FOX Sports World Cup Studio Host Rob Stone joins the First Things First crew to discuss his expectations for Christian Pulisic, who was cleared to resume play for AC Milan. He then dives into Gio Reyna's future and if he has a spot on the roster, along with the best, worse and most likely case for the USMNT in the 2026 FIFA World Cup™. Stone also shares one of the biggest storylines going into the World Cup, featuring Portugal being overlooked.
Christian Pulisic headlines official USMNT World Cup roster as Diego Luna, Tanner Tessman left out
by Scott Thompson · Fox NewsNEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The United States men's national team roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup was officially revealed at Pier 17 in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, and the 26 men representing the Stars and Stripes are set to show out on home soil next month.
However, there were some key absences from the roster, which created quite the buzz online after it was leaked over Memorial Day weekend.
For many, two key snubs for Mauricio Pochettino’s first World Cup roster were in the midfield, as Diego Luna and Tanner Tessman weren’t among the 26 men on the stage at Pier 17.
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Tessman did suffer a muscle strain earlier this month while playing for Lyon, his club in France, though it wasn’t expected to affect his ability to participate in the World Cup. Many believed the 24-year-old, who had played in the past six Team USA matches under Pochettino, had a great chance of making the squad as a defensive midfielder.
Instead, only Tyler Adams, who captained the USMNT in 2022 during the Qatar World Cup, is among the defensive midfielders on the roster.
Even more surprising, though, was Luna, the Real Salt Lake star who has shown greatness in terms of scoring on the international stage, while also providing a tough nature about his game that the World Cup calls for. In fact, Luna was viewed as a virtual lock considering Nike used him during promotional ads for the World Cup, though U.S. Soccer never signed off on who they would use.
Luna is a fan favorite, but Pochettino went with other attacking midfielders in the end.
Others who were among those considered as a possibility of making the team but didn’t were midfielder Yunus Musah, who played in the 2022 World Cup for the U.S., as did striker Josh Sargent. Aidan Morris and 19-year-old Zavier Gozo were also left out.
But Pochettino was looking for the 26 right players, rather than the best ones, to represent the U.S. on home soil for the first time since 1994, and the first time in history that FIFA will have matches played in three different countries. Canada and Mexico will also host matches, as all of North America welcomes the best 48 teams in the world under a new format that includes an extra knockout round.
Finally, it's worth noting that substitutions to rosters can be made by June 1, meaning they still have a chance of being changed before the first match against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 12.
Here is who will be playing for the USMNT in the 2026 FIFA World Cup:
GOALIES
- #1: Matt Turner, New England Revolution (2nd World Cup)
- #24: Matt Freese, New York City FC (1st)
- #25: Chris Brady, Chicago Fire (1st)
STRIKERS
- #9 Ricardo Pepi, PSV (1st)
- #19 Haji Wright, Coventry City (2nd)
- #20 Folarin Balogun, AS Monaco (1st)
MIDFIELDERS
- #4 Tyler Adams, AFC Bournemouth (2nd)
- #8 Weston McKennie, Juventus (2nd)
- #14 Sebastian Berhalter, Vancouver Whitecaps (1st)
- #15 Cristian Roldan, Seattle Sounders (2nd)
ATTACKING MIDFIELDER/WINGERS
- #7 Gio Reyna, Borussia Mönchengladbach (1st)
- #10 Christian Pulisic, AC Milan (2nd)
- #11 Brenden Aaronson, Leeds United (2nd)
- #17 Malik Tillman, Bayer Leverkusen (1st)
- #21 Tim Weah, Marseille (2nd)
- #26 Alex Zendejas, Club América (1st)
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DEFENDERS
- #2 Sergiño Dest, PSV (2nd)
- #3 Chris Richards, Crystal Palace (1st)
- #5 Antonee Robinson, Fulham (2nd)
- #6 Auston Trusty, Celtic (1st)
- #12 Miles Robinson, FC Cincinnati (1st)
- #13 Tim Ream, Charlotte FC (2nd)
- #16 Alex Freeman, Villarreal (1st)
- #18 Max Arfsten, Columbus Crew (1st)
- #22 Mark McKenzie, Toulouse (1st)
- #23 Joe Scally, Borussia Mönchengladbach (2nd)
This group will take on Paraguay on June 12, followed by matches against Australia (June 19 in Seattle) and Turkiye (June 25 in Los Angeles) for their Group D play.
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Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.