Mauricio Pochettino has trimmed his roster down to 23 players for the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League Final Four.
Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, and Josh Sargent headlined Pochettino’s final roster, U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday. Diego Luna, Patrick Agyemang, and Brian White were also among the inclusions.
Brenden Aaronson and Ethan Horvath, who have been part of previous Nations League rosters, were not included.
The USMNT will face Panama in the semifinal round on March 20, with the winner opposing Mexico or Canada three days later.
“This is a massive opportunity to win a trophy and that is our clear objective,” USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “We must continue to show our quality, our bravery and our commitment to each other. We have an important moment to represent our country and our supporters, and we are very excited for this opportunity.”
Players will begin reporting to Los Angeles on March 16.
The winner of the USMNT-Panama match will meet either Mexico or Canada in the Nations League Final on March 23 at SoFi Stadium.
Should the Americans repeat as tournament winners, it will be their fourth-consecutive Nations League title.
Here is the full USMNT Nations League roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Patrick Schulte, Zack Steffen, Matt Turner.
DEFENDERS: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Marlon Fossey, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Joe Scally, Auston Trusty.
MIDFIELDERS: Tyler Adams, Johnny Cardoso, Diego Luna, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna, Tanner Tessmann.
FORWARDS: Patrick Agyemang, Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic, Josh Sargent, Tim Weah, Brian White.
Spot on Vacqui….. “micro-aggressions”, what is this the local community college where you need to go cry in your “safe space?” Grow up.
Striker and Betinho,
You are both spot on…Vacqui projects bullshit on people, all while being full of shit. Noted, and agreed, with regards to micro-aggressions.
Bravo for calling it out on in a public forum.
Some notes from Poch’s presser:
-had to call Gio this time because he won’t be available this summer due to Club WC
-on B. Aaronson, they like him but with Gio, Pulisic, Wes, and Luna there was too much competition at his position. Which sounds like they see all these guys as #10s but that’s up to interpretation.
——————————
From Dortmund: Campbell was unavailable over the weekend due to an adductor injury. He was not listed as injured in the pre-match report for Wednesday, so we’ll have to see.
Just a couple of corrections. IV says you can’t play McKennie and Weah at the same time, yet Juventus has done it all the time. Qzzl says that McKennie plays the #10 for Juventus. Juve has played him all over: a least a couple of times at RB and, it seems to my recollection, most often a winger, usually on the left. or as a amidfielder.
He’s been their first choice #10 over the last month and a half.
that’s not what i said. i said you can’t play any player two slots same time. you can’t count them both as wings and as center mids same game. if they are the backups they are tired when they shift.
Giovanni Reyna??? Interesting…….
“This is why we can’t have players develop fast like Endryck, because Latin and European nations fast track their youth 15-19 and test them against grown men. Walcott going to WC at 17 with England.”
The USMNT can’t do anything about fast tracking an Endryck or a Walcott. Those guys got fast tracked by their clubs not their national teams.
If Campbell wanted to get on this roster so bad he needed to get Nico to fast track him and play him for the 1st team at BVB.
Even Gio managed to get that done.
Cole Campbell did not.
Getting left off this roster is Cole Campbell’s failure not the USMNT’s
Pochettino seems to be keeping his word, more or less, want to play for me? Force your club to play you.
You stay missing my point Vac, with micro-aggression added, smh. No point in explaining again, not about to waste time going back and forth. Your rant shows you don’t read people’s comments fully and comprehend!
Striker91,
“Your rant shows you don’t read people’s comments fully and comprehend!”
IV”s rants are long, stream of conciousness, illogical and incomprehensible. It’s hard to logically respond to gobbledegook.
Your rants are pretty short and take an instant to read. Your meaning is crystal clear. I suspect what you don’t like is that I don’t agree with you.
Pochettino’s job is to assemble the best team possible and get it to perform to it’s maximum potential.
Cole Campbell is next the next big thing, the latest Freddy Adu in a very long line of hot shit players that would save the USMNT (whatever happened to Luca Koleosho?). IV acts like he discovered CC and no one else appreciates him.
The thing is:
1.) CC can’t get on the field for BVB’s first team.
2.) His position is already crowded in the USMNT
If he was a hot shit goalkeeper or center back with performance to match he might be there today.
Unfortunately for him, Cole is a winger/ forward. All the reports on him are great. I don’t doubt that Pochettino needs to meet him at some point.
