Prepping for the Future

USMNT Burner Week Recap/Preview - 7/15/25 - Vol. 15

Jul 15, 2025

Surely Poch can’t take a horrible roster to the World Cup that we are hosting during the most important time in American soccer history, right Mick????

T-Minus 11 Months

In less than a year, the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada will kick off in Mexico City. With the Gold Cup in the rear view, here are our picks for the World Cup roster as it stands right now:

GK (3):
Matt Freese - NYCFC 🇺🇸
Matt Turner - Nottingham Forest 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Diego Kochen - FC Barcelona 🇪🇸
vs
Patrick Schulte - Columbus Crew 🇺🇸

It’s really a toss up here for the third choice keeper. In the end it probably will not matter because the odds he plays are very unlikely. However, giving Kochen an opportunity to come to the world cup would be great for his development and would give him the opportunity to build rapport with the guys. On the other hand, Poch has seemed to be a big fan of Schulte and we could totally see him being the one named to the roster.

RB/LB (4):
Sergino Dest - PSV 🇳🇱
Jedi Robsinson - Fulham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Joe Scally - Borussia Monchengladbach 🇩🇪
Caleb Wiley - Watford 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (OLF: Chelsea 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿)

Pretty straight forward here. Barring any injuries or games going to hell, these are our best four outside backs. Scally offers us a more traditional outside back play style while the other three are much more modern fullbacks. Scally also can play in a back three which gives us versatility.

CB (4):
Chris Richards - Crystal Palace 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Tim Ream - Charlotte FC 🇺🇸
Mark McKenzie - Toulouse 🇫🇷
Noahkai Banks - Augsburg 🇩🇪
vs
Miles Robinson - FC Cincinnati 🇺🇸

Less straight forward with the center backs. Richards and Ream have seemingly established themselves as our CB1 and CB2 at this point. Mark McKenzie will provide depth and has the potential to hop Ream for CB2. Truly depends on how Ream holds up physically. The last CB is a toss up. It could really be any of Miles Robinson, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty or Walker Zimmerman. We are going to bank on a Noahkai Banks breakout season for Augsburg this year and it will come down to a decision between him and Miles Robinson for the last spot in the center back room.

CDM (3):
Tyler Adams - AFC Bournemouth 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Johnny - Real Betis 🇪🇸 (Soon to be Atletico Madrid 🇪🇸)
Yunus Musah - AC Milan 🇮🇹

We foresee all three of these players being on the World Cup roster. Adams was solid but quiet at the Gold Cup while playing on an injury. Johnny seems to still have the yips when he throws on the badge but maybe a new club will give him even more confidence on the international stage. It will be hard to leave off a player who just commanded a $40 million price tag. Musah needs a move, should he get it, and become a solid player for that club, he will be on the roster. Maybe not as a CDM but his ability to play CDM is still there. The only player we could see sneaking into this group would be Sebastian Berhalter. Oh the irony if he goes and Gio Reyna doesn’t.

CM (2):
Weston McKennie - Juventus FC 🇮🇹
Paxten Aaronson - Eintracht Frankfurt 🇩🇪

Weston is a lock already, probably our second best player and one of the leaders of this team. Musah could also be considered here but we think Paxten Aaronson is about to have a great season at Eintracht Frankfurt. After a season and a half in the Netherlands with two teams, Pax has proved himself to be capable of playing with the big boys, especially in his new found role as a box-to-box eight. A solid season in the Bundesliga should set him up to get on this roster.

CAM (3):
Malik Tillman - Bayer Leverkusen 🇩🇪
Diego Luna - Real Salt Lake 🇺🇸
Gio Reyna - Borussia Dortmund 🇩🇪

After their Gold Cup performances, both Malik Tillman and Diego Luna should get into this roster. Tillman could argue he could be a starter and that will probably come down to how Poch wants to line up tactically. Luna should get in as his back up and additional winger depth. Then there is Gio Reyna. He needs to find a new club and at the moment the signs are pointing to him coming back to MLS. Either way he needs to ball. He is still a very talented player and can very well still make this roster. He needs to play, stay healthy and find some of that magic we have come to know and love from him.

