Soccer <\/p>\n
In just under seven weeks, head coach Mauricio Pochettino will formally unveil his US men\u2019s national team<\/a> roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/a> at a celebratory event in New York City.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the group that will carry the nation\u2019s colors on home soil this summer, starting with the Yanks\u2019 tournament opener vs. Paraguay in Inglewood, California on June 12; \u2018Poch\u2019 has already described the process of winnowing down a shortlist of 35-40 players to the final 26 as a \u201cpainful\u201d one.<\/p>\n Making that squad is a lifelong dream for millions. And for upwards of a dozen USMNT hopefuls based in MLS, the next several matchdays are the last chance to impress the coaching staff, to drive home their case for earning a seat on the proverbial plane to World Cup adventure.<\/p>\n With the March window behind us and several more weighty weeks ahead in which MLS sides will try to consolidate their positions before a league pause of nearly two months for the big event, here\u2019s a rundown of where the prime contenders stand.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n While not many Yanks markedly improved their status in humbling losses to Belgium (5-2<\/a>) and Portugal (2-0<\/a>) last month,\u00a0New York City FC<\/a>\u2019s goalkeeper was solid and composed in the latter match and looks likely to remain the US starter.<\/p>\n The Pigeons\u2019 upcoming Saturday night visit to\u00a0Vancouver<\/a>, home of a couple of other USMNT hopefuls, looks tasty (7:30 pm ET | Apple TV<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Revs<\/a>\u2019 netminder just earned his first USMNT start since last June, and while “five goals conceded vs. Belgium” never looks good on anyone\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9, it\u2019s probably a sign that his World Cup spot is assured, with Poch appreciative of the 2022 World Cup starter\u2019s experience and locker-room presence. It will take something remarkable for Turner<\/a> to supplant Freese<\/a>, though.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n He remains one of Poch\u2019s most trusted leaders, an elite back-line distributor and rock of dependable serenity\u2026 well, actually, that last part has lately become a topic of some debate. The performances of the past few months have raised questions about whether Father Time is finally catching up to Ream<\/a> at age 38.<\/p>\n The classy center back is already defying the odds just by sticking around this long after his late run into a linchpin role at the last World Cup. Ream may be more of a spot starter rather than an in-pen lock. Yet even that also requires someone else to step up and assert their own case.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Crew<\/a> star is one of the prime success stories of Poch\u2019s tenure. Perhaps nobody in the player pool, though, is more affected by the wider tactical choices in front of Pochettino.<\/p>\n When the USMNT attack in a 3-4-2-1 buildout shape like the one that put\u00a0Arfsten<\/a> on the map under Wilfried Nancy, he\u2019s a real weapon at wingback. Ask him to be a more conventional fullback in a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1, and he looks less dangerous.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The groin injury that sidelined the Cincy<\/a> center back for both of last month\u2019s USMNT matches was brutally timed (especially when you remember how a catastrophic Achilles injury cruelly ruled him out of the \u201822 World Cup).<\/p>\n He\u2019d have likely logged significant minutes in one or both of the games in Atlanta, a great chance to make his case for a starting role. That said, central defense remains a shallow spot on the depth chart, and Robinson<\/a>\u2019s athleticism should safely nudge him onto the roster.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n His injury-time heroics were integral to the Whitecaps<\/a>\u2019 last-gasp comeback win<\/a> over Portland<\/a>, a sequence so striking that The Athletic\u2019s Paul Tenorio used it as the lede to his Monday column<\/a> about the weekend performances of USMNTers in MLS.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Something about Sebastian Berhalter and stoppage time tackles \ud83d\ude36\u200d\ud83c\udf2b\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/HJRDEaYusb<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Vancouver Whitecaps FC (@WhitecapsFC) April 5, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n It was pure Seb Berhalter<\/a>, and while the box-to-box midfielder wasn\u2019t exactly perfect on international duty, Poch surely loves the heart and energy he\u2019s seeing from Vancouver\u2019s engine.