The U.S. men’s national team’s second camp of the 2030 World Cup cycle is nearly here. On Wednesday, Pochettino’s 25-player roster was unveiled for a pair of Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal clashes.
The team will face Haiti in an away game hosted at Nu Stadium in Miami, Florida — with Haiti unable to host in their own country due to ongoing unrest and security issues — on November 14th before traveling to TQL Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio for the second leg of the quarterfinals on November 17th.
Notably, the U.S. is also holding a U-23 camp later this month led by head coach Steve Cherundolo, who took in part of the senior team’s last camp alongside Pochettino. With U.S. Soccer prioritizing the 2028 Olympics, some of the youngsters who earned a call to the September-October window were re-routed, perhaps instructed to stay with their clubs or to join up with a youth national team on a to-be-announced roster.
Did Pochettino make the right choices with his squad? Let’s break it all down by grading the selections at each position.
Goalkeeper
- Matt Freese, New York City FC
- Diego Kochen, Lyngby (on loan from FC Barcelona)
- Brian Schwake, Nashville SC
Notable omissions: Matt Turner, Chris Brady
There’s no real surprise here from Pochettino given all three of these goalkeepers were called up to the team’s first camp of the 2030 World Cup cycle. Kochen, with his start against Mexico, and Schwake, with his start against Canada, both put together performances intriguing enough to warrant another call-up. Freese, for his part, is clearly a favorite of the U.S. coaching staff, though it’s difficult to justify his inclusion over New England Revolution star Matt Turner. Turner is currently in the midst of the best shot-stopping season in recorded MLS history, as per American Soccer Analysis.
