Tyler Adams’ return to action highlights busy week for U.S. World Cup hopes

Matches are coming at a breakneck pace in European leagues and those closer to home as we head towards the 2026 FIFA World Cup. One date to circle on the calendar is May 26, the day United States men’s national team coach Mauricio Pochettino reveals at a gala in New York the 26 players who will represent the co-hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2026. And when this list is established, the curtain will rise for the long-awaited tournament. As another busy weekend of club matches approaches for the 40 or so Americans hoping to earn a spot on the World Cup roster, here’s who’s moving up and down. Stock up 📈 Adams is returning from a hamstring injury that forced him to miss the United States’ March defeats to Belgium and Portugal, making his first Premier League appearance in more than a month. And it was a memorable 20 minutes for the 27-year-old destroyer, who came off the bench to help the Cherries to one of the biggest victories in their 127-year history: a 2-1 win over Premier League leaders Arsenal in London. Adams could be back in manager Andoni Iraola’s starting line-up when Bournemouth travel to Newcastle on Saturday. Balo can’t stop scoring. The 24-year-old striker found the net for the seventh time in as many matches, making him the first Ligue 1 player to achieve the feat since Neymar, Brazil’s all-time top scorer, did it for PSG in 2022. Balogun will make it eight in a row on Sunday, when Monaco host Auxerre. The 24-year-old is having an even better season than in 2025, when his play for the Caps – notably in the Concacaf Champions Cup – earned the son of former US coach Gregg Berhalter his first chance with the national team. The younger Berhalter continues to run with opportunity: he has three goals and three assists in Vancouver’s first seven MLS regular-season games. After missing the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against La Liga rivals Barcelona, ​​Johnny was healthy for the second game, playing the final minute of the competition, plus injury time, as Los Rojiblancos advanced to the last four of Europe’s biggest club competition 3-2 on aggregate. He now has the chance to become the fourth American to participate in the semi-finals of the Champions League, joining Adams (RB Leipzig, 2020), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea, 2021) and DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven, 2004). Cardoso will play for a trophy first, when he faces Real Sociedad and their American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo in Saturday’s Copa del Rey. Even though the Pigeons lost 2-0 to Berhalter & Co. north of the border last weekend, Freese was spectacular. The lanky backstop was credited with eight saves, preventing what could have been an uglier scoreline in his 100th appearance for NYCFC. It was enough to earn 27-year-old Harvard-educated “Matty Ice” a spot on the MLS Team of the Week. Freese’s form is larger than most; For the United States to succeed at the World Cup this summer, they will need Mauricio Pochettino’s presumptive No. 1 to be sharp. The El Paso, Texas native scored his 14th goal of the season last weekend, which ultimately gave PSV the match as the already crowned Dutch champions beat Sparta in Rotterdam. In just under 2,000 combined Eredivisie and UEFA Champions League minutes in 2025-26, Pepi has hit the target about once every 86 on average. With a 4-2 aggregate victory over Italian Serie A side Fiorentina on Thursday, Richards – who played all 180 minutes of the home-and-away series – helped Palace advance to the UEFA Conference League semi-finals. The current FA Cup holders will face Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk in the opening match on April 30. In the Premier League, the Alabama-born centre-back will look to go the distance for the 11th consecutive match when Palace host West Ham on Monday in a London derby. When Pochettino left him out of the Stars and Stripes’ March roster, many assumed the diminutive left-hander Zendejas’ World Cup dreams were over. But Zendejas remains one of the most consistent attackers in the national team’s playing group, starting every game and running the show – sometimes as captain – for Mexico’s richest and biggest club. Last October, Zendejas also scored the goal that beat Japan to start a five-game unbeaten run through the end of 2025. Don’t count Zendejas out just yet. Stock Down 📉 The lack of production from the United States’ undisputed headliner remains the biggest worry for home team fans ahead of the World Cup. The Rossoneri’s 3-0 home defeat to Udinese last Saturday marked Pulisic’s 16th game without a goal for club and country. He only has one assist this calendar year. Pulisic’s next chance to get on the scoresheet comes on Sunday, when third-placed Milan head east to face Verona in the league. There’s no way to sugarcoat it: Ream hasn’t played well so far this season in MLS. For a U.S. team that doesn’t have a deep central defense bench, that would be concerning even if Ream wasn’t about to turn 39 three months after the World Cup. Rest assured, Poch and his team will be monitoring their captain’s every move in the weeks leading up to May 26. When Reyna came on for the final five minutes of Borussia Mochengladbach’s 2-2 draw against Heidenheim on April 4, the hope was that it would lead to more playing time for the 2022 World Cup veteran. Instead, the 23-year-old remained attached to manager Eugen Polanski’s bench during last week’s 1-0 defeat at Leipzig – the fourth time in five games of Bundesliga, he was an unused substitute. Can Pochettino really take Reyna to the World Cup if he doesn’t play for club at all? Like Tessmann, Tillman found himself on the substitutes’ bench last week, in his case for the second consecutive game. Bayer Leverkusen won both matches. That means Tillman – who has eight goals and one assist in 36 total games – may have to wait to return to the field; he has only played three minutes in the Bundesliga since March 21. With the Sky Blues heading towards promotion to the Premier League, Wright has suffered a bit of a slump. The imposing Los Angeles native has remained scoreless in his last four outings in England’s second division. He has another 16 goals in 36 games this season, behind Swansea’s Zan Vipotnik (21) at the top of the Championship. Coventry visit Blackburn on Friday.