Just two international breaks remain – one this month and one in March – before the U.S. men’s national team’s 26-player roster for the 2026 World Cup is unveiled.
There will be no January camp, and the number of friendlies possible in the weeks ahead of the USMNT’s June 12th World Cup opener seems relatively limited due to notable European leagues concluding in late May. The next two camps, then, will continue to provide clarity on Mauricio Pochettino’s plans for his squad in the summer.
October was a substantial step. Even Pochettino, the unpredictable pilot of the program who’s insisted on instilling a sense of competition amongst his player pool, determined to extinguish complacency and reset the culture of his team, sees the World Cup on the horizon. The Argentine understands it’s time to land the plane after a journey the rest of us found surprisingly turbulent.
During this descent, the internet will be awash in roster and lineup predictions. But they already all come with an unavoidable asterisk: they’re based on the availability of the entire pool, which this week’s roster announcement will surely remind us to be an extremely unrealistic premise.
