Mauricio Pochettino’s preferred USMNT World Cup squad is taking shape

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – It has certainly been a journey to this point, but coming out of Tuesday night’s 2-1 win over Australia, it is beginning to feel like we have an idea of the players U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino trusts.

That is not to say that this roster is set in stone. Not even close. That would be antithetical to everything Pochettino and his staff have tried to build into the ethos of this group. He wants no one to feel as if anything is guaranteed. But if we look at the last two international windows, certain players have started to work themselves into a better position to be a part of the 2026 World Cup team.

And it is not just the stars that we have long expected to be there.

Yes, some of the regulars of the 2022 cycle are still a big part of this pool’s best 26 players: Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, Antonee Robinson, Sergiño Dest, Tim Ream and Chris Richards are unsurprisingly featured players when available. And while Weston McKennie had not been in camp since March, the Juventus midfielder clearly showed his quality in this window and brings important elements to the U.S. team.

But Pochettino’s top-to-bottom search of the pool has also led to some new – and not so new – names emerging into the picture.

Cristian Roldan, a glue guy on the 2022 World Cup squad, had two assists on Tuesday and Pochettino levied the ultimate compliment to the Seattle Sounders midfielder: “If you want to build your perfect player, he has a little bit of everything,” he said.

Matt Freese got his first cap from Pochettino on June 7. Now he looks to have a path to being the No. 1 next summer, if he can hold off veteran Matt Turner and a swell of goalkeepers trying to break in.

Malik Tillman, one of the final cuts from the 2022 World Cup squad, has evolved into a potential starter next summer.

Max Arfsten, the Columbus Crew wingback, and Alex Freeman, the 21-year-old Orlando City right back, have become regulars (and saw their value increase as the system moved to use wingbacks more regularly), as has Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna.

Lyon midfielder Tanner Tessmann, who last played in March, was back in camp and made a positive impression to force his way into the conversation, too.

This team is by no means a finished product. There was plenty to improve on from the win over Australia. The team lacked energy for the first 30 minutes and gave up a sloppy goal – the second time conceding first and within the opening 25 minutes in a matter of days. But this October window did start to feel like forward momentum toward the World Cup.

Not many would have predicted that after a comprehensive defeat to South Korea last month. But a positive result against a heavily-rotated Japan squad started to give some confidence. The performance against Ecuador last Friday – albeit in a draw – added to it. And Tuesday’s win gives the U.S. a chance to lean further into that feeling.

“People say (friendlies) don’t mean anything,” U.S. center back Chris Richards said. “But for us, it means everything. Going into a World Cup, we want to win as many games as possible.”

We still have not seen Pochettino’s nominal best XI on the field at the same time. Some of that is due to the reality of a national team. You are rarely going to have all of your best players available at the same time.

It is why Pochettino, with no games of consequence on the docket and no World Cup qualification at stake, has insisted that it is more important to see as many players as he can, and to assess chemistry up and down the pool rather than prioritizing on-field chemistry. He conceded that relationships on the field are “really important,” but also insisted that “we still have time to decide” and to build that chemistry.

“We still (have a) long time to the World Cup,” Pochettino said, though there are just four first-choice friendlies left until pre-World Cup camp next June. “And I think we can assess (the group), and it’s open. It’s open for every single USA player that is playing here or outside of this country. … The thing that is important (is) they need to feel the confidence and trust (from) us. And when they come, it is because we are going to provide the possibility to play and show (their) quality.

“When you need to decide the 26 players next summer, (you want) to be sure that you know which type of profile, of characteristics you need. Because not only do you need good players, but also you need good teammates, good people, people that can put the interest of our national team (higher) than their own interests.”

November will bring two more good tests. World Cup-bound Paraguay and Uruguay both finished CONMEBOL qualifying with 28 points – Uruguay placed fourth, Paraguay sixth. Those games carry a ton of weight now, not just to carry forward the momentum, but to allow for positivity and optimism to be the narrative around the team ahead of a four-month break before friendlies in March.

After a year of trying to decipher where exactly this group was going, and who exactly would be on the team, it would be a welcome opportunity to lean into even a fraction of the excitement that once existed around the potential of this program.

Or, as Pochettino said, to believe that “the seed” his staff planted is starting to blossom.

“Sometimes [it] is difficult to explain how that magic happens,” Pochettino said of a team starting to come together and believe – to have the capacity to come from behind against an Australia team that was unbeaten in its previous 12 games. “But this is about to work every day, every time that we work together, is to put the seed and start to be very consistent in our decision, in the way that we communicate and in how the message arrives to the team, to the staff, to everyone.

“And I think when that starts to grow inside the team, that is why this type of thing starts to happen. And for sure, more positive things will happen.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.