2026 World Cup USMNT Official Roster

2026 USMNT Roster (caps/goals noted)

Goalkeepers (3):

Chris Brady (Chicago Fire, 0/0)

Matt Freese (New York City FC, 14/0)

Matt Turner (New England Revolution, 53/0)

Comments: Interesting that Chris Brady has no caps to his name.  This is likely the first time all 3 keepers are from the MLS.  Interesting to only me is that Turner kept the #1 jersey likely due to tenure, but Freese is probably the starter.

Centerbacks (6):

Alex Freeman (Villarreal, 15/2)

Mark McKenzie (Toulouse, 27/0)

Tim Ream (Charlotte FC, 80/1)

Chris Richards (Crystal Palace, 36/3)

Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati, 38/3)

Auston Trusty (Celtic, 6/0)

Comments: Ream would become the oldest player in US World Cup history when he steps on the field at 38 years old and 8 months.  Richards' ankle issue apparently won't keep him off the field.  Freeman can also play as outside back, but I see him as the starting right CB, since we have Dest and Scally out there.

Defensive backs / Wing backs (4):

Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew, 18/1)

Sergiño Dest (PSV, 37/2)

Antonee Robinson (Fulham, 52/4)

Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach, 24/0)

Comments: Scally has far too much Bundesliga experience to not make this team and he can also step in as right CB in a 3 CB alignment as needed.

Midfielders (6):

Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth, 52/2)

Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps, 11/1)

Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach, 36/9)

Weston McKennie (Juventus, 64/12)

Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders, 45/0)

Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen, 28/3)

Comments: I defaulted to US Soccer's categorization of midfielders in their announcement.  However, McKennie, Reyna, and Tillman can also be seen as attacking midfielders or "forwards" in our system.  My major issue is the lack of a backup defensive midfielder.  Who will be Tyler's backup?  Secondly, if we play a 3-4-3, who is the deep lying defensive-minded midfielder alongside Tyler?  Baffled that we don't have Tessman (if healthy) or Aidan Morris, and saddened we don't have Cardoso (definitely not healthy).  That said, happy to see Berhalter here - there's some kind of closure to know that both he and Reyna are here to represent their families as teammates.

Forwards (4):

Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United, 57/9)

Christian Pulisic (Milan, 84/32)

Tim Weah (Marseille, 49/7)

Alejandro Zendejas (Club América, 13/2)

Comments: I did NOT default to US Soccer's categorization of forwards since I split the lone strikers below into their own section.  Weah can ultimately play wingback, right mid, right wing, even striker, so I hope we find a useful place for his talent.  Though we may be losing some of Luna's grit with his omission, it is just that Zendejas, the best player on Club America, gets a spot on this roster. 

Strikers (3):

Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco, 25/8)

Ricardo Pepi (PSV, 35/13)

Haji Wright (Coventry City, 20/7)

Comments: For the first time since probably 2002, there are no surprise omissions in the announcement of the strikers (Pepi in '22, Landon in '14, Ching in '10, Twellman in '06).

 

Random Observations:

- On this 26-man roster, we have 17 based in Europe, 8 in MLS (including 3 GKs), and 1 from Liga MX.

- Only 2 projected starters are in the MLS (Freese and Ream).

- 13 of the 26 return from the 2022 WC roster.  8 of the returnees were starters in '22: Adams, Dest, McKennie, Pulisic, Ream, Jedi, Turner, and Weah.  (The other 5 are Aaronson, Reyna, Roldan, Scally, Wright).

- From my last projection, I had 4 wrong - I thought Luna, Tessman, Cardoso, and Agyemang would be named.  (If not for injury, I think Cardoso and Agyemang would have made it.  Its possible that injury is also the reason Tessman didn't make it).  Instead, Zendejas, Berhalter, Scally, and Pepi are the beneficiaries.

- My projected starting lineup:

--------------Balogun---------------

-------Pulisic--------Weah---------

Jedi----Adams--McKennie--Dest

-----Ream-Richards-Freeman--

--------------Freese-----------------

- 27 year-old Christian now leads the team as the veteran with the most caps at 84.  That's impressive considering the second most-capped player with 80 is Tim Ream and he's almost 39.  The next group of most-capped players are McKennie with 64 and Aaronson at 57, a considerable gap.  Can Christian be a critical piece of another 2 World Cup cycles until he's 35?