Haji Wright was brimming with confidence last week in Colorado. He’d just scored two goals for the U.S. men’s national team in a friendly win over Australia, which certainly bodes well for his chances at being on the Americans’ World Cup roster next summer.
But Wright knows the road is still long if he wants to secure his spot as one of USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino’s strikers.
“I’m fit this season,” Wright told me and several other reporters in the depths of chilly Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. “The last few seasons of my career I’ve been battling little niggling injuries, and it’s been hard to play pain free.
“This is the first season in a few years now where I’m playing completely pain free. So it feels good to be able to go out and show what I can do.”
Still, the battle for the 26 roster spots figures to go until the end. Wright knows it. Asked about his World Cup chances, he didn’t hesitate.
“I think,” he said, “I have to continue to perform.”
With two more World Cup tuneups in the books, a few more questions have been answered as next summer’s tournament on home soil continues to approach ever larger over the horizon.
The U.S. squad’s two October matches — a comeback tie against stingy Ecuador, followed by the come-from-behind victory over a Socceroos team riding a 12-game unbeaten run — represented perhaps the best two performances since Pochettino was hired as U.S. coach 13 months ago.
Those games gave those who follow the U.S. squad intimately plenty of data points, too — especially when it comes to which players Pochettino might choose to participate in the biggest World Cup in history in 2026.
There are now just two camps remaining before next May, when Pochettino must submit his final list to FIFA: two more friendlies in November, versus South American foes Paraguay and Uruguay, and another two in March against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and another European power in Belgium.
Here’s what we think we know as of today, and how we see things playing out between now and next spring.
JUMP TO: Goalkeepers | Center backs | Wing backs | Holding Midfielders | Wingers | Strikers
Matt Freese seems to be the man to beat in goal. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
GOALKEEPERS
Starter: Matt Freese
Backups: Matt Turner, Zack Steffen
Just missed out: Chris Brady, Ethan Horvath, Jonathan Klinsmann, Diego Kochen, Patrick Schulte
With 11 consecutive starts dating back to June’s Concacaf Gold Cup opener, the No. 1 keeper job now is clearly Freese’s to lose. Turner’s season is already over; the 2022 World Cup starter’s New England Revolution failed to make the MLS Cup Playoffs, meaning Turner won’t play another competitive match until February. Meantime, Freese opens the postseason for New York City FC Oct. 28 against Charlotte (and USMNT teammate Tim Ream.)
Steffen will be idle until early next year, too, while Horvath (Sheffield Wednesday) and Klinsmann (Cesena) play regularly in the second tier in England and Italy, respectively, and Kochen toils for Barca’s reserves. But coaches usually opt for experience over potential when it comes to third keepers, and former Man City man Steffen has plenty.
Noahkai Banks, left, could join the backline with Tim Ream and Chris Richards (Getty Images)
CENTER BACKS
Starters: Noahkai Banks, Chris Richards, Tim Ream
Backups: Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson
Just missed out: Tristan Blackmon, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, Walker Zimmerman
The big mover this month is Banks. Still uncapped after missing September’s win over Japan with a knock sustained in training, the 18-year-old, Hawaii-born, 6-foot-4 man-child has now started Augsburg’s last two Bundesliga matches. With the center back race still wide open after Ream and Richards and MLS options like Robinson and Zimmerman about to enter a months-long offseason, Banks is uniquely positioned to keep climbing the depth chart if — and this is paramount — he continues to play regularly.
“He’s a massive talent,” the coach said of Banks in late August. “You never know how he can explode — maybe at the end of the season he can be the best center back in Europe or in Germany.”
If it’s not Banks, McKenzie could be next in line. He’s also in a favorable club spot; McKenzie had played every minute in France’s Ligue 1 this season for Toulouse until last weekend, when he came off the bench after starting and logging all 90 for the U.S. in the midweek win over the Socceroos.
Sergino and Jedi are the ideal duo to patrol the flanks for the USMNT (Getty Images)
WING BACKS
Starters: Sergiño Dest, Antonee “Jedi” Robinson
Backups: Max Arfsten, Alex Freeman
Just missed out: Kristoffer Lund, Joe Scally, John Tolkin
Dest and Robinson are locks if healthy. When it comes to Jedi, that’s becoming a worrying “if.”
Called into the October camp, the veteran — who emerged as the best left back in the Premier League last season and won U.S. Soccer’s Male Athlete of 2024 award — missed both friendlies because of lingering knee issues. Robinson didn’t dress for Fulham’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal last weekend. All of his 61 Prem minutes so far this season have come off the bench, and he hasn’t featured for the national team at all in 2025.
