USA World Cup 2026 Squad: Pochettino's Final 26 — Reyna In

Who Made the USA's World Cup 2026 Squad?

Here is the full 26, with the positional split Pochettino went for.

Goalkeepers (3). Matt Turner keeps the No. 1 shirt; Matt Freese and Chris Brady are the back-ups. Brady is the youngest of the three and a first World Cup call-up — the third-keeper slot has been a moving target through the post-Qatar window.

Defenders (10). The centre-back pool is four-deep: Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty. The full-back pool runs two-deep on each side: Antonee Robinson and Max Arfsten on the left; Sergiño Dest and Alex Freeman on the right. Joe Scally is the swing full-back who can play either flank, and Miles Robinson is the third senior centre-back option who can shift into defensive midfield in emergencies. Ten defenders is on the high end of recent World Cup squads and reads as a calendar choice — three games in nine days, with the longer knockout-stage rest still a long way off.

Midfielders (6). Tyler Adams anchors the single pivot in Pochettino's 4-3-3. Weston McKennie is the box-arriving No. 8. Malik Tillman is the like-for-like interior partner the head coach has used most often through the spring window. Gio Reyna is the senior No. 10 alternative. Sebastian Berhalter is the depth pivot behind Adams. Cristian Roldan is the experienced MLS option Pochettino picked over Tanner Tessmann on positional flexibility — Roldan covers the No. 8 spots as well as the deeper roles.

Forwards (7). Christian Pulisic (AC Milan) is the senior creative and goal-scoring lead on the left wing. Tim Weah holds the right wing. Folarin Balogun (Monaco) is the first-choice No. 9. Ricardo Pepi is the second-half switch with a different finishing profile. Haji Wright is the physical centre-forward option for late-game game state. Brenden Aaronson is the high-press substitute who can play wide or off the No. 9. Alejandro Zendejas, the Liga MX-based wide attacker who completed his cap switch to the U.S. in 2023, makes his first World Cup squad.

Why Did Pochettino Keep Gio Reyna?

This is the call that splits the room. Reyna's 2025-26 at Borussia Dortmund was a fringe season — limited Bundesliga minutes in the single digits. The case for leaving him out reads itself: a player whose club form has not matched his ceiling for two cycles now, in a 26 where every name has to earn the seat.

Pochettino's case for keeping him is narrower. Look at the rest of the midfield and the forward pool: Pulisic plays wide; Tillman and McKennie are interiors; Aaronson is a presser; Zendejas is wide; Balogun, Pepi and Wright are No. 9s. The natural No. 10 — a player who runs in pockets between the lines and creates from central positions — is Reyna and only Reyna. When the U.S. faces a low block in tight space, which Paraguay's 5-3-2 and Türkiye's compact 4-2-3-1 both project to bring, that profile becomes the swing piece.

Read it for what it is: ceiling over club minutes. Reyna's selection is a fitness bet first and a tactical bet second. Expect him as a substitute more than a starter, with the start saved for the match where the U.S. has the clearest opportunity to break a block from open play.

Who Got Cut From the USA Squad?

Two names headline the omissions.

• Diego Luna — the cycle's MLS riser. Broke into the senior squad in late 2024 and started friendlies through the spring window. Pochettino went with Reyna and Tillman as the senior creative cover instead. The most-debated MLS-vs-Europe call of the squad.
• Tanner Tessmann — the depth pivot behind Tyler Adams through the friendly window. Lost the spot to Sebastian Berhalter on positional flexibility; Berhalter can play both the deep pivot and the right-side No. 8.

The other senior name not in the 26 is Yunus Musah, the third midfielder from the Qatar 2022 trio. He's been managing a difficult cycle of club minutes and fitness, and the Musah-Tillman call is the one that will get re-litigated through the group stage no matter how this team plays.

Thirteen of the 26 played at Qatar 2022. Thirteen are first-time World Cup names. The split is more even than recent USMNT cycles have produced, and it reflects the generational transition the federation has been signalling since Pochettino took over in September 2024.

Who Is the USA's Captain at World Cup 2026?

Tyler Adams when fit, Christian Pulisic on rotation. Pochettino has not committed to a single permanent armband and continued the Adams-Pulisic alternation through the spring friendly window. Adams wears it most often; Pulisic has taken the armband on the matches Adams was rested.

The expectation at the Paraguay opener: Adams as captain, with Pulisic taking the armband if Adams is substituted off. Tim Ream is the senior dressing-room voice in the broader leadership group — the squad's elder statesman and the only name in the 26 with a senior international debut older than a decade.

What Is the USA's Projected Starting XI vs Paraguay?

Pochettino has not announced a starting XI or even formally committed to a tournament formation. This is a projection, built on the 4-3-3 he has favoured through the 2025-26 friendly window and on the names actually in the 26.

