Latest on USA’s 2026 World Cup roster: What surprises are looming?

A recurring theme has emerged on the eve of Mauricio Pochettino’s selection of the United States men’s soccer team for next month’s FIFA World Cup: No one really knows. Pochettino will inform the 26 players who survive elimination this weekend, according to multiple sources briefed on the Argentine’s plans. The former Chelsea and PSG boss previously said he would not contact at all the pool of over 50 players he called up during his 20-month tenure. For much of that time, a much shorter window than the full four-year cycle available to most national team coaches. Pochettino deliberately erased the hierarchy cultivated under his predecessor Gregg Berhalter. It was both about expanding the player pool with hungry youngsters and pushing veterans who had become too assured of a starting spot. Qatar 2022 starters, including striker Josh Sargent and midfielder Yunus Musah, have been out for months. Juventus standout midfielder Weston McKennie was left at home for September’s friendlies against Japan and South Korea, a clear message to the rest of the veterans. Pochettino still expressed it. “No one has a place, that’s for sure,” he said before camp began. Is it any wonder that the player pool is at the end of its rope right now as a potentially life-changing decision looms? On Thursday, a source close to a Pochettino regular told me that he did not know whether elation or anxiety awaited him. He’s probably not alone. McKennie responded to the September snub with a career-best season. It’s locked now, if it wasn’t then. The same goes for striker Christian Pulisic, despite his career-worst setback with AC Milan, and a few others, including midfielder Tyler Adams, fullback Antonee “Jedi” Robinson and center back Chris Richards. That’s assuming Richards is even fully fit following Thursday’s announcement that the defender tore ankle ligaments last week playing for Premier League side Crystal Palace. After that, it’s anyone’s guess – and I guess it pretty much will have to be. Because Pochettino has employed the same staff for almost two decades, taking assistant coaches Jesus Perez, Miguel D’Agostino and Toni Jimenez from Espanyol to Southampton to Spurs before stopping with PSG, Chelsea and now Team USA. Few leaks. The coaches all live in Europe. They communicate in Spanish. Compared to previous squad announcements for the World Cup, there is a lack of reliable information. In the span of a few minutes Thursday night, a source told me that a player most would expect to be picked was injured and likely out. Unprompted, another texted me the exact opposite; that the player is well and therefore. A similar thing happened regarding another veteran. At the moment, I don’t have a good idea of ​​where either player stands. “I’m not sure even Gooch knows” who will make it, one source told me, referring to US Soccer’s interim athletic director Oguchi Onyewu. The only thing I can report with confidence after more than a week of research is this: Real Salt Lake sensation Zavier Gozo, 19, has been included in the provisional US Soccer World Cup squad submitted to FIFA before the May 11 deadline. This list can include up to 55 names, from which the last 26 must be selected. Will Gozo stay when Pochettino makes it official on Tuesday? Even though my instincts probably tell me no, a harsh truth remains: my head really has no idea.