Jedi’s situation could re-open the door for Lund, who hasn’t played for the U.S. since Pochettino’s first camp. The 23-year-old lefty has started five of seven Bundesliga games for Cologne this term on loan from Italy’s Palermo. Scally is also playing regularly, albeit for the worst team in Germany’s top flight. Just one Bundesliga back line has conceded more goals than Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2025-26.
Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams headline a fairly deep midfield. (Getty Images)
HOLDING MIDFIELDERS
Starters: Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie
Backups: Yunus Musah, Cristian Roldan, Tanner Tessmann
Just missed out: Sebastian Berhalter, Johnny Cardoso, Gianluca Busio, Luca de la Torre, Aidan Morris
The most competitive area of the field for the U.S. will ultimately come down to a numbers game when Pochettino must decide who to pick behind Adams and McKennie. After being omitted in September, a slimmed-down McKennie returned this month and was superb in both U.S. matches. Both he and Adams are the clear starters here. With Adams missing this month as he awaited the birth of his second child, Tessmann took full advantage, going the distance against Ecuador (and helping set up Folarin Balogun’s equalizer) and following up with a strong performance as a sub versus the Aussies.
Speaking of assists, Roldan’s two last week were superb; for all the talk of the popular veteran’s intangibles, he provided more end-product in one match than Musah has for the USMNT since 2021.
Musah remains in a tough spot. The 22-year-old has yet to start a Serie A match for Atalanta since going on loan from AC Milan, and he was an unused sub last weekend and in Wednesday’s scoreless Champions League encounter with Slavia Prague. But Musah is also a proven World Cup performer. And like the rest of the Europe-based Americans, he’s got plenty of time to turn things around in the weeks and months ahead.
Unlike Musah, Cardoso has never played well for the national team despite his obvious pedigree. He lost his starting job with Atlético Madrid even before suffering the ankle injury that has kept him out since mid-September. Atléti boasts one of the deepest squads in the global game, one that has now won three of their last four La Liga contests without him. So as it stands today, Cardoso faces an uphill climb to crack Pochettino’s final 26. As for Berhalter and Morris, there probably just aren’t enough available spots if everyone else is healthy. (Which is far from guaranteed.)
Tim Weah and Christian Pulisic are locked-in starters in the attack. (Getty Images)
WINGERS/ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS
Weah and Pulisic are no-brainer starters. Luna and Tillman have done enough with the USMNT this year to ensure that they’ll survive the World Cup cut, at a minimum, barring injury.
Zendejas’s gorgeous game-winning goal vs. Japan and his fine form for Liga MX giant Club America should keep him front of mind despite having to return to Mexico mid-camp because of a minor knee ailment.
McGlynn’s magical left foot and his ability to use it from distance would be a nice tool for Pochettino to have on the bench next summer, and McGlynn had appeared ahead of both Aaronson brothers in Poch’s eyes all year.
But Brenden had an impressive cameo off the bench last match, setting up a golden chance for Luna, and has surprised many by securing a starting Premier League job with Leeds. With McGlynn recovering from foot surgery and his Houston Dynamo idle until MLS training camps open in January, the elder Aaronson has the momentum if it ends up being a choice between the two. As for Reyna, “just missed out” is probably a stretch right now. The former prodigy — he turns 23 next month — has started just one of the three games he’s been available for ‘Gladbach. Lots of season left, but Reyna needs to play regularly and well to have any realistic chance.
The striker saga continues but Folarin Balogun has the inside track. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
STRIKERS
Balogun had another fine camp. The best American player in September, the 24-year-old scored the only goal against Ecuador and was dangerous throughout. Pepi was excellent early in Pochettino’s tenure, scoring three times in the Argentine’s first four games at the U.S. helm, and now finally seems to have recovered from the knee surgery he underwent last winter. The 22-year-old Pepi scored his first UEFA Champions League goal of the season Tuesday in PSV’s 6-2 drubbing of Italy’s Napoli, and also added an assist. He has three goals in 335 Eredivisie and Champions League minutes in 2025-26.
With Balogun rested against Australia, Wright seized a rare opportunity to start for the USMNT by scoring two spectacular goals. He’s also scored nine times in 12 appearances for Coventry City. The 27-year-old co-leads England’s Championship division with eight goals, same as Sky Blues teammate Brandon Thomas-Asante, although the American has played one fewer game.
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
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