After years of buildup and months of conjecture, the 26-man United States roster for this summer’s home World Cup was unveiled Tuesday on Fox at an event in New York.
As expected, the roster put together by announced by manager Mauricio Pochettino is anchored by a number of longtime American standouts playing in Europe in AC Milan forward Christian Pulisic, Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams and Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie.
Pulisic has ties to the state of Michigan, playing for the Michigan Rush youth development program and attending Workman Elementary School in Canton.
There were plenty of uncertainties, though, about the roster heading into Tuesday’s announcement.
Most notably, 23-year-old midfielder Gio Reyna has made the roster for his second World Cup despite not making a start for the USMNT since last December. That inclusion likely came over Lyon midfielder Tanner Tessmann, who was left off the roster even though he’s expected to recover from the muscle strain he’s been sidelined by before the World Cup begins next month.
Another somewhat surprising roster addition was 28-year-old midfielder Alejandro Zendejas, who likely beat out Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna for the spot.
The United States squad ranks 16th in the current FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking. That’s been the American team’s range since the last World Cup, ranking somewhere between 11th and 18th since 2021.
The U.S. is in Group D of the World Cup, opening play June 12 against Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif., before matches against Australia (June 19 in Seattle) and Turkiye (June 25 in Inglewood, Calif.).
The team’s final tune-up friendlies are against Senegal (May 31 in Charlotte) and Germany (June 6 in Chicago).
United States World Cup roster
Goalkeepers: Chris Brady, Matt Freese, Matt Turner
Defenders: Max Arfsten, Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally, Auston Trusty
Midfielders: Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Weston McKennie, Cristian Roldan
Attacking midfielders/wingers: Brenden Aaronson, Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Malik Tillman, Tim Weah, Alejandro Zendejas
Forwards: Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, Haji Wright
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: USMNT announces 26-man squad for World Cup
Reporting by Field Level Media / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