The thing is we have guys that cover that basic description in Pulisic, Weah, Sargent, Flo, Zendejas, Wright , Sargent, Cowell, etc. and maybe more.
All the guys I just listed play for their first team.
Is Cole better than any of them today? Not that he has proven..
Will he be better than any of them in 2026? Maybe, possibly.
But, RIGHT NOW these candidates all need as much USMNT PT with Pochettino as possible. I think this roster is probably as close to Pochettino’s A team as is possible at this point. And CC is not currently in the A team.
I’m sure Pochettino set up some criteria for everyone if they want to get called up. Maybe he explained it to each player, maybe he did not.
If Cole had managed to get Nico to play him in some of these awful games like Gio did then I think maybe he gets called up. Gio was praised for his performance in both games by Nico saying he was very strong defensively.
I’m assuming that Cole did not meet whatever criteria Pochettino had for him.
BVB suck right now and if Cole is the player all the hype says he is they could use his magic, like yesterday. Yet Nico chooses to not use him.
Why ?
That’s more concerning than Pochettino not calling him in for the NL.
Striker,
I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees the “micro-aggression”. I just stopped even trying. His posts are classic TLDR anyway.
I think the US has fast tracked special talents when they have arose. The 2022 WC roster was the 2nd youngest at the tournament. Many of them got their first caps under 20. That’s young. Adams, Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Sargent and Musah were all 17. Dest and Pepi were 18. Weston, B Aaronson were 19. These are just the guys who managed to stick.
It seems it was a lot less prior to Pulisic. Maybe they figured our what you are saying about getting these young guys in earlier – with that lost generation gaping hole that contributed to 2018.
Striker91 and Betinho
“I think the US has fast tracked special talents when they have arose. ”
Always.
2002 World Cup, Donovan and DMB. We have had to do that because we didn’t have the luxury (depth) of sitting those kids. We did not have anyone better, so if a good kid came along they capped him. Some stuck, some did not. Very much sink or swim.
Is Cole Campbell a “special talent”? I don’t know. Why do you think he is? Donovan and DMB were already difference makers. Is Cole a difference maker? Tell me why I want to give Cole Campbell 90 minutes vs Panama at RW instead of giving Tim Weah or even Gio, or some combo of them those minutes?
“The 2022 WC roster was the 2nd youngest at the tournament. Many of them got their first caps under 20. That’s young. Adams, Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, Sargent and Musah were all 17. Dest and Pepi were 18. Weston, B Aaronson were 19. These are just the guys who managed to stick…It seems it was a lot less prior to Pulisic.”
It was a lot less. Because Pulisic was a quantum leap.
When he came out, he made a positive impression on overseas scouts and clubs and most importantly on the American kids and their families, many of whom decided that if he could do it , so could I. Many of those kids, not Paul Arriola, are now the ones who stand in Cole Campbell’s way. He even influenced English kids like Sancho and Bellingham to try out Germany instead of rotting in England.
We all take CP a lot for granted and forget just how impactful he has been and continues to be.
In 2017 when the USMNT crashed out at Couva CP was already the best player. Because Pulisic was so exceptional he disguised the fact that this team had badly aged out. With all due respect to them, Clint, Jozy, Michael, Howard, etc. none of the others were capable of coming back or were worth bringing back.
This lack of experienced veterans was a curse and a blessing.
The curse part meant we lacked depth and experience to build the new team on. Gregg was forced to call up guys like Zardes,Trapp, Lletget, etc. etc. Someone had to play. And the kids were not ready. It got better closer to Qatar as the kids got better. A lot of y’all think that if you just throw a real talent like Cole Campbell out on the field eventually he’ll figure it out and his talent will win out in the end.
That’s not exactly true. Not every player develops at the same rate. And you have to think about the team not just Cole Campbell.
And here’s where you and I differ. Clubs have the time and resources to develop kids like CC. The USMNT does not.
For example, what if the USMNT calls up Campbell plays him 45 minutes and we lose to Panama NL because he has a bad giveaway? Then what?
Now we’re out of the NL and when is the next time you can play Campbell to give him a chance to make up for his bad game? Even the best players have bad games. How many games do we have left before the World Cup rosters have to be picked?
What does that do to the team and the other players? Pochettino has to watch out for the team not just Cole Campbell. Pochettino’s job is to look over these guys and see which ones are ready and then pick those.
“Maybe they figured our what you are saying about getting these young guys in earlier – with that lost generation gaping hole that contributed to 2018.”
