The United States men’s national team roster for the March international break has been announced, as the path to the World Cup is firmly in sight. During March, the USMNT will have true World Cup tests facing Belgium and Portugal in Atlanta, but during that time, they’ll have to do so without midfielder Tyler Adams, who suffered an injury keeping him out of Bournemouth’s match last weekend with Burnley. While the injury isn’t expected to be serious, Mauricio Pochettino has omitted him from the squad but did offer a big surprise.
After scoring for the USMNT against Paraguay in November, which was his first USMNT goal since March of 2024, Gio Reyna has made the cut despite only logging 26 Bundesliga minutes in 2026 for Borussia Monchengladbach. A talented attacking midfielder, Reyna will need to prove his fitness during this window, as it feels like he and Diego Luna are in competition for an attacking midfield spot alongside Malik Tillman.
But even for those who aren’t in this camp, Pochettino stressed that there are opportunities. “Everyone is saying that maybe it’s the last opportunity, but it’s not closed,” the Argentine said. “It’s still open.”
With questions surrounding his future and whether he’ll represent Germany, Augsburg defender Noahkai Banks isn’t in the squad, while mainstays Haji Wright and Luna have missed out on the March window due to injuries.
Pochettino addressed this during his roster press conference, noting that Banks wasn’t picked while deciding on his future between Germany and the United States. The Argentine hopes that the decision is to stick with the USMNT, but he understands that it’s a tough decision for Banks to make and that his goal is to give him the time to think about this critical decision.
“But it’s in a difficult situation, and I hope, for the U.S.A., that the decision will be for our side because I think it is not only present, it is future too, Pochettino said. “I think it’s important only to give time and to support him in the way that we, and when I say we, I mean the whole federation is supporting him and trying not to convince because it’s not about to convince, it’s about to show that we, the federation, really care about him.”
Given how Pochettino is looking at this, there’s every chance that Banks could make the decision to represent the USMNT and end up on the roster. You can’t rule anything out, especially when players who aren’t in action much for their clubs have also been called in.
Reyna may be a talented player, but since he hasn’t played consistent first-team soccer since the 2020-21 season with Borussia Dortmund, there’s plenty to prove in this camp, as there’s a clear lack of attacking midfielders in the pool. Alex Zendejas is one who is performing well for Club America, but he’s also not in the squad despite scoring for the United States against Japan last year.
Center back is another position where all eyes will be on performances, as Pochettino’s shift to a back three is something that sparked their unbeaten end to 2025, and without Sergino Dest, there will be shifts to the defense. Tim Weah, Alex Freeman and Joe Scally can all play right back, but where Scally comes in is that he can operate as a third center back. Tim Ream and Chris Richards are locked in as two of the back three, but who takes the third spot is anyone’s guess. Mark McKenzie and Auston Trusty are both playing regularly for their clubs, but the form hasn’t translated to the USMNT.
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This is why it’s important for them to get World Cup-level tests, and there are few tests bigger than Portugal and Belgium coming to town. Even if Cristiano Ronaldo misses out for Portugal, this is a deep squad who are contenders for the World Cup title and will be one of the biggest matches that the USMNT has played in since facing England at the 2022 World Cup. All eyes will be on this window because of that.
Here’s the roster:
Roster
GOALKEEPERS: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
DEFENDERS: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)
MIDFIELDERS: Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johnny Cardoso (Atletico Madrid), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Tanner Tessmann (Lyon), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)
FORWARDS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Patrick Agyemang (Derby County), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Marseille)
Adams misses out, but the midfield is deep
Speaking on Adams’ fitness, Poicettino stated that the Bournemouth midfielder will be absent for 2-3 weeks with his latest injury, which confirms the expectation that it’s not a serious one. But when Adams has suffered multiple injuries this year, which have kept him out of USMNT camps, it certainly makes you wonder whether the midfielder will be able to get to full fitness ahead of the World Cup. But with Tanner Tessemann playing a larger role for Lyon and Pochettino’s effusive praise for Weston McKennie, there are midfielders to lean on during this camp.
“It’s true that Juventus is Weston McKennie plus 10 players,” Pochettino said. “We’re happy for that because that means that he’s an important player for Juventus. Another thing that I celebrate is that he can play in every single place… he’s playing and he’s playing in different positions. It’s good for him and it’s good for us.”
Depending on how Pochettino wants to line up, it’s impossible to guess where he could use McKennie. Need a right back, he’s done that, need an attacking midfielder? No problem. He may be at home in the center of the park, but wherever McKennie needs to play, he’ll do it and perform well, which is a coach’s dream.
Balancing playing vs potential
At one point, Pochettino didn’t seem too interested in calling in players who weren’t first-team regulars for their clubs, but in Gio Reyna and Alex Freeman, that seems to have shifted a little. Freeman moved to Villarreal during the January transfer window from Orlando City SC, and since then has been coming off the bench for the LaLiga side
“I think it’s good to see players who maybe are not playing too much, like in that case about Gio, but that is a very talented player, and we know how he can add to the national team,” Pochettino said. “It’s to see if he is affected by that, and he is capable of performing with us again. I think we really know that he is a very special, talented player, and I think giving him the possibility, even if he is not playing much with his club, can be very useful for us. That is our mindset in the way that we made the decision to bring Gio to this camp.”
In some ways, this reads as Reyna’s last chance, but when players like Zendejas are playing for their clubs but not being called in during these moments, it’s hard not to feel hard done. Of course, it can all be overlooked if Reyna comes in and blows the competition away, but Pochettino is taking a risk. One that can work out, but these are the tough calls that a national team manager has to make, and he’s making them.
