When U.S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino selects around 26 players for a March training camp and friendlies against Belgium and Portugal, he will be picking a roster for a final audition and a dress rehearsal.
It will be the last USMNT roster before the roster — the last chance for players to make direct impressions on Pochettino and his staff before they pick 26 for the World Cup.
It will also be a chance for the Americans to sharpen themselves against two top-10 teams. “These matches are critical opportunities to test ourselves,” U.S. Soccer vice president of sporting Oguchi Onyewu said last month, “and continue learning and growing.”
Pochettino’s selections, therefore, will be interesting ones. Will he bring fringe players to camp in Atlanta and have them battle for World Cup roster spots? Or will he select his best available 26 and use the week-plus to begin building toward June? And how will he manage those carrying injuries?
Here’s how each of us sees the squad shaping up about a week before it gets announced – a largely united approach with just one difference.
Goalkeepers
Tenorio: Matt Freese, Matt Turner, Chris Brady
Bushnell: Matt Freese, Matt Turner, Chris Brady
Bushnell: It’s still Freese, hopefully Turner, and then a complete (and not super consequential) toss-up. Right? I’m not sure we need to over-analyze this one.
Tenorio: The curveball here could be if Pochettino opts not to bring Turner. That would be a sign not only of what we already know — that Freese is the No. 1 — but also that the staff wants to end all discussion and debate around the position.
Center backs
Tenorio: Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally
Bushnell: Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, Noahkai Banks, Joe Scally
Bushnell: The big question mark here is Banks. The 19-year-old German-American acknowledged late last month that he’s “very torn” between representing the U.S. or Germany. On talent and performance, he absolutely deserves to be in the USMNT’s World Cup picture. But Pochettino, who has preached commitment to the country and the crest, might be put off by Banks’ indecision.
Personally, I wouldn’t be, and I’d call Banks if he’ll come. (The friendlies would not cap-tie him.) But something Pochettino said way back in November 2024, when asked about dual nationals, stuck with me: “We don’t need to convince [players]. A player needs to want to play for the national team. … [He] needs to be desperate, needs to show that we need him. Because if not, we are a weak federation.”
Tenorio: I have to echo everything Henry said above about Banks, a player Pochettino was clear about wanting to recruit but whose very fair hesitation at committing to a national team before he is ready puts a big question mark around this position group. There are not a ton of options here if Banks doesn’t come. Could we see Tristan Blackmon or Walker Zimmerman sneak into the team for a last-chance audition to make the World Cup roster? I think Alex Freeman’s ability to play on the right side of the U.S.’s hybrid back three means Pochettino brings one fewer center back with Scally and Freeman providing depth at multiple spots.
Fullbacks/wingbacks
Tenorio: Tim Weah, Alex Freeman, Max Arfsten, Antonee Robinson
Bushnell: Tim Weah, Alex Freeman, Max Arfsten, Antonee Robinson
Bushnell: Robinson’s situation remains murky. He seemed to be working his way back from the lingering knee problem; then he sank back to Fulham’s bench. He went over a month without a single Premier League minute — until he started and went 90 against West Ham last Wednesday. (He was then back on the bench this past weekend.) Fulham coach Marco Silva said, at one point, that Robinson “felt something in his ankle” and “wasn’t feeling 100 percent,” which explained at least one absence. But on multiple occasions, he’s been in the matchday squad … and an unused sub.
For the USMNT’s March camp, his status depends entirely on health, and whether a week of rest might be more beneficial than minutes.
Tenorio: I think we see Robinson in this camp, even if it’s in the same way we saw him in October, when he was part of the team in Austin but didn’t play and flew home early. The U.S. staff needs time with Robinson and a chance to evaluate his health. Sergiño Dest’s injury gives Poch a chance to evaluate Weah at right back.
Bushnell: Prior to Dest’s injury, I had Scally on the outside looking in. Now I think Scally will likely be in camp, even though he and Dest are polar opposites as players.
