CHESTER, Pa. — It would be easy enough to fixate on the many regulars who sat out the U.S. men’s national soccer team’s 2-1 win against Paraguay on Saturday night and wonder how much stock can be taken from a largely second-string squad’s successes.
Christian Pulisic. Chris Richards. Tyler Adams. Weston McKennie. Tim Weah. Malik Tillman. Antonee Robinson. Those absentees could very well form most of the Americans’ starting lineup at next summer’s World Cup. But that’s not the way Coach Mauricio Pochettino wants his players to see it.
“No one,” Pochettino said, “can feel safe.”
Is Pochettino posturing, in the spirit of fostering healthy competition? Perhaps. Take the Argentine coach at his word, however, and this international window — the penultimate opportunity for players to impress in a U.S. uniform before Pochettino picks his World Cup squad — takes on outsize importance.
After the Americans capped the September window with a cathartic victory over Japan, then played Ecuador to a draw and snapped Australia’s unbeaten run in October, they entered November’s friendlies looking to maintain that momentum. A Paraguay team that qualified for the World Cup by finishing level on points with South American powers Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay posed a worthy foe. The U.S. absences — mostly injury-related — carved out opportunities for both fringe players to make their case and tentative starters to cement their positions.
Sure enough, players from both categories capitalized at Subaru Park. Gio Reyna, who marked his ballyhooed national team return by netting a goal and setting up another, flashed his dormant class. Folarin Balogun’s second-half winner showed why the striker job is his to lose. And the impressive performance with a shorthanded squad spoke volumes about the depth and mentality of a team that has started to look less like a hodgepodge of underachieving talent and more like a team that could make some noise next summer.
“We were better [than] a team that I think is very competitive and difficult to beat,” said Pochettino, whose U.S. squad will play its final match of 2025 against Uruguay on Tuesday night in Tampa. “Big credit — but that is not enough. We are happy. We need to keep going because we need to improve, improve, improve, and arrive into the World Cup in our best, in our peak. And that is not about the names. It is about the team. It is about the collective.”
Here are three takeaways from the win over Paraguay:
Reyna returns
Reyna, the polarizing 23-year-old midfielder who had made just one appearance since Pochettino took over as coach in September 2024, was the headline inclusion on this squad. Overlooked for every U.S. roster since March, Reyna has struggled to entrench himself in Borussia Mönchengladbach’s lineup since joining the German club over the summer. His attitude also has been questioned since his lack of playing time at the 2022 World Cup led to a messy rift with former coach Gregg Berhalter.
But for all of that baggage, Reyna arguably possesses more playmaking virtuosity than any other player in the U.S. pool. According to captain Tim Ream, Reyna arrived for this camp “more in tune and more focused” than in the past.
“Gio has wanted to come into camp and do his thing,” Balogun added. “He wanted to put the noise behind him, and I felt like he did that today.”
With Pulisic, Tillman, McKennie and Alex Zendejas not on this roster, the dual playmaker roles in Pochettino’s 3-4-2-1 system were there for the taking. Thus Reyna got the nod alongside Brenden Aaronson, marking Reyna’s first U.S. start since the 2024 Copa América — the final game of the Berhalter era.
Reyna needed just four minutes to reintroduce himself to the score sheet. Max Arfsten collected the ball on the right flank, accelerated to the end line and whipped in a cross that Reyna rose to nod in off the bottom of the crossbar.
“I always had confidence in myself,” Reyna said. “To see a goal go in the back of the net, it’s always nice.”
GIO
— U.S. Soccer Men’s National Team (@USMNT) November 15, 2025
Reyna also orchestrated Balogun’s 71st-minute winner. As Balogun pounced on an errant Paraguayan pass, the striker held up the ball and picked out Reyna’s overlapping run. Although Paraguay’s Damián Bobadilla deprived Reyna of an assist by getting an off-balance touch on the low cross, Balogun was on the doorstep to hammer home his third goal in his past three U.S. starts.
Logging 75 minutes, Reyna looked comfortable floating between Paraguay’s defensive and midfield lines and dropping deeper to kick-start attacks. Even if there’s many candidates for the attacking midfield slots on Pochettino’s roster, an engaged, in-form Reyna has enough game-changing potential to justify his inclusion.
“He’s a player that needs to improve, because he needs to play more in his club,” Pochettino said. “But we can see today that he was great. … [His] capacity to read the game and find the free space in between the lines, I think that was a nightmare for Paraguay.”
Asked if the ever-shrinking runway to the World Cup was on his mind, Reyna responded, “I mean, of course.” But he indicated that finding a groove with Mönchengladbach would be more important to his odds than any friendly performance.
“I believe if I keep performing like I did tonight,” Reyna said, “then I have a good chance to make the team and have an impact there.”
Scally gets a look
Joe Scally, Reyna’s close friend and Mönchengladbach teammate, also earned his first summons since March. Naturally a right back in a four-man defense, Scally started as the right center back in a three-man unit against Paraguay.
His night got off to a rough start when he misread an over-the-top service, allowing Miguel Almirón to track down the ball and hit the cross that Álex Arce nodded home for Paraguay’s 10th-minute equalizer. While Pochettino said the United States shouldn’t concede such a simple strike, he had no complaints about Scally or Miles Robinson, the center back who lost his mark on Arce.
“For sure, it’s my responsibility,” Pochettino said. “I don’t blame the player.”
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Scally otherwise delivered an assured performance, connecting on 56 of 61 passes and tying Arfsten with a team-high four tackles (per the stats tracker FotMob). As a versatile defender with enough speed and size to fill a variety of roles — at wing back, fullback or center back — the 22-year-old is uniquely suited for a system Pochettino has preferred of late.
“I can tell what everyone’s talking about,” said goalkeeper Matt Freese, who played with Scally for the first time. “Ton of talent, and a ton of athleticism.”
Intensity emphasized
The back line also got a boost from wing backs Sergiño Dest and Arfsten, who wreaked havoc from the flanks. Repeatedly slashing inside, Dest expertly picked out Roldan for an enticing shot in the 19th minute and fizzed a left-footer of his own just wide in the 67th. Arfsten, meanwhile, led the United States with 11 duels won and four successful dribbles while using crafty footwork to unmoor his markers.
“Me and him both just like to attack, and I think sometimes it’s dangerous for the other team, attacking like that,” Arfsten said. “So it’s fun to see him do his thing, and when the ball comes to me, I’m trying to do the same.”
Not every player passed Saturday’s test with flying colors: Ricardo Pepi missed a 79th-minute sitter, Tanner Tessmann was uncharacteristically inaccurate and midfield partner Cristian Roldan took a step back from his recent string of stellar outings. Yet Pochettino will take a few middling individual performances on a night his team bought in collectively.
The end of USA vs. Paraguay got 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐘
pic.twitter.com/LjkybUJA4B
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 16, 2025
Consider the speed with which Alex Freeman’s teammates rushed to his defense as the U.S. substitute tussled with Paraguay’s Gustavo Gómez in second-half stoppage time. The melee made for an ugly scene, spilling onto the sidelines as both benches cleared, Paraguay reserve Omar Alderete was ejected and Pochettino was barreled over in the chaos. But the U.S. players relished their fiery response.
“I was very happy [with] the way that we supported each other,” Freese said. “There were few cheap shots thrown from their end, to be honest. But it’s part of being a team, and we’re going to be standing up for each other.”
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