TAMPA — It was obvious enough before Tuesday night that Mauricio Pochettino had made incremental progress with the U.S. men’s national soccer team in recent months. With individual growth came collective cohesion. And the modest string of results? Not necessary, but validating all the same.
But when Pochettino fielded a heavily rotated lineup for a friendly against Uruguay at Raymond James Stadium, then watched his team run rampant in a 5-1 win, the scale of the top-to-bottom overhaul hit home. Swapping out 9 of 11 starters from Saturday’s 2-1 win over Paraguay in Chester, Pennsylvania, the Americans didn’t just stretch their unbeaten run to 4-0-1 — they concluded their 2025 slate by dismantling a World Cup-bound opponent that counted key players for Barcelona, Manchester United and Tottenham among its starters.
Not bad for a U.S. team that earlier this year crashed out of the Concacaf Nations League, dropped the Gold Cup final and found itself outclassed in three straight friendlies.
“With whatever players we have on the field, we have the quality,” said U.S. playmaker Diego Luna, who netted the final strike of a four-goal first-half blitz. “I think it’s just making sure that we bring that mentality and that hard work and that mindset to every game.”
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Pochettino is so committed to preaching his there-are-no-stars philosophy that a reporter’s postgame mention of some “regulars” being absent — as the likes of Christian Pulisic, Chris Richards and Tyler Adams were this camp — rubbed him the wrong way. After two questions, Pochettino proved so perturbed that he sarcastically suggested going back to the locker room, returning to the news conference and starting over.
“I don’t want to be negative, but I hate that: ‘No regular players,’” Pochettino said. “Stop with that mindset. Every time that our decision is about to pick a starting 11, it’s the U.S. men’s national team playing. After one year, I think you need to really know me, that I hate to talk in this way. It’s so disrespectful.”
Regulars or not, the players showed they can dominate World Cup-caliber opposition. Vindicating Pochettino’s open-minded approach, the first four goals — an Alex Freeman brace and strikes from Sebastian Berhalter and Luna — came courtesy of MLS standouts who began the year with one cap among them.
Berhalter got things started with a curler off an exquisite set piece in 17th minute. He also hit the corner kick that teed up Freeman’s 20th-minute header. Freeman danced around Barca’s Ronald Araújo and slammed home his second tally 11 minutes later. And Luna capped the first-half onslaught with a 42nd-minute one-timer off Timmy Tillman’s feed.
“Knowing guys are coming from the U.S. and playing in the U.S. and they’re able to perform for the U.S., I feel like it just means a lot,” said Freeman, a rookie for Orlando City. “The pool is just so big. It just shows that [whether it’s] Europe or MLS, we have talented players.”
By the time the European-based cavalry came off the bench and promptly got in on the fun — Gio Reyna picked out the head of fellow substitute Tanner Tessmann in the 68th to cap the scoring — the signature win of the Pochettino era was already sewed up. That Pochettino’s predecessor, Gregg Berhalter, saw his tenure end 16 months ago with a 1-0 loss to Uruguay at the Copa América underscored the accomplishment.
Of course you want to watch all five USMNT goals against Uruguay
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“We are starting to feel the World Cup,” Pochettino said. “I think it’s important for our fans to know this type of victory.”
When the U.S. team next gathers for a pair of March friendlies, it will mark the final camp before Pochettino selects his World Cup squad. As the friendly victories pile up, so do the questions about how, exactly, the Argentine coach will shrink his sprawling pool to 26 players.
“Our role as a player is, to the best of our ability, to play each match at a level where it makes his decisions more challenging,” said defender Mark McKenzie, who captained the U.S. team against Uruguay. “That’s really the simplest way I could put it.”
Challenging as it was, we took a crack at it anyway. Here is our projected U.S. roster for next summer’s World Cup:
Goalkeepers
World Cup-bound: Matt Freese, Matt Turner, Patrick Schulte
Still in play: Zack Steffen, Diego Kochen, Chris Brady, Roman Celentano, Jonathan Klinsmann
Freese didn’t have much to do Tuesday, but he did shoulder the responsibility for Uruguay’s goal — a Giorgian de Arrascaeta bicycle kick in first-half stoppage time — after coming off his line, getting caught in no man’s land and leaving his defense scrambling. Still, Freese has played every minute for 12 straight matches and Pochettino has given no indication that his confidence in his No. 1 is wavering.