Tim Weah could become the USMNT’s solution at right wingback in Sergiño Dest’s absence (Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)
Central midfielders
Tenorio: Tyler Adams, Tanner Tessmann, Johnny Cardoso, Aidan Morris, Sebastian Berhalter, Cristian Roldan
Bushnell: Tyler Adams, Tanner Tessmann, Johnny Cardoso, Sebastian Berhalter, Cristian Roldan
Bushnell: Cardoso surely has to be in Atlanta. He’s back to full health, starting regularly and playing reasonably well for Atlético Madrid, the freakin’ third-best team in the world’s second-best league. I know he’s been a national team enigma, and I’m not saying he has to be on the World Cup roster… but Pochettino and staff at least have to call him in March and take a long, up-close look.
Unrelated: I wouldn’t be surprised if a player like Roldan, whom Pochettino now knows he can trust, and who is still in early-season form, is left off the March roster. If so, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s on the outside looking in at the World Cup. He could be left off in March to make room for someone like Yunus Musah.
Tenorio: Cardoso and Morris are the players getting one more chance to make an impression at the national team level, and this would be a huge test for them. With the U.S. playing twice in just four days, it means there is going to be heavy rotation. If Adams and Tessmann start in game one, it means two of Cardoso, Berhalter, Roldan and Morris, will likely start in Game 2. Cardoso has never looked sure of himself when playing with the U.S., but he’s running out of time to make a claim on a World Cup spot. Morris has been in great form for Middlesbrough. Is it enough to get him in the World Cup mix?
Attacking midfielders
Tenorio: Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson, Malik Tillman
Bushnell: Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Brenden Aaronson, Malik Tillman
Bushnell: Tillman is somewhat of a question mark after suffering an ankle injury in February. The injury was minor, and Tillman has since returned for Bayer Leverkusen, in a reserve capacity (45 minutes off the bench combined in two matches), so I’d still expect to see him in March. If not?
Diego Luna would be an obvious pick, but he missed the first three weeks of the MLS season with a knee injury, and is a known quantity to Pochettino. Gio Reyna, meanwhile, is very much still an unknown quantity, but he hasn’t played a Bundesliga minute since Jan. 17 and hasn’t started a game of any kind in 2026. So …
Tenorio: Aaronson’s resurgence at Leeds (and Weah’s versatility that provides depth at winger, forward and right back) means that Luna, a favorite of Pochettino for some time, could see himself on the outside looking in for the World Cup roster. This is the hard part about picking a World Cup team. Luna has been a solid contributor for the team and was an important example for Pochettino to hold up to the group when discussing the mentality and attitude he was looking for, but that doesn’t mean he’s also the right player for the World Cup team. Aaronson is starting every week in the Premier League, McKennie has been one of Juventus’s best and most important players in Italy, Tillman, when fit, is a starter for a Champions League team and Pulisic is undroppable.
Dest’s injury dropped a defender off this roster and it opened up a spot for me to use elsewhere. Could that last spot go to Luna or Reyna come the World Cup? How Pochettino plays with depth will be an interesting call to make.
Christian Pulisic should be front and center for the U.S. vs. Belgium and Portugal (Mike Stobe / Getty Images)
Strikers
Tenorio: Folarin Balogun, Haji Wright, Ricardo Pepi, Patrick Agyemang
Bushnell: Folarin Balogun, Haji Wright, Ricardo Pepi, Patrick Agyemang
Bushnell: I would like to hereby proclaim that I am Team Bring Four Strikers. If all are healthy, each one serves a unique purpose. Balogun is the starter. Pepi is the poacher off the bench. Agyemang is the change of pace, the most imposing physical presence. And Wright might be the best direct replacement if Balogun were to go down injured during the World Cup. And I think there’s enough versatility throughout the rest of the roster that you’re not sacrificing much elsewhere by bringing all four frontmen.
Tenorio: The luxuries of a 26-man roster are such that you can bring in players who serve a very particular purpose, whether it’s a center back that can win headers and help close out games when you have a lead, or different styles of strikers that make sense for particular game states. That might give Pochettino the luxury of bringing a player like Agyemang, who could bring a different look up top than Balogun or Pepi. Wright’s versatility and World Cup experience probably earns him a spot on this roster.