WING: (4):
Christian Pulisic - AC Milan 🇮🇹
Tim Weah - Juventus 🇮🇹
Haji Wright - Coventry City 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
Kevin Paredes - VfL Wolfsburg 🇩🇪
vs
Alejandro Zendejas - Club America 🇲🇽

Despite his absence from the Gold Cup and subsequent squabble with Poch, Pulisic is the main man and will undoubtedly be at the World Cup. Weah is potentially getting a move away from Juventus with Marseille leading the race at the moment. However, it has been reported that they want him to play wing back/outside back. This would not bode very well heading into the World Cup. However we know Weah loves to put on the crest. If we get another double-digit goal season from Haji, it is going to be mighty tough to leave him off the roster, especially if he plays LW for Coventry like he did in his first season at the club. He can provide much needed depth for Pulisic. Behind them is a toss up between Kevin Paredes and Alejandro Zendejas. Paredes will need a big season to get into the eyes of Poch, considering he missed most of this past season with injury. Zendejas has been hot for Club America and is considered one of the best players in Liga MX but we have not seen his best for the national team yet.

ST (3):
Folarin Balogun - AS Monaco 🇫🇷
Ricardo Pepi - PSV 🇳🇱
Hot hand in Championship 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿: Damion Downs (Southampton), Josh Sargent (Norwich), Patrick Agyemang (soon to be Derby County), Daryl Dike (West Brom), Charlie Kelman (QPR)

Top two are pretty simple, Balogun and Pepi are out and out the best strikers we have. Both were sorely missed at the Gold Cup and the 2022 World Cup. The third striker will come down to whoever has the hot hand in the Championship (or Josh Sargent if he plays well at whatever new club he ends up at).

Bubble: Auston Trusty, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Sebastian Berhalter, Brenden Aaronson, Johnny Amon (pending Superliga POTY campaign), Gianluca Busio, Tanner Tessmann, Griffin Yow, Aidan Morris.

Dark horse: Josh Wynder, Rokas Pukstas (pending HNL POTY campaign)

Josh Wynder could end up being Benfica’s fourth center back this year. He is with the team as we speak for their preseason camp. Wynder will need to make his breakthrough at Benfica to have any chance of getting in this roster. Chances are low but not dead. The same goes for Rokas Pukstas. Rokas looked set to get a move after his stellar 22/23 campaign. However, nothing materialized and he had to suffer through the craziness that is having Gennaro Gattuso as your manager. But with Gattuso gone, Rokas will look to get his spot in the Hadjuk Split starting XI back. A good season in Croatia could see him get on Poch's radar. We could do much worse.

Curtains Close on the Weekend and Done Deals

Jonathan Gomez had joined Albacete 🇪🇸 of La Liga 2 on loan from PAOK 🇬🇷.
Ryan Malone scored a brace for Erzgebirge Aue 🇩🇪 against Bayreuth in a friendly.
Matthew Hoppe scored in a friendly for Sonderjyske 🇩🇰.
Quincy Butler scored for WSG Tirol 🇦🇹 in a friendly.
Taylor Booth recorded a brace for FC Twente 🇳🇱 in a friendly.
Marlon Fossey scored in a preseason friendly for Standard Liege 🇧🇪.
Nick Markanich scored a brace for Castellon 🇪🇸 in a 6-0 friendly win over QPR.
Maurice Malone scored a brace in a friendly for Austria Wien 🇦🇹.
Terrence Boyd scored for Waldhof Mannheim 🇩🇪 in a friendly.
Konrad de la Fuente and Bryan Okoh both scored for Lausanne-Sport 🇨🇭 in a friendly. So much lore.
Dom Dwyer scored for Mansfield Town 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 in a friendly.
Franz Bleicher scored for Augsburg 🇩🇪 in a friendly.
Kevin Paredes scored two and had an assist for Wolfsburg 🇩🇪 in a friendly.
Nils Froling scored for Dynamo Dresdren 🇩🇪 in a friendly.
Justin Butler has left Sandhausen and signed for Energie Cottbus 🇩🇪.
Kevin Dos Santos has left Rochdale to sign for Serie D side, Sondrio Calcio 🇮🇹.
16 year-old goalkeeper Ethan Gold has signed for Sheffield United 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 from Charlotte FC.
Lynden Gooch has signed for League One side Huddersfield 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

The Rumor Mill

West Brom 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 are finalizing a deal to sign defender George Campbell from CF Montréal. (🗞️ Ben Jacobs)
Celta Vigo 🇪🇸 and other European clubs are interested in USMNT and Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna. (🗞️ Tom Bogert)
Josh Sargent is weighing up a move to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg 🇩🇪. (🗞️ Seb Stafford-Bloor)

Lore Moment of the Week

This week, burner staff was lucky enough to catch up with Gambian-American dual nat Omar Sowe from IBV 🇮🇸! Here’s how the conversation went:

Burner: If I’m not mistaken you were born in The Gambia - how important is your heritage to you and your career?

