Stakes rise for USMNT’s World Cup hopefuls after navigating Gold Cup group stage

ARLINGTON, Texas – The real test begins now.

This group of U.S. players came into the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer through the door U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino opened for them. The task was two-fold, as Pochettino himself spelled out a week ago when the Americans opened group play with a dominant win over Trinidad and Tobago.

“First of all it is to win because we want to win,” Pochettino said that day in San Jose, California. “And at the same time, it is to help the players to perform and to knock the door and (say), ‘We also we can perform for the national team and we can be involved in the next World Cup.’ That is what I expect. We, and the players, really believe that they are having the opportunity. Take the opportunity and show me that maybe, for sure, (you) will fight for a place in the World Cup. That, for me, is the most important thing.”

The Americans cruised through the Gold Cup stage. They were expected to. Beating Trinidad, Saudi Arabia and Haiti is not a gauge of success for any U.S. team, even one that is missing 10 regulars. This group still has quality in the roster. It has the presumptive starters at center back in next year’s World Cup, Tim Ream and Chris Richards, as well as the other top contenders for that job: Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman. Tyler Adams captained the U.S. at the World Cup in 2022. Malik Tillman has made a claim to play in attacking midfield. Players like Diego Luna, Luca de la Torre, Alex Freeman and Patrick Agyemang have a legitimate shot to earn a ticket onto the 2026 roster.

What they do in the coming days against some of the better rivals in Concacaf will go a long way towards telling us just how much they can help when the full team is together. Let’s not forget that earlier this month the U.S. lost friendlies to Turkey and Switzerland. The 4-0 defeat in the latter was especially telling about how much the quality on the field matters.

Suffice it to say, playing against Costa Rica next in the quarterfinals – despite star forward Manfred Ugalde being suspended due to card accumulation – will present a bigger and more indicative challenge, and the possibility of a U.S.-Mexico final is in play after both topped their respective groups.

“This was preparation. Now we’ll be playing a final, it’s all or nothing,” Pochettino said. “So we have to be prepared. We will be prepared, no matter the opponent we face. It’s our challenge: we have to compete well, to keep competing well and continue improving. We have a week to prepare for this game, so I have no doubt we’ll get there in the best possible way.”

Pochettino has been clear that what he wants is open competition for the team he takes to the World Cup. If the players are going to make an impression, they will need to win some knockout games.

It’s not unlike the challenge a similar U.S. group had at the 2021 Gold Cup. Coming off of an emotional 2021 Nations League victory over Mexico, U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter took a ‘B’ squad to the Gold Cup later that summer. Mexico, meanwhile, did not. It sparked debate about what the better plan was. On the one hand, Mexico got an extra month working together. On the other, Berhalter got a chance to look at a wider pool.

What the U.S. did in that tournament ended any debate. It beat Haiti, Canada and Martinique in the group stage, advancing with a plus-seven goal differential – the same as this year’s team. Then it beat Jamaica 1-0 in the quarterfinals and Qatar 1-0 in the semifinals before meeting Mexico in the championship game. A 1-0 win in extra time helped to secure a second trophy that summer – and it announced the U.S. as being “back” as a top power in Concacaf.

Before this camp started, U.S. goalkeeper Matt Turner talked about how that Gold Cup win helped him break through as a real option for Berhalter’s U.S. team. A year and a half later, Turner was starting in Qatar.

That’s the opportunity for some of these U.S. players as the knockout phase begins. It feels almost like a second life after the friendly losses – especially that Switzerland result.

“The steps that we’ve made, I think, are huge coming from not great results with Turkey and Switzerland,” Brenden Aaronson said. “I mean, it’s tough. You get down on yourself and stuff like that. But what I see from this group is just that bounce-back mentality. You come into the tournament, you could let it bother you, you could let negativity bother you. But I think that the biggest thing with this group is we tune everything out. We just get going.”

Some players have already seized the opportunity. Tillman, who scored his third goal of the tournament in the win, has certainly made his impression on Pochettino, who praised the midfielder again in the postgame press conference. Others, like Luna and Agyemang, continue to put themselves in conversation for roles with the U.S. team. Agyemang’s game-winning goal – following a series of missed chances across the last couple games – went a long way in his argument for future inclusion. He leads the U.S. in scoring in 2025 with five goals.

Now he – and the rest of the group – will get a chance to make an argument for why they can be trusted to perform when the stakes are higher.