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World Cup 2026 World Cup Countdown Sam Hodde / Getty Images U. S. men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino, constrained by recent injuries to several key players, dropped a major surprise on the USMNT’s latest roster: he called up midfielder Gio Reyna for a November training camp that could represent Reyna’s last chance to make an impression ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Advertisement Christian Pulisic, Weston Mc Kennie, Tim Weah, Chris Richards, Malik Tillman, Antonee Robinson and other mainstays were not on the roster released Thursday by U. S. Soccer. (Most are managing, recovering from or sidelined by injuries, though Mc Kennie is healthy. ) The USMNT, therefore, will be depleted for friendlies against Paraguay (Nov. 15) and Uruguay (Nov. 18). Johnny Cardoso, Matt Turner and Yunus Musah were also left off the 25-man squad that will gather in Philadelphia next week. Reyna, though, will return to the fold for the first time since March. He has not started for the USMNT since the 2024 Copa América. He has played only sparingly for his German clubs, Borussia Dortmund and now Borussia Mönchengladbach, since then. But he will get another look with the national team this month. Joe Scally, Reyna’s friend and Gladbach teammate, will also return to the USMNT for the first time since March losses to Panama and Canada. And Ricardo Pepi, back from injury (though also back on PSV Eindhoven’s bench), will be with the national team for the first time in 2025, joining Folarin Balogun and Haji Wright on a striker depth chart that suddenly looks relatively strong. Sebastian Berhalter is also included. This will be the first camp featuring both Berhalter and Reyna, whose families, once extremely close, were at the center of an ugly, intensely personal controversy during and after the 2022 World Cup. Reyna’s parents, Claudio and Danielle, frustrated by Gio’s lack of playing time at the World Cup, revealed to U. S. Soccer a decades-old domestic violence incident involving Sebastian’s parents, Gregg — the USMNT coach in 2022 — and Rosalind. The revelation led to an investigation, a public saga, and the breakdown of the relationship between the two families. It’s unclear if Sebastian and Gio — who were close friends as kids; “I talk to him every day, ” Gio told Sports Illustrated in 2020 — have spoken since. In an April 2025 interview with The Athletic, Sebastian indicated they hadn’t. Advertisement Here is the U. S. squad in full: GOALKEEPERS: Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew) DEFENDERS: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Mark Mc Kenzie (Toulouse FC), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel), Auston Trusty (Celtic) MIDFIELDERS: Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew) FORWARDS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Haji Wright (Coventry City) Roman Celentano, Matt Freese, Jonathan Klinsmann, Patrick Schulte  It’s clear that Matt Freese is Pochettino’s No. 1. After that, everything gets murky. Matt Turner went overseas to Crystal Palace to continue training in hopes that he could come into camp in November in-form and ready to compete. Instead, he was left off the squad,  even with Pochettino bringing four goalkeepers. Schulte and Celentano’s teams are alive in the MLS playoffs (at least through this weekend) and they’ll get a big opportunity to fight for the No. 2 spot behind Freese. Klinsmann, meanwhile, returns to camp for the first time since September as he continues to start in Serie B in Italy. Max Arfsten, Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman, Joe Scally, John Tolkin With Antonee Robinson still ailing — and at this point there has to be great concern about the health of the U. S. ’s best left back — Pochettino is taking a look deeper into the pool for solutions. Joe Scally is back for the first time since the March Nations League camp. It’s fair to ask whether Scally is here as a fullback (he can play on the left or right) or whether he’s here as a right-sided center back in a back-three formation. Advertisement Scally has played capably on the right side of a three-man back line before, and he gives Pochettino added flexibility at the position — if he can earn the coach’s trust. Tolkin was a part of this summer’s Gold Cup squad and will get a chance to compete with Max Arfsten on that left side. Dest and Freeman have been go-to options for Pochettino, and Dest can start on the left or right depending on what look Pochettino is aiming for from the skillful PSV fullback. Mark Mc Kenzie, Tim Ream, Miles Robinson, Auston Trusty Richards’ omission comes one week after Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner complained that “the U. S. team didn’t talk to us” in October about a calf ailment that Richards had been “struggling with … for many weeks. ” Richards’ playing time, for both Palace and the U. S. , contradicted Glasner’s accusation. He played 90 minutes in all four of Palace’s games leading into the October international break. He has played 90 minutes in all three of Palace’s Premier League games since. He is, though, dealing with a calf issue, and leaving him off this November roster will give him two weeks to get healthy. Behind Richards, there are no surprises. Mc Kenzie and/or Robinson, who both played in October, should partner Tim Ream at center back. The only notable omission is Noahkai Banks, the 18-year-old Hawai’i native who has been starting weekly for Augsburg in the German Bundesliga. Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Aidan Morris, Cristian Roldan, Tanner Tessmann, Sean Zawadzki The sheer number of central midfielders in camp indicate both the ongoing competition at the position — and Johnny Cardoso, Weston Mc Kennie and Yunus Musah aren’t even in this squad — and also the possibility that Pochettino employs a three-man midfield for at least part of this window. In a 4-2-3-1 formation, one could consider both an Adams-Tessmann or Adams-Roldan pairing. If Pochettino opts to add a third midfielder, Adams-Tessmann-Roldan would be a complementary ensemble. Without true wingers on this squad, though, we’ll likely see some versions of a double pivot behind the attacking midfield. Advertisement It will be interesting to see how Berhalter and Zawadzki compete for jobs. Berhalter earned Pochettino’s trust at this summer’s Gold Cup. Can he break back into the team over Morris, Roldan and Tessmann, who have all shown well so far this fall? Brenden Aaronson, Diego Luna, Gio Reyna With Pulisic and Alex Zendejas recovering from the injuries they suffered on national team duty last month, Weah rehabbing a thigh injury he sustained two weeks later, and the USMNT’s depth chart already thin, Pochettino will go into this camp without a true winger. And with Tillman also recuperating from the hamstring injury he suffered last month — on Wednesday, he came off the bench for Bayer Leverkusen, his first minutes since the USMNT’s 1-1 draw with Ecuador on Oct. 10 — Pochettino needed someone who can play in an attacking role between the lines. So, he turned to Reyna. Reyna has logged only 134 minutes for Gladbach this season. He has not contributed to a goal in any competitive soccer match since January. He has not been able to flash the talent that made him a can’t-miss prospect as a teen. He is no longer American soccer’s Next Big Thing. But there’s a chance the talent still exists. There’s a chance it could be useful at the World Cup. Calling Reyna into this camp at least keeps that chance alive, and allows the USMNT staff to assess his fitness up close. Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright For the first time, Pochettino has what appear to be his top three strikers. Balogun is coming off his first Champions League goal for Monaco. Wright, who’s been in form for Coventry, got a start and two goals for the USMNT in October, and presumably cemented his place somewhere in the pecking order for the foreseeable future. Pepi, meanwhile, had his rise interrupted by a knee injury last winter. His return this fall was hampered by a muscle strain. But the last time he was fully fit for a USMNT camp, last November, he was the starter (and goalscorer) in back-to-back matches against Jamaica. He’ll get a chance this month — and likely in March — to prove that he belongs in the striker rotation. Spot the pattern. 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