Patrick Agyemang’s season-ending injury has not only ruled the American striker out of this summer’s FIFA World Cup, but also opened the door for two other forwards to step into his place.
Josh Sargent and Brian White are the leading candidates to replace the injured Agyemang in Mauricio Pochettino’s pecking order, with the U.S. men’s national team two months away from beginning its summer schedule. Agyemang was ruled out for the remainder of Derby County’s EFL Championship campaign, as well as the World Cup after he suffered a serious Achilles injury on Monday.
While Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, and Haji Wright are the leading trio among USMNT strikers, Sargent and White aren’t officially ruled out of contention just yet.
Sargent made the move to Toronto FC from Norwich City in February and recently scored his first goal for the club. The 26-year-old also assisted once in Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Colorado Rapids, earning Man of the Match honors in the process.
Although Sargent hasn’t scored a USMNT goal since February 2019, the veteran forward has earned four caps under Pochettino. He has roughly seven weeks of MLS action before Pochettino names his World Cup roster and could very well be in the mix, especially if either Balogun, Pepi, or Wright suffer an unforeseen injury.
As for Brian White, he would be fifth on the depth chart if the World Cup started today.
The 30-year-old has scored five goals in six MLS appearances this spring, while also featuring four additional times in CONCACAF Champions Cup play. White debuted for the USMNT back in January 2024 and has since earned seven caps during Pochettino’s reign as head coach.
White’s lone USMNT goal to date came in a 3-0 friendly win over Costa Rica in early 2025 while he’s also featured against Switzerland, Turkey, and Canada.
With Agyemang’s physical presence now gone, White is the most likeliest to replicate that physicality if he is called in.
Similar to Sargent, White has seven weeks to stay fit, stay injury-free, and keep racking up the goals for Vancouver.
While it’s unlikely either Sargent or White force Balogun, Pepi, or Wright to miss out of the World Cup, injuries are very possible down the final stretch of the European season.
JR,,
My Mistake.
In addition to the 2 games I mentioned Brandon will have at least 4 more games to impress before the roster is set. Then I believe MSL shuts down until later in July.
That’s assuming Pochettino was ever interested in the kind of a standard target man that Brandon and Pefok represent.
I’m not really interested in Vazquez, IV just asked if he could get back into the mix. I think the preliminary roster is set and barring additional injuries the 26 is probably set too. At least 23 of the names. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vazquez gets on the 55 man prelim roster he did play 3 times under Poch, but he’d be behind Sarge, White, and probably even Downs, but likely ahead of Pefok, Hoppe, and Duncan McGuire. IV was just looking for another excuse for his thunderdome idea. Poch didn’t rate him enough to invite him to January camp or GC (he might have been hurt then too, not looking it up) so I think that says he saw enough and doesn’t need him in again.
vazquez tore his ACL last july, we’d be at like 9 months of rehab now, any chance he’d be back in time? he’s an actual target striker who can finish set pieces.
sargent’s deal is he wants to play facing goal which is more like a wing or AM/SS.
Back in full training but not expected to be cleared for games until the end of the month. So technically yes but very unlikely unless he just steps on the field and dominates. I’d have to look up dates but I don’t believe Poch called him when available before his injury.
JR,
BV’s expected return is April 25 vs Houston.
He is currently back in training but will likely be very rusty on the 25th when he can play vs. Houston.
To expect vintage the 100% best version of Brandon on the 25th or even at the World Cup is asking a lot of an unproven player recovering from a torn ACL. He’s already had one setback.
The next game after that is on May 3 and the roster will be out before then.
If Pochettino is waiting on Vasquez, Brandon will have to blow Houston away if he wants to impress. And then he’ll have to prove he can recover from Houston in time to play the next game (May 3, St. Louis). And that game is after the roster is set.
If you want to have a steel cage death match with another true back-to-goal target man your only real option is to call up Pefok and have them face off in training or in a match set up with some local high school, college or select team.
Regardless, either one would be a downgrade from Patrick. Pochettino may find that strengthening the USMNT elsewhere may be a more intelligent move.
JR,,
My Mistake.
In addition to the 2 games I mentioned Brandon will have at least 4 more games to impress before the roster is set. Then I believe MSL shuts down until later in July.
That’s assuming Pochettino was ever interested in the kind of a standard target man that Brandon and Pefok represent.
this is precisely the sort of thing one resolves in camp with tryouts and a cut. you call in 3 extra strikers. you take 1 who gives you the best sense they are more worthwhile than just pulling pulisic over as an emergency 9.
