NEW YORK – U.S. Soccer officially unveiled its roster for the 2026 World Cup on Tuesday, with Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie highlighting the host nation’s 26-man squad for this summer.
The players were informed via email on Friday, and the entire roster was revealed by The Athletic and The Guardian on Saturday. But the players still gathered at Pier 17 in Manhattan with the Brooklyn Bridge as their backdrop for what was supposed to be the grand unveiling and yet was still a televised, patriotic celebration and sendoff for one of the tournament’s three cohosts.
Among the other headliners on the squad are Gio Reyna, whose place in the squad has been debated for some time due to his lack of club playing time and past baggage within the team; and Chris Richards, a defender who missed out on the 2022 tournament due to injury.
Richards was the only member of this year’s 26-man squad not present at Tuesday’s event; he is still with Crystal Palace, his English club, preparing for Wednesday’s UEFA Conference League final – even though he is recovering from an ankle sprain and might not participate.
Richards, who submitted a video from London so he could take part in at least some of the festivities, will join up with the squad later this week in Georgia, where it will begin World Cup preparations at U.S. Soccer’s new national training center just south of Atlanta.
The roster will not be locked in until it is submitted to FIFA ahead of a June 1 deadline, and even then, a player can be replaced up to 24 hours before a team’s first game “only in the event of serious injury or illness,” per FIFA regulations.
The U.S. opens its World Cup on June 12 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., against Paraguay. Having been drawn into Group D, the cohosts will also play Australia (June 19, Seattle) and Turkey (June 25, Inglewood).
U.S. 2026 World Cup squad in full
GOALKEEPERS (3): Matt Freese (NYCFC), Matt Turner (New England Revolution), Chris Brady (Chicago Fire)
CENTER BACKS (5): Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Auston Trusty (Celtic), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati)
FULLBACKS (5): Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew)
CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS (4): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps)
ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS/WINGERS (6): Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Marseille), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)
STRIKERS (3): Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Haji Wright (Coventry City)
Sights and sounds from the scene
Fans in USMNT kits bore the heat, as temperatures reached 80 degrees in New York by Tuesday afternoon — potentially foreshadowing the hot summer ahead for World Cup matches. The crowd was expected to be at capacity, but it felt like scarce turnout with 30 minutes to go until players were expected to take the stage.
Adams and McKennie spoke on the Fox broadcast, speaking about the opportunity at hand and the honor of getting to play in another World Cup. Both are among the 13 players on the current squad who were also in Qatar four years ago, with Adams serving as the U.S. captain under Gregg Berhalter.
“For me, to have an opportunity to play in a World Cup at home, to be doing something like this, at home in New York, is extremely special,” Adams, who hails from Wappinger, N.Y., said on the Fox broadcast. “To be able to look into the crowd and see everybody supporting me and to be able to give something back to this amazing country would be incredible.”
Added McKennie: “I think it’s a great opportunity for everyone, also the fans here, the people who maybe don’t know a lot about soccer here in America to be able to feel the passion. And I hope that we can deliver, the guys that are on the roster, to make people fall in love with the game.”
Players, donning dark gray suits with the U.S. Soccer crest emblazoned over the heart, were introduced one at a time after that, carrying their World Cup kits out and taking their place on stage. Sebastian Berhalter, son of the former coach, and Tim Weah also spoke as they took their places among the group.
Are there any surprise omissions?
Lyon midfielder Tanner Tessmann, Real Salt Lake attacking star Diego Luna and Middlesbrough midfielder Aidan Morris were among the more prominent omissions, though Tessmann was the only major surprise.
He was with the national team for its last three camps and featured in all six games in October, November and March. He looked like a potential World Cup starter, but a downturn in form at Lyon in France, and then an untimely muscle injury earlier this month, seemingly cost him his World Cup spot – despite The Athletic previously reporting his injury was not expected to hamper his summer availability.
Are there any surprise inclusions?
The most surprising was perhaps Alejandro Zendejas, a Club América attacking midfielder who had missed recent camps. But the most controversial was Reyna.
Although teammates and the U.S. program have largely moved past the 2022 drama, Reyna simply hasn’t played much competitive soccer since then. Over the past three seasons, for his two German clubs, Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Mönchengladbach, and for England’s Nottingham Forest during a five-month loan spell, he has logged 1,835 minutes – less than some U.S. players have logged over the past six months alone. And even when he has played, over those two seasons, he has contributed a grand total of three goals and two assists.
Pochettino, though, dubbed Reyna a “special situation” when he called the playmaker into a November camp. “He has enormous talent,” Pochettino said at the time. The same reasoning presumably still applies.
Warm-up games
The USMNT has two pre-tournament friendlies, the first on Sunday against Senegal at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte (12:30 p.m.). The second is June 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago against European heavyweight Germany (11:30 a.m.).
From there, the group will head to Southern California and set up camp in Irvine. The team will train at Great Park, which is about an hour south of SoFi Stadium.