Breaking down the 2026 USMNT World Cup roster
Big surprises in a thin midfield, too many defenders, and the right trio of forwards are on the plane
Let's start with a big congrats to my buddies Pablo & Jeff for getting the scoop. I hope everybody who cares about soccer in the US kicks in a few bucks to show your support.
BREAKING: The Guardian has acquired the full 26-man US men's national team World Cup roster. A couple of big surprises on there in addition to what's already been reported. Reporting with @mlsist.bsky.social: www.theguardian.com/football/202...
— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter.bsky.social) May 23, 2026 at 1:01 PM
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The Guardian's doing great work.
And here's the roster:
USMNT 2026 World Cup roster
• Goalkeepers (3): Chris Brady (Chicago Fire, 0 caps/0 goals), Matt Freese (New York City, 14/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution, 53/0)
The takeaway: Zero surprises here, though I want to circle back to last Thursday's newsletter in which I wrote this:
The "one major surprise" I (and others) had heard was that Turner was going to be dropped for Diego Kochen, with Brady moved to the No. 2 spot as Freese's back-up. The reason I'd be given was that Poch wanted to avoid a 1A/1B situation in goal.
That sounded insane to me – Turner's a golden retriever, so this would not have been a Friedel/Keller situation – but I'd heard it from enough people to at least ring the bell that something might be coming.
