There aren’t a ton of high-pressure matches remaining for Gregg Berhalter’s squad before the 2026 World Cup comes to the United States. As the host nation, the United States Men’s National Team doesn’t have to go through the rigorous qualifying process. They garner an automatic bid. This isn’t necessarily the most ideal of situations when there’s a general lack of meaningful matches versus good opponents ahead of the biggest tournament in the world. However, the U.S. will surely be tested this summer in the vaunted 2024 Copa America tournament. Here’s a look at the preliminary roster for Berhalter’s squad:
Goalkeepers (3): Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City), Sean Johnson (Toronto FC), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest)
Defenders (9): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo), Mark McKenzie (Genk), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC), Tim Ream (Fulham), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Midfielders (8): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Gio Reyna (Nottingham Forest), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven), Timmy Tillman (LAFC)
Forwards (7): Brenden Aaronson (Union Berlin), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Tim Weah (Juventus), Haji Wright (Coventry City)
The tricky thing with this roster is trying to build it out in correspondence with this summer’s Olympics. Some players that could’ve made this roster likely will be instead pivoted to the roster playing in France.
The U.S. will have two friendlies in June versus Brazil and Colombia before opening up group-stage play versus the likes of Uruguay, Panama, and Bolivia.
