The Roster
USMNT Burner Week Recap/Preview - 5/27/26 - Vol. 60
How is he going to his second World Cup?
Here We Go
Well… we finally have a roster. The 26 men who will represent the United States at the 2026 World Cup have been chosen by Mauricio Pochettino. The long-awaited USA/Canada/Mexico World Cup is just 15 days away at the time of writing. Below is the roster for the United States Mens National Team.
THE ROSTER:
Goalkeepers:
Matt Freese - NYCFC 🇺🇸
Matt Turner - New England Revolution 🇺🇸
Chris Brady - Chicago Fire 🇺🇸
Defenders:
Max Arfsten - Columbus Crew 🇺🇸
Sergino Dest - PSV 🇳🇱
Alex Freeman - Villarreal 🇪🇸
Mark McKenzie - Toulouse 🇫🇷
Tim Ream - Charlotte FC 🇺🇸
Chris Richards - Crystal Palace 🏴
Antonee Robinson - Fulham 🏴
Miles Robinson - FC Cincinnati 🇺🇸
Joe Scally - Borussia Monchengladbach 🇩🇪
Auston Trusty - Celtic 🏴
Midfielders:
Brenden Aaronson - Leeds United 🏴
Tyler Adams - Bournemouth 🏴
Sebastian Berhalter - Vancouver Whitecaps 🇺🇸🇨🇦
Weston McKennie - Juventus 🇮🇹
Aidan Morris - Middlesbrough 🏴
Gio Reyna - Borussia Monchengladbach 🇩🇪
Christian Roldan - Seattle Sounders 🇺🇸
Malik Tillman - Bayer Leverkusen 🇩🇪
Attackers:
Folarin Balogun - AS Monaco 🇫🇷
Ricardo Pepi - PSV Eindhoven 🇳🇱
Christian Pulisic - AC Milan 🇮🇹
Timothy Weah - Marseille 🇫🇷
Haji Wright - Coventry City 🏴
Alex Zendejas - Club America 🇲🇽
Some thoughts:
Thought 1: Why do we have TEN defenders
Pontificating: Poch seems to be taking a page or five out of Mikel Arteta’s book. Miles Robinson in the big 2026 is the clearest evidence that we have (1) not learned our lessons and (2) will never know peace. Robinson has been less than servicable for club and country for the last year at least. We have absolutely no qualms with 7 of the 10 defenders called in. We knew Max Arfsten was going to be there whether we liked it or not so we’ve accepted it reluctantly. Trusty we support being in camp after a successful campaign with Celtic, but the sheer quantity of defenders and sheer lack of midfielders pushes us towards a ‘maybe Yunus Musah would’ve been nice in this roster’ kind of vibe. On our initial roster prediction we did not include Joe Scally. Mainly because we just thought he was surplus to requirements and Poch has had his issues with Joe. His inclusion feels redundant though. Unless Poch plans to play him at right center back, which is possible, we have four natural right backs on this roster. That feels like another opportunity where ‘maybe Yunus Musah would’ve been nice in this roster’.
Thought 2: There is no way Poch really said Gio can act as a defensive midfielder. For those who have not seen this quote:
Mauricio Pochettino suggests to Henry Bushnell that Gio Reyna could play as a defensive midfielder, along with Roldan, Berhalter, McKennie and Tillman.
Felipe Cárdenas - @FelipeCar
Pontificating: Are we setting ourselves up to play the world’s most unattractive football this summer? The words Gio Reyna and defensive (or any variation of the word defend) should never be in the same zip code. To include our most creative player as defensive midfielder is crazy work. Gio Reyna enjoyers will know that defending is not in this mans vocabulary. HOWEVER, calling Gio a defensive mid means he’s also ahead of Roldan in that position. Small wins where we can find them.
Thought 3: Including only four CDMs and CMs is diabolical.
Pontificating: Getting back to the ole ‘maybe Yunus Musah would’ve been nice in this roster’ kind of vibe, this midfield set up is absolutely SCREAMING for Yunus Musah. Unfortunately, Musah’s exclusion from the squad is probably his own doing. From asking to not be called in for the Gold Cup to not playing very much at Atalanta, he gave Poch no reason to call him in. Clearly, turning down the Gold Cup left a sour taste in Poch’s mouth. BUT, Yunus is a versatile midfielder who is, probably, the most press resistant player we have. Musah also has a special skill of getting out of trouble. His line breaking runs from the center of midfield have long been an aspect of his game that the USMNT has relied on. It is unfortunate he will not get to play in his second World Cup. But, the player you have to feel the worst for in the midfield category is Tanner Tessmann. Tessmann has been a key part of Poch’s tenure. His exclusion feels especially off with the squad only having one out-and-out defensive midfielder. Tessmann is also able to player center-back which really makes you wonder why Miles Robinson was included in this roster.
Thought 4: US Soccer’s incompetence absolutely screwed over Diego Luna
Pontificating: These nincompoops made him the FACE of every piece of marketing material for the last 6 months and then left him off the roster. The naivety of the federation has reached new levels. He looked to be a shoe-in given how frequently Poch used him throughout his tenure so far, but US Soccer needs to take a serious look in the mirror and wonder why they didn’t use a guy EVERYONE knew was going to be on the roster barring a serious injury like Pulisic, Richards, Weah, Adams or McKennie? Tinfoil hat time; this has Don Garber’s grubby ass fingerprints all over it. You just have to feel for Luna. He was snubbed for the Olympics and now snubbed for the World Cup roster.
For those keeping score at home, our roster was 88.4% accurate (23 out of 26).