This is 2025 not 2015 -17 anymore. In 2015 a guy like Cole Campbell certainly gets a run in the USMNT. Today, the guys standing in his way are younger and much better than who he would have to beat out in 2015. And, given the situation, everyone needs as much PT as possible with the team.
Again, Cole Campbell still has a number of games left that Pochettino could get a look at him so it is not over yet.
Vac, … unless you have a proven track record with the USMNT (IMO the way it should be). I was about 99% sure Reyna was going to be on the roster whether he was playing for Dortmund or not and I am about 90% sure he will start against Panama. Poch wants to win and he is going to put put the players he thinks give him the best chance out on the field. I expect Reyna to be one of the best players like he usually is.
The thing with Gio is, sooner or later, Pochettino had to give him a real live once over . Odds are as you say that he was calling him in regardless.
Gio getting that PT in the last two games just made Pochettino’s decision much simpler.
Having him on this roster is a the best possible outcome in terms of the games left for Pochettino to find out about Gio.
I expect Pochettino to go for the win in every single game between now and the World Cup.
Ream and White should have been left off. I know Cole is a bench warmer for BD, I would have rather he take a chance on a young attacking player like Caven Sullivan or Cole Campbell. This is why we can’t have players develop fast like Endryck, because Latin and European nations fast track their youth 15-19 and test them against grown men. Walcott going to WC at 17 with England.
Patrick Agyemang I now funds was an issue, same with me I had poor parents that could not afford my club fees. I also could not get a small part time job to pay it myself at 14-17. If he had the funds and went to Europe young, could def see him tearing it up in Ligue 1 or Bundesliga.
i missed ream. yeah, both mckenzie and ream off. try some other CBs. CB continues to be the weak point on the roster. and that’s a lousy place to not be solid, that loses you games.
cole campbell is not off the bench for halifax of the canadian league. he’s trying to break into the same dortmund team that won’t play reyna much. and that flushed pulisic once upon a time. are we really taking that as an accurate quality assessment for our purposes? we have done just fine using people surplus to BD requirements.
like i wrote on another comment, we either need different 9s or we need a backup for CP wide, or contingency to let CP play 9. he solves the non-9 part of that.
the odd thing is we don’t care if chelsea was playing starter pulisic or dortmund playing starter reyna but we flip the switch when it’s is an insurgent prospect like campbell playing. when it’s the same team won’t play reyna.
agreed on Ream, but not McKenzie. MM is playing in a top 5 league where he is the starter every game, and arguably Toulouse’ best CB at that. MM is playing much better than CCV, who I don’t know how he keeps getting callups bc if we’re being honest he’s looked terrible for the USMNT in his last several caps. We’ve seen less of McKenzie than Richards, Ream and CCV, and Richards himself hasn’t covered himself in glory when wearing the US shirt of late. It can be argued MM is our most in form CB atm, he’s the player I want to see more of tbh
“This is why we can’t have players develop fast like Endryck, because Latin and European nations fast track their youth 15-19 and test them against grown men. Walcott going to WC at 17 with England.”
The USMNT can’t do anything about fast tracking an Endryck or a Walcott. Those guys got fast tracked by their clubs not their national teams.
If Campbell wanted to get on this roster so bad he needed to get Nico to fast track him and play him for the 1st team at BVB.
Even Gio managed to get that done.
Cole Campbell did not.
Getting left off this roster is Cole Campbell’s failure not the USMNT’s
Pochettino seems to be keeping his word, more or less, want to play for me? Force your club to play you.
Looking forward to seeing what interesting goal celebrations are trotted out this window 😉
Good call. They need to dedicate at least a day of camp to this and probably get some more foreign help. Poch, please read.
————–Sargent——————
—–Pulisic—–Reyna/Musah——
Jedi –Adams–McKennie–Scally
—-McKenzie-Ream-Richards—-
————Turner——————-
My projected line up based on the last two windows (not what I would pick).
I do find it interesting there’s three 6’s on this list. Is Poch not comfortable with the back line defending and goalkeeper so he will trot out Adams and Cardoso/Tessman? And listing Musah as a forward is interesting. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Agyemang start. Glas to se some January guys make this list.
Ream is playing LB for Charlotte, he does not play CB for them. After that perfomance against Colombia where we got blown out 5-1, it’s clear his CB days have been over.