Vazquez, Ferreira, White, and Sargent would not be released until May 25. The roster is announced May 26. With the WC moved up a week to accommodate the larger tournament field it just isn’t feasible. Clearly, Poch and staff were not impressed with Ferreira at January camp.
white has 1G in 8 caps, and generally looks at sea. nope. sargent has 5G in 29 caps, buzz. c’mon, can we not just walk in circles?
in terms of actual, meaningful options:
ferreira 15G 4A in 23 caps (fewer than sargent)
dike has some agyemang in him, and 3 G in 10 caps
cremaschi showed some ability to crash boxes and finish a low driven ball for the U20s
puli as true 9 (they managed to poo in that punchbowl on accident, didn’t they?)
reyna
weah
mckennie
would be a good time to have actually kicked downs’ tires like we meant it
“but he plays team defense.” ok, is wondo available to miss a sitter? people have no memories how that plays out, apparently. the last striker makes it on when you have some injury issues and it’s late in some game where you need a goal or you go home. and your choice is……….the guy who can’t score to save his life but will run around a lot. genius!
like i said, some folks just pick the same ones over and over despite results, or a fan boy all star team despite track records. you want someone with an actual hope of scoring if subbed in.
IV,
“ok, is wondo available to miss a sitter? ”
1. Wondo’s strength was his movement. If he didn’t score the idea was that his movement made it more likely that there were openings in the defense for others.
2. I’ve watched the replay a hundred times. He should have scored but it was not an “easy” chance and it was not a “sitter”. I’ve seen better strikers miss easier chances. In terms of that Belgium game, at the end of overtime after a free kick Clint was one on one with Courtois with a chance to tie the game and send it to penalties. Clint should also have scored but did not.
You never hear about that miss.
“the last striker makes it on when you have some injury issues and it’s late in some game where you need a goal or you go home.”
It is an 11 man game. Strikers do not play in a vacuum , unless you are Vinni Jr. or Mbappe. We don’t have players like them.
In terms of players who are very likely already on the team, we have Flo, Haji, Pepi, in the #9 slot and CP, Weston and Weah to chip in. But it is hard for anyone to score if there are no chances.
If Patrick being out did leave an opening, my guess is Pochettino is going to have to decide what the team needs more:
+ Creativity leading to more chances
+ Better defense leading to more chances.
More injuries are coming and who knows how Dest’s recovery will go. I suspect he will wait until the dust settles.
Forwards:
We have Haji Wright, Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi.
We also have Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah as Wingers (who can substitute as CF’s.
With Agyemang out, just bring in Alejandro Zendejas (……and that’s if he wasn’t already on the roster)
Interesting commentary. We’re a soccer nation in need of goals…….along with a stronger defense, and the fans here want to take less goal scorers. Which striker in our pool plays better defense than Josh Sargent? If there is anyone, they are making the team. It’ll be hard to keep Sargent off the team if he lights it up over the next 5 or 6 games. It would probably be pretty dumb too.
Definitely agree the defense is the more worrying issue. But agree with the others that the Agyemang injury settles the striker spots at 3. Getting a Luna or (my pick) Zendejas on the roster will likely do more to create goal scoring opportunities than bringing a 4th striker.
D,
If you want Josh to play center half or the #6 fine call him up.
At Werder Bremen they used to play him as a defensive #9.
But with Flo, Wright, Pepi, Weston and CP not to mention Zendejas and Weah around, Josh is way behind all of them if you are looking for someone to get you a goal.
Sargent’s last meaningful start, 1 defensive contribution in 68 minutes. Agyemang had 2 in 22 minutes subbing on for him. Sarge did have 4 defensive contributions against South Korea but if you are the striker I don’t care how well you defend if you have 0 shots and 1 touch in the opponents box in 60 minutes. He has been as hot as possible for his clubs coming into his last four starts and has done nothing. His form for Toronto is meaningless.
Qatar WC, Sargent 158 minutes played, 1 defensive contribution. Wright had 3 def contributions in 141 minutes. Ferreira 1 in 45 minutes. Sargent is not an elite defender against WC level opponents.
———————
I think Josh is really good dude. I thought he’d make it because he’d score 15 Championship goals and one of the other would get hurt and he’d be in by default his situation changed. And he was so invisible against South Korea after being invisible against Panama. Next window I’m all for giving him another shot but the WC shouldn’t be a test to see if he’s past his yips with the NT.
