The United States men's national team's 26-man roster for the FIFA World Cup was officially announced on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in lower Manhattan.
A crowd of fans and media flocked to Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport, gathering in front of the venue's rooftop stage to watch 25 of the 26 players take their official places as chosen members of coach Mauricio Pochettino's World Cup squad. (Defender Chris Richards is still in Europe with Crystal Palace as they prepare to play the UEFA Conference League final.)
It wasn't a packed-to-capacity crowd, but the energy was palpable at Pier 17. All the big Fox soccer broadcast personalities, like Alexi Lalas, Carli Lloyd, Stu Holden, and Landon Donovan, were there for the TV broadcast of the event, and the crowd got treated to a concert from Gunna, all to build up excitement for the reading out of the 26 names to feature for the USMNT this summer.
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"When you step into a national team set up, it's about coming together as a collective," said Bronx-born defender Mark McKenzie following the event. "We're all here for a reason, and we have the abilities, but I think collectively, when you bring all of those abilities together, you bring all those experiences together, we have a team that is unified and understanding of the objective for us, and that's to go into this summer with the mentality of going to each game and winning."
The roster is perfectly split in half (13) between World Cup first-timers and players who will be playing in their second World Cup, and it features eight players from Major League Soccer.
Below is the full list called in by Pochettino, followed by a position-by-position look at how the team might take shape once the USMNT begins its World Cup with a Group D opener against Paraguay on Friday, June 12, in Los Angeles.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Chris Brady (Chicago Fire FC), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
DEFENDERS (10): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Alex Freeman (Villarreal/ESP), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER), Auston Trusty (Celtic/SCO)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Tyler Adams (AFC Bournemouth/ENG), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen/GER)
FORWARDS (7): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG), Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA), Tim Weah (Olympique Marseille/FRA), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG). Alejandro Zendejas (Club América/MEX)
The goalkeepers
The position that head coach Mauricio Pochettino hasn't fully decided on features New York City FC's Matt Freese, New England Revolution's Matt Turner, and Chicago Fire's Chris Brady.
It's clear the starting spot is between Freese and Turner. Freese has started 14 of the last 16 matches for the United States, but Turner is having the better MLS season, totaling the second-highest save percentage (76.9) and leading the league in goals prevented (6).
"They're both great goalies," said Joe Scally. "Whichever one is in net for our games, we support both of them. We all know how great goalkeepers are, and we're just excited. I think right now in this moment, we're more about being a team rather than fighting amongst ourselves, so we're just focused on that."
