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Doug McIntyre Soccer Journalist
On Thursday morning, the United States Soccer Federation announced details for the U.S. men’s squad’s hotly-anticipated World Cup roster reveal, which will take place — and be open to fans — in New York City on May 26 at Pier 17 in Lower Manhattan. (Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.)
That means national team coach Mauricio Pochettino has just over three weeks left to determine which 26 players will be part of his squad for the biggest World Cup of all time, one that will be staged on home soil for the first time in 32 years as the U.S. co-hosts the planet's’ most popular event alongside North American neighbors Canada and Mexico.
Who might be catching the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss’s eye as the clock ticks toward the deadline? Who’s losing steam at precisely the wrong moment?
Here’s the latest on how America’s World Cup hopefuls are playing for their club teams as Pochettino whittles down his list:
Stock Up 📈
Easily this week’s biggest mover, Freeman made his first La Liga start for the Yellow Submarine and was outstanding in a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo.
Deployed on the right side of manager Marcelino García Toral’s flat back four, Freeman showed why he bet on himself by signing in January with Spain’s third-best team; Villarreal leads fourth-place Atlético Madrid by five points with just four matches left to play. The 21-year-old had made just six substitute appearances before Sunday’s breakout. But with first-choice Uruguayan Santiago Mouriño still nursing a leg injury, Freeman figures to keep his place at least for Saturday’s match against Levante.
That’s great news for U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino. Poch started the former Orlando City standout in the Americans’ final 12 matches of 2025. Despite Freeman’s bedding-in period overseas, he was also in the Argentine’s lineup for last month’s World Cup tuneup against Portugal. If Freeman is playing regularly heading into the main event, bank on him being in the USA’s starting 11 for the June 12 opener versus Paraguay.
Cardoso made history on Wednesday, becoming just the fourth U.S. player ever to appear in a UEFA Champions League semifinal. (Apologies for getting this wrong on social media initially.) The 24-year-old New Jersey-born, Brazil raised box-to-box type — who started and went 88 minutes in the 1-1 first-leg tie with Premier League-leading Arsenal— joins DaMarcus Beasley (PSV, 2004), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig, 2020) and Christian Pulisic (Chelsea, 2021). Pulisic, who won the title with the Blues, is the only American to play in a final.
Before Johnny & Co. head to London for the decisive second leg of the home-and-home, total-goals-wins series, Atléti travels to Valencia on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Californian’s preseason move from wing-back to a more attacking role has been paying off lately. Arfsten has three goals and two assists in his last five MLS matches, including the game-winner over Philadelphia last weekend.
That production is hard to ignore. The UC Davis alum has done it at the international level, too; he led the U.S. squad in assists last year.
Add in the injury to Germany-based left back John Tolkin, and Arfsten’s World Cup spot is probably secure, even if he’s not the ideal backup for Antonee Robinson in Pochettino’s preferred back four. That’s yet another reason Poch could consider going back to a three-man central defense when the World Cup kicks off.
After getting a red card and serving a one-match suspension earlier this month, McKenzie returned to Toulouse’s lineup and helped the Ligue 1 side earn its first point — in part by shutting down U.S. teammate Folarin Balogun — since before the March international break in last weekend’s 2-2 tie with Monaco. It was the 27-year-old’s 25th start of what has been a career-best 2025-26 campaign.
It might not be enough to unseat Matt Freese as Pochettino’s World Cup No. 1, but Turner has been the better of the two MLS-based backstops in 2026. The Qatar 2022 starter has allowed fewer goals, made more saves and has stopped a higher save percentage of on-target shots. Turner’s save percentage (78.9) is the second-highest among the American keepers in the domestic league, after projected U.S. third-string Chris Brady of the Chicago Fire.
The timing is good for Scally, who last week became the youngest non-German player in Bundesliga history to hit the 150-game mark in a scoreless tie with Wolfsburg. That stat ought to remind Pochettino of the 23-year-old’s quality, not to mention the natural right-back ability to play in the middle or on the left side of the defense. With Arfsten now a dedicated winger, Scally is (and should be) still in the running for his second straight World Cup trip.
Reyna has logged more minutes — 31 — in Gladbach’s last two Bundesliga games than he had across the six he was available for before that. That’s an encouraging sign as the 23-year-old, who hit the post after coming on as a sub against Wolfsburg, makes a late push to snare a World Cup roster spot. Gladbach has just three contests remaining, starting Sunday at home against Borussia Dortmund, Reyna’s former club.
Stock Down 📉
"Christian is a very sensitive man and this drought is hitting him hard," Milan boss Max Allegri said after Pulisic failed to score for the 16th straight time — 18 if you count the USA’s two friendlies in March — in Sunday’s 0-0 stalemate with Juventus and Weston McKennie.
The USA’s top attacking star has four more chances to find the net in Serie A this season. The Rossoneri visit Sassuolo this weekend before returning to the San Siro to host Atalanta on May 10.
Tillman has started just one of Leverkusen’s last eight outings, way back before the March international break. In the club's five matches during the month of April, the 23-year-old playmaker played just 46 total minutes. The 2023-24 German champs will host Bundesliga rivals Leipzig at the Bay Arena on Saturday.
The 38-year-old center back was not in uniform for Tuesday’s 2-0 U.S. Open Cup loss to Atlanta United — the fourth consecutive game Ream has missed for the Crown since limping off the field with a groin injury on April 15. Charlotte faces the Revs in Foxborough on Saturday.
Although he just played another entire match at right back in L’OM’s 1-1 tie with Nice on Sunday, his 13th start on the back line this season, Freeman’s re-emergence probably reduces Weah’s chances of starting for Pochettino this summer. Weah can also man the wing, obviously; it’s his natural position and the one from which he scored the Americans’ opening goal four years ago in Qatar. But if Poch still sees Sergiño Dest higher up the field, he could have to choose between the two 2022 vets.
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