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Left off the March roster due to a nagging knee issue that limited his RSL<\/a> minutes in the season\u2019s opening weeks, Luna<\/a>\u2019s stock rose in absentia as the USMNT struggled to find attacking verve. He then marked his first start of the year with a goal and three chances created in the Claret-and-Cobalt\u2019s emphatic 3-1 win<\/a> over Sporting KC<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whether you call Luna by his incumbent \u2018Moon Boy\u2019 nickname, Poch\u2019s \u2018Big Balls\u2019 honorific or just Diego, we reckon you\u2019ll soon be calling him a World Cup participant, too.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n It\u2019s a modest setback that the Sounders<\/a> mainstay didn\u2019t start either USMNT match, even if he did come off the bench in both and was significantly more solid than most of those around him.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, week after week, he continues to do yeoman\u2019s work for a Seattle squad currently humming along in the top five of the Western Conference despite a brutal string of injuries and a deep run in the\u00a0Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a>, the latter of which offers high-stakes matches that can only help\u00a0Roldan<\/a>\u2019s Mundial hopes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Word has it that Brady<\/a> made a strong impression during USMNT camp, to the point that he may have surged ahead of his MLS comrades Roman Celentano<\/a> and Patrick Schulte<\/a> in the race for the third-string GK spot.<\/p>\n The 22-year-old homegrown did nothing to dispel that notion with his man-of-the-match outing in the\u00a0Fire<\/a>\u2019s 1-0 home win<\/a> over previously-unbeaten Nashville SC<\/a> on Saturday, his third clean sheet of the young season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Ream\u2019s partner at the heart of the US defense at Qatar 2022, Zimmerman<\/a> has been wracked by one injury after another in the years since, and unfortunately the five-time MLS Best XI and two-time MLS Defender of the Year appeared to pick up yet another one in Toronto<\/a>\u2019s wild 3-2 win<\/a> over Colorado<\/a> at the weekend.<\/p>\n Zimmerman remains dominant in the air and an inspiring presence in any group. But is that enough?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Much USMNT roster discourse has been devoted to the question of specialists: players with one or two specific attributes that can be deployed in certain circumstances, like Berhalter\u2019s set-piece delivery excellence, or big Patrick Agyemang\u2019s utility as a target man for direct play \u2013 at least until the Charlotte FC<\/a> alum suffered a heartbreaking Achilles injury with Derby County on Monday.<\/p>\n McGlynn<\/a>\u2019s superb left foot is a cheat code when it comes to free kicks, switching the point of attack and other long-range passing. He\u2019s also an adept tempo-setter in deep midfield. Yet again: Is that toolkit enough to snag him one of those 26 coveted roster places?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The Whitecaps\u2019 spearhead is one of a precious few MLSers who\u2019ve scored 15 or more goals in each of the past three seasons, and with five in Vancouver’s first six league games, he\u2019s right on course to do it yet again in 2026. His movements and instincts in the penalty box remain razor sharp.<\/p>\n In any World Cup year, a brutal numbers game lives one layer underneath tragic news like Agyemang\u2019s injury. Who might step into the spot his loss vacates? White<\/a> might be in position to make a late run. Then again\u2026 the US coaching staff might decide to use that spot on another positional area.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n That same logic around White\u2019s candidacy also applies to Sargent<\/a>, the USMNT\u2019s primary No. 9 at the last World Cup.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Josh Sargent scores his first MLS goal to complete the @TorontoFC<\/a> comeback! \ud83d\udea8 pic.twitter.com\/zy39swP7AQ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) April 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n TFC\u2019s showcase winter signing got off the mark for his new club with Saturday\u2019s late winner vs. the Rapids, and can now look forward to seven straight home dates at BMO Field, a World Cup venue. If he can finish chances with efficiency, Poch will take notice.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Another MLS standout who\u2019s been unlucky with timing when it comes to the national team, Blackmon<\/a> faces tall odds at this stage of the hunt. Still, the 2025 MLS Defender of the Year is an intriguing option at a position where Poch faces more questions than answers lately.<\/p>\n The rangy center back is comfortable and capable at defending in open spaces, and chips in a goal every now and then, as he did for Vancouver in last month\u2019s\u00a04-1 thumping<\/a> of Portland. A three-game \u2018Caps homestand this month offers him an inviting stage to make one final push.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
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