Sowe: My heritage is the foundation of who I am. I grew up constantly playing football on the streets and terrorizing the neighborhood, always getting the ball over someone's house. My heritage makes me proud of where I'm from and it pushes me to show more and give credit to the people that raised me every time I'm on the pitch.

Burner: Describe your play style in your own words for people who may not know much about your game.

Sowe: Firstly, I believe that I'm a versatile footballer because of being able to read the game well. As a number nine my strongest strengths are running in behind because of my speed and size but also good in the pocket to help hold up the ball or create something out of nothing.

Burner: You’ve been playing the majority of your professional career in Iceland so far - how did that initial move to Breidablik come about?

Sowe: The move to Breidablik was made because I wanted to experience European football so at the time. I wanted a loan move from New York Red Bulls and my former agent had some contact with the former coach and made it happen.

Burner: You had a very successful spell at Leiknir; scoring 26 goals in 53 games, tell us about your time in the capital.

Sowe: It wasn't the best feeling playing at a lower level when at Leiknir but it was the one needed to help grow me into a better player. It was an experience that has helped me be a better player and of course off the pitch it was nice to be around the city.

Burner: You have since joined IBV - what is the football like at a club with a pretty impressive track record for talent with alumni such as George Baldock, David James, David Moyes, & Heimir Halgrimsson?

Sowe: Joining IBV was probably the best move I could have made at the time. The club has a long and successful history in Icelandic football and of course has its own history of being the only club off the mainland of Iceland. The people and the culture of the island are special. These things and the group of guys that were on the team made it exciting for me to make that decision.

Omar Sowe mættur í ÍBV - Fyrsti leikmaðurinn sem Þorlákur fær - DV — © IBV Sport

Burner: What is life like in Vestmannaeyjar compared to Reykjavik?

Sowe: I would tell most Americans it's like living in New York City and then packing up and moving to Alaska. It’s much colder and less active than Reykjavik, but Vestmannaeyjar has a lot of beautiful sites and peaceful nature.

*fun fact it has one of the most scenic stadiums, we think at least, in world soccer

Burner: What goals have you set for yourself?

Sowe: Well, I'm currently out for the season with an injury but when I get back the goals are always the same now and forever which is to try to be the best player I can be and if it comes with goals trophies and attention; great, but before all that I have to be consistent and patient.

Burner: What differences have you seen between Icelandic football and American soccer?

Sowe: I would say it is difficult to compare the two. In the US there's more players and leagues. In Iceland there's a lot less of just about everything - people, teams, leagues, infrastructure. Again, I would say it's hard to compare the two just because of the size of the two football worlds.

Burner: Walk us through your individual matchday routine.

Sowe: Well this is my personal routine I've done for many years so it works for me. Depending on kick off time, if it's late in the day I’lll wake up around 10 or 11am and head to the gym for a lil’ gym session. I’ll then eat lunch around 3pm, relax most of the day and then head into the game around 5:30pm with kick off at 7. If the game’s earlier in the day I will wake up at either 9 or 10am and skip the gym to roll out and stretch. I usually skip breakfast on both occasions and eat a little snack with electrolytes before kick off.

Burner: What do you like to do outside of football to relax, unwind or enjoy yourself?

Sowe: It’s pretty simple; I’ll head over to a gaming building with my best friend or watch football matches. And, of course, enjoy Iceland’s wonders.

Massive thank you to Omar for taking the time to answer some of our questions! If you want to keep up with Omar, give him a follow on Instagram.

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Red Lights, Stop Signs, I Still See Your Face in the White Cars

One canon event in every man’s life is sitting around a table drunkenly naming random sports players. Trying to one up your friends as you take turn yelling random player names. This is a burner favorite but we often do this with forgotten USYNT players.