sands (FC St. Pauli/GER; 11/0), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 8/0), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen/GER; 25/3)
FORWARDS (6): Patrick Agyemang (Derby County/ENG; 12/5), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco/FRA; 19/6), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 80/32), Tim Weah (Marseille/FRA; 45/7), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 17/5), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 13/2)