“His form for Toronto is meaningless”. Johnnyravor, can you even hear your self blabbering away? I’d say current form is much more meaningful than your meaningless stats, wouldnt you say so?
JR, D,
“I’d say current form is much more meaningful than your meaningless stats, wouldnt you say so?”
Most of the time, maybe. Like anything else, it’s a case by case basis.
But in Josh’s case, he has come in to the USMNT before, hot as shit at his club and looked pretty bad.
I’m sure he could eventually become a good #9 for the USMNT but we are out of time. For this cycle he’s had his chances to impress and did nothing.
National teams are not like club teams.
If I’m a club I buy Josh because his track record suggests that eventually he will score for you if you can give him a good environment and make him feel comfortable. But they have lots of games to wait for you to heat up. The USMNT is not there to ease you into the national team scene and make you comfortable. They need you to show up and score and if you can’t, then they will find someone else.
Unlike Toronto, the USMNT has two more friendlies and then they are into it. It has been 17 caps and six years since Josh last scored for the USMNT.
National teams need you to play well and score on pretty much on demand, especially when it really matters. Ferreira had a good track record but it was against shit. When it mattered he was a Casper the friendly ghost.
Flo, Wright, Pepi and Patrick all showed they could do that within reason, during this cycle. Josh failed to.
And the USMNT can also look to CP ( their all time leading scorer by the way), Weston and maybe Weah for some scoring help.
And of course #9’s have a lot of other duties besides just scoring but 3 should be enough and Weston can do that job as well.
Weston is your fourth #9 on the roster.
Dikranovich: for Sargent it has never had any correlation to his NT form. He had his strongest runs of club form ever before Panama in NL and South Korea last fall, and he was a non-factor in both. Leading into the final window before Qatar 6g 1a in six matches, poor performance against Japan 14 touches no shots in 45 minutes (to be fair everyone was terrible that match). Scored in last match before WC, we’ve seen his lackluster WC stats. Fall of 2019 when Josh had 3 of his 5 international goals he had 2g 2a in 10 which isn’t terrible form for a starting CF in the Bundesliga but not necessarily on fire. The only time it connects is 2018 when he was playing U23s for Bremen and then scored against Peru (the only quality NT he’s scored against). He hasn’t scored for 7 yrs despite being “on fire” every time he comes into camp. Is the 3rd goal keeper going to play, probably not. A fourth striker though may be called upon and you can’t put someone out there against Colombia just because they scored on Columbus. If Poch thinks he needs 4 strikers, Josh should be there, he’s a better striker than White but I don’t think he takes 4.
Dikranovich: I do need to apologize I went back and reread the original comment thread. My comment to you first floating the idea should have read “Oh boy” as in I was surprised by the idea not just “Boy”, which read as if I was being dismissive of your knowledge or wisdom. For that I apologize that was not my attention. I disagree with your opinion on taking Sargent to the WC, but I do not think that opinion signifies you are not intelligent in anyway.
Johnnyrazor, I couldnt care less about that. If it’s between Pepsi and Sargent, I’m going Sargent. because he is a better team player, and has already proven he can handle the World Cup stage with the USMNT.
Sargent, has been on a goal scoring drought since the pandemic for various and sundry reasons. I’m looking for multiple goal games from him at Toronto as a way to break the spell that has kept him off the score sheet for the national team
D: why would good form at Toronto break the slump when incredible form at Norwich not make a difference?
Johnnyrazor, you misinterpreted what I said, which I guess is ok. There is a larger point with you though, and certainly, you don’t see it. But man, your stat driven commentary, it’s like the antithesis of Jogo bonito, and you just don’t see that, which is unfortunate,
D,
” But man, your stat driven commentary, it’s like the antithesis of Jogo bonito, and you just don’t see that, which is unfortunate,”
?? Jogo bonito?
” Popularized as “o jogo bonito” by Pelé, the term represents playing for the love of the game, highlighting dribbling and improvisation.”
How does a center forward who you say should be valued for his defense represent the spirit of jogo bonito?
What you are talking about is less about “jogo bonito” than it is about picking a dark horse.
