The penultimate U.S. men’s national team roster of the 2026 World Cup cycle will be revealed next week ahead of friendlies in Atlanta against Belgium and Portugal. Mauricio Pochettino said he’s treating this camp as the beginning of the summer’s tournament, and in addition to deciding who will round out the 26-player squad for this summer, there are still a few key questions about what the USMNT lineup will look like.
The competition at center back continues to be worth monitoring. Could a younger option leapfrog Tim Ream as the preferred partner for Chris Richards when the U.S. is defending in a back four? Or could the U.S. add another center back to the lineup and not only build out, but also defend in a back three?
Either way, though, arguably the most important objective for this camp will be determining who the two holding midfielders should be in front of that back line, and establishing continuity with that double pivot – one of whom we can expect to have more defensive responsibility – and the narrow wingers.
Because that continuity has been lacking.
Searching for attacking midfield chemistry
There are plenty of permutations Pochettino might be comfortable with. Discussing the team’s relative lack of wingers, he acknowledged in November that “we have a lot of midfielders, a lot of players who play in interior areas”. In possession, then, the width has been provided by Antonee Robinson or Max Arfsten on the left side, and Sergiño Dest, Tim Weah or Alex Freeman on the right.