Who Pochettino brings behind Freese is less certain. Turner figures to be there, as the only goalkeeper in the pool with World Cup experience, even if he’s been omitted for two of the past three windows. Schulte, the Paris Olympics starter, has the inside track on the third slot after earning call-ups the past two camps. From there, it’s a true crapshoot: Steffen has fallen out of favor lately, and every other goalkeeper in the mix is still waiting for his international debut.
Defenders
World Cup-bound: Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Alex Freeman, Sergiño Dest, Max Arfsten, Miles Robinson, Mark McKenzie, Antonee Robinson, Joe Scally
Still in play: Auston Trusty, Noahkai Banks, John Tolkin, Nathan Harriel, Tristan Blackmon, Walker Zimmerman, Caleb Wiley, Marlon Fossey, Kristoffer Lund, Cameron Carter-Vickers
The ever-reliable Richards and Ream are locked in as two of the three center backs in the 3-4-2-1 system Pochettino has utilized of late. Freeman, a 6-foot-2 fullback with the size and strength to tuck inside, staked his claim to the third spot with his sensational performance against Uruguay. Miles Robinson and McKenzie seem like safe bets as central defensive depth, especially now that Carter-Vickers is set to miss five months with an Achilles’ injury. That said, Trusty and Banks are on the rise after taking over starting jobs for Scotland’s Celtic and Germany’s Augsburg, respectively.
Flashing his attacking menace, Dest showed this window just how dangerous he can be bombing forward as the right wing back. Although it’s concerning that Antonee Robinson remains sidelined with lingering knee issues, Arfsten’s swashbuckling outing against Paraguay and Tolkin’s serviceable shift versus Uruguay proved there’s depth on the left side. And Scally should sneak in after Pochettino recalled the fullback, talked up his versatility and gave him a start at right center back against Paraguay.
Midfielders
World Cup-bound: Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, Tanner Tessmann, Weston McKennie, Cristian Roldan, Gio Reyna, Sebastian Berhalter
Still in play: Aidan Morris, Johnny Cardoso, Jack McGlynn, James Sands, Yunus Musah, Timmy Tillman, Luca De La Torre, Gianluca Busio, Benjamin Cremaschi, Sean Zawadzki
The midfield general Adams and attacking orchestrator Malik Tillman sat out this camp because of injuries but remain entrenched. The same probably goes for McKennie, who finds himself aiming to impress yet another new manager for Italian power Juventus — though his lack of a clear position in the 3-4-2-1 remains a quandary. After strong October outings, Tessmann and Roldan capitalized on the shorthanded squad to further establish themselves this window.
There’s no shortage of options to round out the group. Morris’s grit, Cardoso’s circulation, Musah’s progression, McGlynn’s cannon — all are enviable assets. But Reyna’s ceiling and Berhalter’s set-piece service give them the edge after the recent friendlies put their game-breaking talents on display. Even as Reyna struggles to earn starts for German club Borussia Mönchengladbach, he found the net against Paraguay and set up goals in both games. Lethal over a dead ball, Berhalter is the kind of specialist worth rolling the dice on.
Forwards
World Cup-bound: Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Tim Weah, Diego Luna, Haji Wright, Brenden Aaronson, Ricardo Pepi
Still in play: Alex Zendejas, Patrick Agyemang, Josh Sargent, Paxten Aaronson, Brian White, Damion Downs
Pulisic got the window off so he could manage the hamstring injury he suffered on national team duty a month ago, but his place spearheading the U.S. attack is assured. Whether he’s a winger or a wing back, Weah is too dynamic to omit. Although Luna’s stock has slid slightly since the summer, his cool finish against Uruguay helped keep him on the right side of the bubble. Brenden Aaronson, meanwhile, seems to have played his way back into the squad thanks to his defense-harassing work ethic. For now, that means Zendejas — a September window breakout who has struggled to stay healthy since — is on the outside looking in.
When Balogun netted the winner against Paraguay, it marked his third goal in as many starts; the striker position is his to lose. Wright’s two goals against Australia last month are enough to keep him in the squad, and Pepi remains an enticing option despite missing a sitter against Paraguay. Agyemang could still find his way onto the roster if Pochettino wants a big frame to bring off the bench. Sargent, on the other hand, has plummeted down the depth chart after he followed an uninspiring September window with a lengthy scoreless drought for English side Norwich City.
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