IN: Joe Scally, Miles Robinson, Alex Zendejas
OUT: Tanner Tessmann, Zavier Gozo, Aidan Morris
OUR ROSTER PREDICTION:
Goalkeepers:
Matt Freese - NYCFC 🇺🇸
Matt Turner - New England Revolution 🇺🇸
Chris Brady - Chicago Fire 🇺🇸
Defenders:
Max Arfsten - Columbus Crew 🇺🇸
Sergino Dest - PSV 🇳🇱
Alex Freeman - Villarreal 🇪🇸
Mark McKenzie - Toulouse 🇫🇷
Tim Ream - Charlotte FC 🇺🇸
Chris Richards - Crystal Palace 🏴
Antonee Robinson - Fulham 🏴
Auston Trusty - Celtic 🏴
Midfielders:
Brenden Aaronson - Leeds United 🏴
Tyler Adams - Bournemouth 🏴
Sebastian Berhalter - Vancouver Whitecaps 🇺🇸🇨🇦
Weston McKennie - Juventus 🇮🇹
Aidan Morris - Middlesbrough 🏴
Gio Reyna - Borussia Monchengladbach 🇩🇪
Christian Roldan - Seattle Sounders 🇺🇸
Tanner Tessmann - Lyon 🇫🇷
Malik Tillman - Bayer Leverkusen 🇩🇪
Attackers:
Folarin Balogun - AS Monaco 🇫🇷
Zavier Gozo - Real Salt Lake 🇺🇸
Ricardo Pepi - PSV Eindhoven 🇳🇱
Christian Pulisic - AC Milan 🇮🇹
Timothy Weah - Marseille 🇫🇷
Haji Wright - Coventry City 🏴
Curtains Close on the Weekend
All goals we were able to find a clip of are linked below.
Valentin Yotov had a first half assist for Slavia 🇧🇬 against Montana in the Bulgarian top division
Leo Burney scored for Drogheda United 🇮🇪 against Dundalk in the Irish Premier League
Patrick Hickey scored for Bohemian FC 🇮🇪 against Galway United in the Irish Premier League
Kevin Lankford assisted for Carl Zeiss Jena 🇩🇪 against Meuselwitz
Terrence Boyd scored for Waldhof Mannheim 🇩🇪 against RV Mannheim
Kaveh Zahiroleslam scored an early goal for Cracovia 🇵🇱 against Korona Kielce in the Polish top tier
Taiga Hata doubled St. Truiden’s 🇧🇪 lead over KV Mechelen in the Belgian first division
Lance Friedrich has signed for South Leeds 🏴 from AFC Wakefield
Rumor Mill
Leeds 🏴 have reportedly submitted an official bid for Lyon 🇫🇷 midfielder Tanner Tessmann
Burner’s Star of the Week
⭐️: Santiago Castañeda - Paderborn (vs Wolfsburg 🇩🇪)
Welcome to the big leagues, kid! In 2022 a teenaged Castañeda debuted for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship, and just a short few seasons later he anchored Paderborn’s midfield as they upset Wolfsburg to return to the Bundesliga. We touched on it in last week’s stack but this could be a watershed moment for Castañeda, especially looking at our depth in the defensive midfield department on the World Cup roster. By no means are we saying he should be there this Summer, but should he carry that momentum into his maiden Bundesliga campaign, there will be validity to asking for him in a camp. He’s only just recently been called into his first USYNT camp after being a lockdown starter for two different clubs in Germany’s third and second tiers. Still just 21 years old, he has much of his development and best years ahead of him and could become a reliable piece of our national team’s depth chart as he progresses. The burner is rooting for his successes as he carries the USL torch into a top five league. You’ve earned a good break this summer, Santi, so go get some tendies because you are our Raising Canes Player of the Week!
Roll on the Weekend
USMNT vs Senegal
The World Cup send off tour begins on Sunday in the Queen City, Charlotte, North Carolina. The USMNT will play their first of two friendlies before heading to California to begin World Cup preparations. The first of those two friendlies will be against fellow World Cup participants, Senegal. The Lions of Teranga have yet to name their final roster for the World Cup but have named a 28-man preliminary roster. Meaning, they will have to make two cuts before they submit their final roster. Their squad includes well known players like Sadio Mane, Ismaïla Sarr, and Nicholas Jackson.
Pre-World Cup matches are always funny. No one wants to get hurt and you truly never know what kind of football will be played. This is best depicted by the USMNT’s two tune up games in Qatar before the 2022 World Cup. The matches against Saudi Arabia and Japan were some real tough watches especially at 5 AM.
The USMNT will play at the Bank of America Stadium for the first time since the Burner was in attendance to watch the US beat Trinidad and Tobago 6-0 in the 2023 Gold Cup. Matt Turner, Cristian Roldan, and Alex Zendejas are the only three players from that roster that are on the 2026 World Cup roster for the USMNT.
This match will likely provide some insight on how the team will play tactically. Poch had seemed to settle on the three center back formation before switching to a four back for the matches against Portugal and Belgium. We will likely see him expirement with that. This game also provides a chance for the team to become a more cohesive unit. With the pressure of actually making the squad off their shoulders, they will be able to come together to get the best out of each other.
Game Details:
🆚 USMNT vs Senegal
🏆 Friendly
⏰ Sunday May 31, 3:30 pm EST
📺 TBS, HBO Max, Universo, Telemundo
📍 Bank of America Stadium - Charlotte, North Carolina
Red Lights, Stop Signs, I Still See Your Face in the White Cars
Adin Brown, we will never forget your 68 game, and one goal, spell at Aalesunds FK in Norway.