• GK: Matt Turner
• Back four: Antonee Robinson — Chris Richards — Tim Ream — Sergiño Dest
• Midfield three: Weston McKennie — Tyler Adams (pivot) — Malik Tillman
• Front three: Christian Pulisic — Folarin Balogun — Tim Weah

The midfield is where the squad announcement most clearly moves the projection. With Yunus Musah not in the 26, Tillman becomes the most natural candidate to step up alongside McKennie as the second No. 8. If Pochettino reshapes into a 4-2-3-1 instead, Reyna at the No. 10 in front of an Adams-McKennie double pivot is the alternative.

Bench impact (projected): Reyna as the creator switch between the lines; Brenden Aaronson when the game state calls for more pressing; Ricardo Pepi as the second-half No. 9 to give Balogun a recovery window before the Australia game six days later. The XI stays provisional until the camp confirms training-ground fitness, especially at full-back and the No. 8 spots.

Context for the opener: Paraguay under Gustavo Alfaro plays a 4-3-3 in possession that compresses into a 5-3-2 without the ball. The U.S. should see most of possession; the question is whether the Pulisic-Balogun connection can crack a deep block in the opening hour. If the game is goalless approaching the hour mark, Reyna comes on early.

Can the USA Squad Still Change Before the World Cup?

Yes — twice over.

Until FIFA's June 1 deadline. U.S. Soccer can swap any name in the published 26 with a player from the 55-man provisional pool registered with FIFA in mid-May. This is the cleanest window for a change of heart on a selection call.

After June 1, until 24 hours before kickoff. Injury replacements remain permitted. That gives Pochettino until the day before the Paraguay opener — Thursday June 11 — to replace any player ruled out medically. The replacement still has to come from the original 55-man pool. After kickoff minus 24 hours, the squad is locked for the tournament; injury withdrawals can still be made but no further additions.

The names most likely to enter under an injury call-up are the senior alternates from the friendly window — Yunus Musah, Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann. None of them is in the announced 26, but all three remain inside Pochettino's standby pool.

Where Is the USA Preparing Before the World Cup?

The squad reports to U.S. Soccer's National Training Center in Atlanta for the opening week of camp. The one pre-tournament friendly is against Senegal in Charlotte on Saturday May 31. The full World Cup base camp then opens at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California on Monday June 8 — four days before the Paraguay opener at SoFi.

When and Where Does the USA Play at World Cup 2026?

Three group games, all on the West Coast.

USA vs Paraguay — Friday June 12, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood

The host-nation opener and the U.S.'s only Group D match against a South American opponent. Paraguay return to the World Cup for the first time since 2010 under Gustavo Alfaro. SoFi is the venue Pochettino has spent the most camp time at — the friendly window's centre-of-gravity match is here.

USA vs Australia — Friday June 19, Lumen Field, Seattle

The middle Group D fixture. Tony Popovic's Australia bring a 4-2-3-1 in possession that compresses into a 5-4-1 deep block — the harder game to chase if the U.S. is behind early. The senior friendly history between the two sides has been more competitive than the FIFA ranking gap suggests.

USA vs Türkiye — Thursday June 25, SoFi Stadium, Inglewood

Group finale back at SoFi. Vincenzo Montella's Türkiye are the deepest Group D challenge — the youngest creative axis at the tournament in Real Madrid's Arda Güler and Juventus's Kenan Yıldız, with Inter captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu behind them. If both teams are unbeaten going into matchday three, this is the group-winner decider.

If the U.S. tops Group D, the Round of 32 lands on Saturday July 4. The full path through the Round of 16 stays on the West Coast for the group winner; the bracket only crosses time zones from the quarter-finals onwards.

Can the USA Win the 2026 World Cup as Hosts?

The honest answer is no. A quarter-final on home soil would be the best U.S. men's World Cup result since the 2002 quarter-final exit to Germany. The realistic case is built around that ceiling, not around lifting the trophy.

The squad's club-quality floor is genuine. Most projected starters play in Europe's top five leagues. Pochettino is the most decorated club head coach the federation has ever appointed. The structural edges of hosting — short travel, friendly kickoff windows, home crowds at SoFi and Lumen — should be worth roughly one round in the bracket compared to the FIFA #16 baseline.

The gap to the top tier remains real. Argentina, France, Spain and England all carry deeper attacking talent and more recent tournament pedigree. The U.S. has neither a Champions League winner in the starting XI nor a senior international trophy in the cabinet beyond the Concacaf Nations League and Gold Cup. Closing that gap in a single tournament window is asking a lot.

The Round of 16 is the floor. A quarter-final is the central expectation. Anything beyond — a semi-final at SoFi or beyond — would be the kind of result Pochettino was hired to chase but no one in the federation will say out loud before kickoff. That is the bet the host nation is making on Tuesday's 26.