Josh, is a proven, capable club level scorer. He should be in the mix but he has failed, so far, to translate that to the USMNT. In fact he has shit the bed. And when Ferreira was pulling this shit, though in a slightly different way, Gregg did not have the luxury of alternatives. Pochettino has alternatives
Now that a potential opening for a striker (maybe) has come up, you propose picking a dark horse, taking a long shot.
You think that because Josh has failed for such an ridiculously long time and for so many games that he is due. And maybe, just maybe, Josh hits the jackpot at the World Cup. This is not unlike throwing shit on your wall and looking to see what sticks.
I guess we’ll see if Pochettino is as willing as you to gamble on that same hunch.
Huh…… no need for 4 strikers.
I’m left scratching my head here…what on Earth has Pochettino done that would indicate he would take 4 pure strikers? We have 26 roster spots, which means you get 2 players at each position (22), a third mandatory keeper (23), and three spots you can then use as you think you might need them. Adding a third striker takes one, and that leaves only 2 more spots, which will probably go to a fifth attacking midfielder and a fifth defensive mid.
My sense was, Agyemang had beat out Pepi for that #3 spot…but Pepi likely gets it back now that Agyemang’s gone.
I genuinely do not think we take 4 strikers.
I agree. Additionally, in a pinch you can use CP or McKennie as a striker. Plus you can always go with 1 striker if necessary. A couple of WC’s ago, Spain won with basically 6 midfielders.
Or Weah.
I also never saw the need for 4 strikers. Weah can adequately fill that slot if needed, given the likelihood of Dest and Freeman at WB. Perhaps an AM (Reyna, Luna) or another CB (M Robinson) maks more sense.
I think it is 23 total with 20 field players. I think I checked a while back but the memory is going.
Oops. I just checked; 26 max, 23 min. Sorry.
Googles AI was saying 23 for quite awhile, but recently was corrected (maybe late February or early March).
quozzel,
“what on Earth has Pochettino done that would indicate he would take 4 pure strikers?”
Nothing. Pochettino has never said anything about taking 4 strikers.
The 4 strikers narrative is entirely fan driven by SBI based on the fact that all 4 of the usual suspects were scoring like crazy and USMNT fans were drunk on the success, never having had such a plethora of goalscorers.
My personal rationale was that, assuming they all retained form, each one offered something just a little different. I thought Patrick had a chance to be an impact player because:
1. he would have been largely unknown outside the inbred USMNT fan base,( as well as Championship freaks, if there is such a thing)
2. he would have been difficult and awkward for defenders to deal with
3. This is very subjective but he was much better than he looked.
“We have 26 roster spots, which means you get 2 players at each position (22), a third mandatory keeper (23), and three spots you can then use as you think you might need them.”
The only thing mandatory about your sentence is the three keepers. That means you can fill in the slots as you wish. If you want to take 23 midfielders you can.
In the 1990 WC final, Germany, JK’s team, lined up with 5 guys who had played centerback.
It is up to Pochettino how he sees the roles that those 23 players will need to fill..
Which means Pepi is not entirely safe. He scores goals but that is pretty much it. He’s not as complete an all around player as, for example, Haji. And there is no question that the Championship is tougher defensively than the Eredvisie.
If Pochettino thinks he can squeeze enough goals out of everyone else he may feel he needs another midfielder or defender more than he needs Ricardo.
More injuries are coming
I would take Pepi and I think Pochettino will too but he is not a lock.
ITA about Pepi. He totally has the INSIDE TRACK of nailing down that 3rd striker spot. He should make the roster but it could be possible that he plays himself off the roster and someone plays themselves ON. I’m not saying that’s going to happen, only the possibility exists.
If it’s Sargent or White as the fourth striker vs. a borderline guy somewhere else on the field, I think Poch leaves Sargent and White at home. Agyemang’s injury might open up a spot for a guy like Tolkin, or whatever DM would otherwise be the odd man out. Maybe Zendejas.
Johnny99, I agree. Poch sees value in Agyemang because he fills a niche as a tall and physically imposing striker, along with improved technical skills. Neither Sargent or White bring a unique niche to that striker role. It appears Weah maybe a better fit in a dedicated striker role, opening the door in the midfield or defense. Or does it more definitively open up a slot for the niche Reyna brings to the team. Tough call….
Agreed. The feeling I was getting was that Agyemang was making the roster not because we need 4 strikers, but because he was playing too well to leave him off. With him going down, I’d rather see another midfielder get the call than a fourth striker – maybe Luna or Cardoso, if they weren’t already penciled in.