Yeah, I just figure Poch will put him out there. With McKenzie and Richards both playing in a formation similar to what Poch has used I figure he’d put them in their club positions and put the old slow experienced guy in the middle…
I’m figuring more of a 4-2-3-1, the Poch usual so:
———Sargent———–
-Pulisic–McKennie–Weah
——Adams—Musah—-
Jedi—McKenzie-Richards–Scally
——–Turner———–
Slightly surprised at the backup strikers picked but then again they both produced in January so why not. Zendejas maybe the only player with a beef being left off, he’s in such good form, but honestly hard to see him getting much time with Reyna probably already coming off the bench.
Only one I thought deserbed a callup who got snubbed is Zendejas. Other than that pretty much the expected roster. Will be interesting to see the Gold Cup roster with Wright, Feat, and Balugon getting a couple of months of time before the season ends.
Dest not feat.
sorry but zendejas is a prime age forward — no longer a prospect — who has looked a nervous wreck with the senior team and has a goal on grenada and an assist on st. kitts. he is not up to this. he should basically be a “flush” because he’s not some 19 year old with upside, and a lot of his “value” at NT level seems to consist of running around chasing on defense like arriola used to.
same thing sargent. he has had endless caps. he got the world cup. he disappears in big games and all of these will be slobberknockers. he last scored in 2019.
at a point can we start acting like NT games matter and have consequences?
i get the theory on both. neither plays like their league statistics. they are like the poster boys for the blindspot of statistical analytics. sometimes what works “here” does not work “there.” zendejas in particular, i think international players are all “quick” but what he needs is “speed.” he doesn’t separate. he then gets all nervous and turns it over or crosses it into the defender.
i mean if i am going to get upset a wing forward didn’t get called, it’s cole campbell. cole can ball.
IV – Cole Campbell only made the senior BVB squad due to injuries – many many injuries. He’s not ready yet. Playing like these game have consequences doesn’t include help develop a player. That’s what the U23 and below are for.
MoO: of all teams to not let dictate our player eval, it would be dortmund. pulisic was barely playing there just out of age groups when the best player on our 2018 cycle team. reyna is hit and miss a top player for us despite being a garbage time player there.
does. not. follow.
have you watched him play? the dude can ball. i don’t care if 10′ for dortmund 1 doesn’t impress you. if you watch some of the U19 footage he is the next big thing after, well, reyna. he is that good. a wing with touch, speed, and finishing.
to give you some hint what we’re looking at, occasional b.1 player for dortmund. goal on france U20. 2 goals on england U19 in 60 minutes on the field. that’s not a hat trick on st. kitts U16. the kid can play. and we are short some people. perfect opportunity. push puli in, play the kid wide. or switch weah over and have the kid as the swiss army wing backup.
IV: sure you’ve seen this but your guy Duane Holmes is joining your Houston Dynamo.
Meh. It’s a snub. Cole is nowhere close fora USMNT callup
i like agyemang but that’s a pretty tepid set of strikers. i know people are hurt but there are other options. a lot of this offense funnels to the 9. you need good 9 selections. sargent struggles to get open or to catch onto wayward crossing.
it’s slowly evolving the correct direction but there’s a goofy one almost every line (steffen, mckenzie, sargent, white).
they listed 3 CF, 2 RF, and then only pulisic wide his side. i know they like him but you need contingencies.
Specifically which other players would you have called in to play the 9?
And who would you replace McKenzie with?
i think i need to remind you folks this is not gold cup, it’s nations league, panama, mexico, canada. if i can’t trust you to score on that level you are no good to me. this isn’t gold cup where maybe you rotate in and score on trinidad or martinique.
in terms of replacements, are you kidding me? this is tennis with the net down. ferreira and vazquez. ferreira has a strike rate of like 2G per 3 caps, and has scored on panama both games we played them. that alone is stupid. vazquez has 4 G to white’s 1 and is more of a traditional target guy for tactical variety.
compared to sargent last scored for us against cuba in like 2019 and white would be on cap 3.
this is not even difficult. they are productive 9s who were on the provo roster so they are not stretches.
failing that, if i feel compelled to consider those 2, i’d be playing puli or reyna up top. there’s a point where you’re just weakening the team by insisting on specialists well down the depth chart rather than getting the best on the field.
