{"id":824366,"date":"2026-05-27T00:38:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T00:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/824366\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T00:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T00:38:26","slug":"mauricio-pochettino-defends-u-s-world-cup-roster-selection-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/824366\/","title":{"rendered":"Mauricio Pochettino defends U.S. World Cup roster selection process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mauricio Pochettino<\/a> knows the joy of making a World Cup roster. But he also knows the misery of being left off one.<\/p>\n

In the first case, you want to celebrate; in the second, you want to be left alone.<\/p>\n

The U.S. coach said he kept both emotions in mind when informing players they had \u2014 or had not \u2014 made the roster for next month\u2019s tournament, a roster that was formally announced Tuesday during a sun-splashed, made-for-TV rally in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, about 13 miles from where July\u2019s World Cup<\/a> final will be played.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most important event is to be in any single roster,\u201d said Pochettino, who made Argentina\u2019s team for the 2002 World Cup after being passed over four years earlier.<\/p>\n

So when Pochettino decided which 26 men would be on his team this summer, each of them got a WhatsApp message, followed by a video, sent out at 1 p.m. Eastern Time Friday. Defender Tim Ream said he received the message as he walked to his car after training with his club team in Charlotte, N.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made me stop in my tracks and immediately call my wife to let her know,\u201d he said. \u201cWe both had been anxious and excited for the announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not overly emotional, but it was definitely a relief and there was a little bit of quivering, for sure, with my family when I found out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christian Pulisic was alone in Milan, where he plays in Italy\u2019s Serie A, when his phone lit up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just relaxing. Then I saw the message pop up and got excited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 29 players from the provisional roster who didn\u2019t make the cut? They each got a simple email. And no explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it is so painful. It was so painful for me,\u201d Pochettino said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I didn\u2019t make the roster, I didn\u2019t want my coach to call me,\u201d he added. \u201cBecause we care a lot, we don\u2019t want to say nothing to confuse the player. A player who didn\u2019t make the roster, they don\u2019t want to hear me say, \u2018Oh [too bad].\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Christian <\/p>\n

Christian Pulisic holds up his U.S. jersey during a rally Tuesday in New York.<\/p>\n

(Adam Hunger \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Ream and Pulisic are two of 13 players who are returning to the World Cup after making the team in Qatar four years ago, part of a list that includes midfielders Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna and Weston McKennie and defenders Sergi\u00f1o Dest and Antonee Robinson. They will be joined by defenders Miles Robinson and Chris Richards, both of who missed the last World Cup because of injury, and forward Ricardo Pepi, one of the final cuts in 2022.<\/p>\n

Richards was chosen despite tearing two ligaments in his left ankle playing for Crystal Palace earlier this month. Pochettino had no new information on the injury Tuesday but said the final World Cup roster doesn\u2019t need to be filed with FIFA until Sunday; after that, teams can replace players up to 24 hours before their opening match in the event of injury or illness.<\/p>\n

Reyna\u2019s inclusion was also a minor surprise since he has played just one full 90-minute game for club or country in the last four years. In the last World Cup in Qatar, he was nearly sent home for a perceived lack of effort in training after he learned he wouldn\u2019t be a starter in the tournament.<\/p>\n

But Pochettino said picking him was an easy decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really trust in him,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cHe\u2019s a different player. A different talent. The roster needs to have a player like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were also notable omissions, among them midfielders Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann. Luna, who plays in MLS for Real Salt Lake, has been a regular under Pochettino, playing in 17 of the U.S. team\u2019s 18 games in 2025. But he missed time earlier this season with a knee injury and sat out of his club team\u2019s last two games with a muscle problem<\/p>\n

Tessmann had been called into six training camps under Pochettino and was seen as a potential starter for the U.S. before being shut down by his French club, Lyon, at the end of the season, leaving his fitness for the World Cup in question.<\/p>\n

Pochettino declined to talk about either player \u2014 or anyone else left off the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not going to talk about the players that are not on the roster,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s disrespectful to the players who are on the roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raising questions about who should have been included, the coach said, necessarily leads to questions about who should have been left off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my decision to pick that 26,\u201d he said<\/p>\n

Pochettino said he didn\u2019t settle on a roster until the day before players got the WhatsApp videos \u2014 or the simple email.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted the right balance with the right players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Among the first-time World Cup selections are midfielder Malik Tillman, the German-born brother of LAFC midfielder Timothy Tillman; Mexican-born attacker Alejandro Zendejas, who plays for Club Am\u00e9rica in the Liga MX; and Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, son of Gregg Berhalter, the U.S. coach in the last World Cup.<\/p>\n

Berhalter said he was in Qatar four years ago, cheering on his dad\u2019s team. This year, his dad will be cheering for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you believe in your dream and put in the work, you never know what might happen,\u201d he said from the stage after being introduced to the crowd at Tuesday\u2019s rally.<\/p>\n

The team will open training camp in Atlanta on Wednesday ahead of friendlies with Senegal in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday and against Germany on June 6 in Chicago. The team will then move to the Orange County Great Park in Irvine for final preparations for its World Cup opener against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on June 12.<\/p>\n

U.S. World Cup roster<\/p>\n

Goalkeepers: <\/b>Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)<\/p>\n

Defenders: <\/b>Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergi\u00f1o Dest (PSV), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse) Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)<\/p>\n

Midfielders: <\/b>Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Gio Reyna (Borussia M\u00f6nchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)<\/p>\n

Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United),<\/b>Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Marseille), Haji Wright (Coventry City), Alejandro Zendejas (Club Am\u00e9rica)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mauricio Pochettino knows the joy of making a World Cup roster. But he also knows the misery of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":824367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,15654,150455,85471,462,8893,19176,2961,224,5337,28316,9323,6673,1242,3007,10576,338696,338695,1628],"class_list":["post-824366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-charlotte","tag-chris-richards","tag-christian-pulisic","tag-club","tag-gio-reyna","tag-injury","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-mauricio-pochettino","tag-player","tag-qatar","tag-roster","tag-team","tag-training","tag-u-s-team","tag-world-cup-experience","tag-year"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116643752130009191","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}