The U.S. men’s national team’s mark of progress is found not only with players on clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League but with them filling key roles in Europe’s top competition.
Featuring 18 matches kicking off simultaneously across the continent Wednesday, the dizzying final day of the 2025-26 league stage brought a two-goal performance from Bayer Leverkusen’s Malik Tillman and starting assignments for five other Americans.
With places in the knockout stage hanging in the balance, five clubs employing U.S. World Cup roster candidates secured passage to the last 24 while two were knocked out.
None finished in the top eight, which would’ve earned a bye directly to the Round of 16. Tillman, Weston McKennie (Juventus), Johnny Cardoso (Atlético Madrid), Yunus Musah (Atalanta) and Folarin Balogun (Monaco) will compete in two-leg playoffs Feb. 17-18 and 24-25.
The bracket is partially set ahead of Friday’s draw.
Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven) and Tim Weah (Olympique Marseille) were eliminated — the latter’s club on goal differential when Anatoliy Trubin, Benfica’s goalkeeper, headed in a free kick near the end of stoppage time for a 4-2 home victory over Real Madrid.
GOALKEEPER ANATOLIY TRUBIN SCORES A 98TH MINUTE GOAL AGAINST REAL MADRID TO SAVE BENFICA'S #UCL SEASON WITH THE FINAL TOUCH OF THE MATCH! 😱
IMAGINE NOT LOVING FOOTBALL 🤯 pic.twitter.com/y0thIBEQb5— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 28, 2026
Had that match ended 3-2, Weah’s Marseille would’ve gone through. The French team had only itself to blame, though, after losing in Belgium to Club Brugge 3-0. In his sixth Champions League start, Weah played 90 minutes.
The brightest performance came from Tillman, the 23-year-old attacking midfielder making his fifth Champions League start of the eight-game campaign. He charged Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-0 home victory over Villarreal with a sterling first half.
Using high pressure in the 12th minute, he pursued goalkeeper Arnau Tenas into the six-yard box and deflected the attempted clearance into the net. Twenty-three minutes later, Tillman smashed in a wicked half-volley from the top of the penalty area.
The goals were his first in the Champions League since November 2024, when, while with PSV Eindhoven, he scored twice against Shakhtar Donetsk and once against Girona.
Malik Tillman bags a first half brace to boost Bayern Leverkusen's place in the play-off spots 🥶🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/GeIfjQLnUm
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) January 28, 2026
Tillman’s standing with the national team has dipped and risen since Coach Mauricio Pochettino took the helm in October 2024. Last summer, his stock rose at the Concacaf Gold Cup with three goals and two assists in six starts for the runner-up Americans.
In the only match pitting Americans against each other Wednesday, McKennie and Balogun went the distance during a 0-0 draw.
Of late, both players had been sensational in the Champions League. McKennie’s streak of goals in three consecutive matches ended Wednesday, and Balogun had scored in three straight before hitting a two-game drought.
Dest played 90 minutes for PSV, whose 2-1 home loss to second-place Bayern Munich sent it tumbling to 28th place and out of the competition.
In his first Champions League start in more than four months, Musah was replaced seven minutes into the second half as part of a triple switch during a 1-0 loss at Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise.
Cardoso was the only U.S. player who didn’t start. In his third Champions League appearance of the season, he entered in the 64th minute of a 2-1 home loss to Norway’s Bodo/Glimt.
Thursday in the second-tier Europa League, U.S. midfielder Tanner Tessmann and first-place Olympique Lyonnais will attempt to clinch the top seed in the knockout stage when the French club hosts Greece’s PAOK.
Center back Auston Trusty and Celtic are clinging to the 24th and final place in the next round ahead of its critical finale at home against Dutch side Utrecht.
