Four days before United States manager Mauricio Pochettino was set to announce his 26-man roster for the World Cup, a leak of his selections hit the internet – with two key players set to miss out on a callup.
The US Soccer Federation was set to broadcast a multi-hour special on Fox Sports from New York City where the roster would be announced to eager fans.
But on Saturday, reporters Pablo Maurer and Jeff Rueter of The Guardian obtained and released what is believed to be the full roster, to the surprise of supporters across the country.
A majority of the 26 names were expected to make the team – among them, AC Milan winger Christian Pulisic, Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie, Fulham fullback Antonee ‘Jedi’ Robinson and Bournemouth holding midfielder Tyler Adams.
But recent injuries appear to have led Pochettino to leaving behind Real Salt Lake winger Diego Luna and Olympique Lyon defensive player Tanner Tessmann.
Tessmann – who usually plays as a holding midfielder, but has been occasionally used in a deeper role under Pochettino – has been dealing with a muscle strain that he picked up earlier this month.
Mauricio Pochettino’s 26-man United States World Cup roster has been leaked days early
The usualy suspects like Christian Pulisic (L) and Weston McKennie (R) made the roster
But winger Diego Luna (L) and holding midfielder Tanner Tessmann (R) are notable snubs
Rather than take Tessmann, Pochettino’s midfield is made up of just four players – three of whom made the roster in Qatar.
Two of those, the aforementioned Adams and McKennie, are considered the best midfielders in the United States’ pool and will likely start at the World Cup.
The other two are midfielders with considerable MLS experience – Cristian Roldan, who returns to the World Cup stage, and World Cup debutant Sebastian Berhalter.
Sebastian is the son of former USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter, who was sacked after the United States crashed out of the 2024 Copa America in the group stages.
What would make Berhalter’s inclusion all the more interesting is that Borussia Monchengladbach attacking midfielder Gio Reyna is also on the roster.
Reyna was at the center of one of the biggest scandals in American soccer history when his parents – former USMNT midfielder Claudio Reyna and his mother, Danielle – filed a complaint against Gregg Berhalter following the 2022 World Cup.
The Reynas filed this report after they were frustrated over Gio’s lack of involvement with the United States during the World Cup.
A subsequent leak of comments Berhalter made at a leadership conference referring to the poor behavior of an anonymous player, later revealed to be Gio, led to Danielle attempting to damage the coach’s career.
Danielle contacted former USSF sporting director Earnie Stewart and USMNT general manager Brian McBride to inform them of a physical altercation between Berhalter and his wife in 1992 in an attempt to de-rail his reputation.
After a prolonged investigation, the federation found this to be an isolated incident and that it did not disqualify Berhalter from being a coach.
Rather than take Luna, Pochettino has tapped Gio Reyna for his second World Cup roster
Gio’s lack of use at the 2022 World Cup kicked off a massive scandal between his parents, Danielle and Claudio Reyna (L) and former USMNT manager Gregg Berhalter (R)
Injuries stunted Reyna’s career growth after Qatar and he struggled for Monchengladbach this season – managing just one goal and one assist and logging less than 600 minutes
Meanwhile, Luna (R) has starred in World Cup advertisements and was expected to be called up to Pochettino’s roster after he played a starring role in the USA’s Gold Cup run last summer
Reyna’s inclusion in the roster in 2026 comes as a shock considering what has happened to his career since 2022.
A series of injuries and poor performances at the club level for Borussia Dortmund – as well as on a loan spell to Nottingham Forest – led to him joining Borussia Monchengladbach last summer.
In 20 appearances in all competitions this season, Reyna only managed a single goal and a single assist across 577 total minutes of game time.
The odd man out for Reyna’s inclusion is Luna, who plays in a similar position. However, Luna has also been dealing with an injury in 2026.
Despite this, he was still expected to be included in Pochettino’s roster considering his strong performance last summer for the United States at the 2025 Gold Cup – as well as the four goals and one assist he’s had in nine MLS games.
In recent months, Luna had been featured in World Cup advertisements for both Nike and America’s World Cup broadcaster, Fox Sports.
A USSF spokesperson told The Guardian that Pochettino ‘had nothing to do with the players selected to appear in those advertisements, some of which were produced months ago.’
Another surprise inclusion is that of Alejandro Zendejas, who has been one of the top forwards in North America for the past two seasons. Despite this, Zendejas has not featured much under Pochettino – logging only 139 minutes across six matches, the last of which was a September 9 match against Japan.
Chris Richards (L) and Folarin Balogun (R) are making their USMNT World Cup debuts
Of the 26 players selected, half of them are making their debut on a World Cup roster.
Half of the defensive callups will be making their World Cup debuts. This includes Crystal Palace center back Chris Richards and FC Cincinnati center back Miles Robinson – both of whom would likely have made the 2022 roster were it not for injuries.
Richards’ selection comes after reports of an injury to his foot towards the tail end of Crystal Palace’s club season.
The other two notable debutants for the US at the World Cup are strikers Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi.
Pepi, who plays for Dutch side PSV, was passed over at the last World Cup in favor of Jesus Ferreira – who has not featured for the USMNT since the 2023 Gold Cup.
As for Balogun, the Monaco striker obtained a one-time switch to play for the USMNT in May 2023 – having previously represented England at the youth level.