You have Diego (who regularly plays LW for RSL), Gio (who used to start at LW for BvB), Weah played LW for multiple teams, Wes can play as a wing, so yes that takes away from their spots but there is cover there too. We’re kind of spoiled by 26 man rosters if everything is going back 23 you are going to have to have players covering more than one spot. As far as 9s go Vazquez is pretty hit or miss too, I could see Morris, I believe Pefok is hurt. I don’t think Poch sees Ferreira as a FW. So without Balo and Pepi, the nine pool is pretty uncertain.
weah and mckennie are typical double-bookkeeping. you can’t play them two slots at the same time. if they start at mid or RF or mid-slides-RF then they can’t also be the LF freshness option. i get it, though — GB would make the same mistake. just because you like someone and might be willing to play them 180 minutes doesn’t mean it’s sound contingency planning. i won’t say specifics for fear of jinx. but suffice to say we have needed a LF sub before.
wing is an exhausting position particularly when you ask someone to track back or slide in. weah and musah cover RF. we are short a LF. we have too many CF probably because he’s uncomfortable with his options.
at which point, as i said, you push one of your two best attacking players to striker to maintain quality at the key position. you then call cole campbell wide. i mean, i’d swear back last year we learned the virtues of puli central. and here we are back again treating him like a wing.
i gave my thoughts above on 9. to me it’s silly to not have the guy who gives panama fits, on the roster, when he’s been productive for the nats. i understand not calling him when fully staffed up. we are short. but to be fair, yes, poch hasn’t called him at all nor had GB since GC 23.
i don’t understand why. he is an energetic guy who combines well and goals follow him around. he fits the wall ball concept we’re trying.
IV: ie: Ferreira- he did call him up in January but Seattle yanked him out (officially he was not fit to participate in the friendlies, but played for Seattle in Spain a couple days later, after press in Seattle and flight to Spain). I like Ferreira I think he’ll get back into NT discussion but Poch clearly didn’t want to train him up on tactics in a short window. As far as I can see only Gio and Adams are first timers. I would have taken Morris over White but again he’s never played for Poch and there will be limited training time.
—————————
NL is a two match window. Pulisic and Weah will likely both start both rounds. You have Gio, Musah, Diego, and Wes that can take up the rest. That’s 6 players for the 540 minutes of the LW, AM, RW. Even if Wes fills all his time at CM, that’s 5 players with CP and Timo likely to get 135-180 minutes each. I agree in a group stage knockout there are some holes that could occur but in a 2 match window, that’s a normal week for a lot of these guys.
Interesting. Poch brought the exact same six midfielders I myself would have chosen…though I have no clue where he’ll play them aside from the fact that I’m 99% sure Tyler Adams starts at one of the 6 spots. Does he regard Weston McKennie as a 10 like Juventus has been deploying him or does McKennie slide back to the co-6 alongside Adams? I also figured Poch would bring Diego Luna and he did.
At keeper, he brought the three I would have expected. I keep trying to tell everyone Poch is likely higher on Steffen than people realize and he may actually start him. There’s no real surprises at defender.
The big shocks to me are at striker. Poch brought three pure #9’s and two were the ones who performed well for him at Camp Cupcake, so clearly performance = reward for Poch, and eff general perception and EA Sports FIFA ’24 ratings. The thing that does occur to me is, Reyna can also play out on the wing. But I really did feel Zendejas was probably a lock, the way he’s been performing. Also, neither Aaronson brother was called, though I have heard Brendan’s managing an injury and Poch has shown already he won’t call a guy who isn’t fit.
I have watched the last half dozen or so of Leeds’ previous games and BA is consistently their weakest player, typically rated after the match at 3 or 4. He is either:
1. Exhausted
2. Trying too hard (Farke has said so)
3. Not good enough
4. Some combo or all of the above
Do you think Luna is better than BA? I haven’t seen him play much – (no Apple TV)
DCJ:
BA is :
1) Almost certainly run into the ground. He’s played a lot of games and his style of play does not help.
2) He’s a 30 million bust. So yeah he’s probably trying too hard to make up for that. Unless he winds up scoring the winning goal that gets them into the EPL, he’s never going to come close to making up for it.
3) Maybe. Salzburg was his level in part because Jesse was there. Jesse brought him to Leeds and suddenly BA was not so great. I regard BA as one of Jesse’s Leeds failures.
4) All
Poch played McKennie closer to the ST as more of a 10 last camp, so I don’t see why that changes now especially considering Wes has been playing there for Juve. Zendejas is a snub, there is no other way to look at it unless his club didn’t release him for some reason