Jeff CarlisleJan 20, 2026, 08:13 AM ETCloseJeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC.
Matt Turner | 31 | New England Revolution (on loan from Lyon)
Tristan Blackmon | Center back | 29 | Vancouver Whitecaps
Joe Scally | Fullback | 23 | Borussia Mönchengladbach
Johnny Cardoso | Midfielder | 24 | Atlético Madrid
Yunus Musah | Midfielder | 23 | Atalanta (on loan from AC Milan)
Sebastian Berhalter | Midfielder | 24 | Vancouver Whitecaps
Damion Downs | Forward | 21 | Hamburg SV (on loan from Southampton)
The next goal on the horizon is the March international window. At that point, the MLS season will be just over a month old, but the game waits for no one, meaning now is an opportune time for players to build toward the next six months — and for ESPN to take stock of the player pool with the latest edition of the USMNT Big Board.
Turner occupies an odd place in the pool of U.S. goalkeepers. He’s the only one with World Cup experience, and yet he was excluded from the November international window. It’s imperative that Turner get off to a good start with the Revolution this season. The fact that Turner is once again working with his own personal “goalie whisperer” — Revs keeper coach Kevin Hitchcock — should provide a boost, but the pressure is on him to return to top form.
The good news for Schulte is that the vast majority of his competition — both above him and below him — is based in MLS, meaning he won’t have to look far to see how his rivals are doing. But the Columbus keeper is facing the prospect of playing for new club manager Henrik Rydström, which adds an additional wrinkle as he begins a new campaign.
It’s beyond remarkable that Ream is still firmly in the mix at age 38, but there you go. Has he lost a step? Perhaps, but his steady play, experience and leadership continue to make him a key part of Pochettino’s plans. Could someone push him out of the starting lineup? It’s possible, but no one has come close to doing that.
McKenzie’s season with Toulouse continues to motor along as he has logged 1,538 minutes, third most on the team, although a foot injury saw him sit out last weekend’s 5-1 win against Nice. That kind of consistency is why McKenzie remains in Pochettino’s plans. His solid performance against Uruguay helped as well. McKenzie might not be a starter on this U.S. squad, but he remains a sturdy option.
Even in the age of 26-player rosters, versatility is a plus and that’s true of Robinson, who has played minutes at right back in the hybrid system employed by Pochettino. That has kept Robinson in Pochettino’s thoughts and in the reckoning for the final roster. An impressive start with Cincinnati in the early stages of the MLS season would help Robinson solidify his spot.
If not for an upcoming suspension for yellow-card accumulation, Banks’ run in Augsburg’s starting lineup would have shown no signs of slowing down, as he made his 14th straight appearance against SC Freiburg over the weekend. His 6-foot-4 frame allows him to be dominant in the air, winning 59.2% of his aerial challenges, and he’s completing 90.2% of his passes, a rate that climbs to 90.4% in the attacking third.
The only concern at this stage is that he has yet to feature in a game for the Americans. Will that lack of experience count against him?
Dest’s role going forward will be one of the big questions heading into the March window and beyond. He played more as a winger during the November window, but that was also a period in which some of the more prominent attacking options — such as Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie — were absent. If everyone is healthy, a spot in the back seems more likely for Dest, but only time will reveal more of Pochettino’s thinking on this.
Robinson’s return to the Fulham lineup has been the most welcome development since the last international window in November. His ninth appearance in little more than a month — with him playing 90 minutes in seven of those — appears to show that he’s back to full fitness. Robinson’s ability to not only defend but contribute to the attack via his ability to deliver crosses from wide positions, will provide the U.S. with another attacking option.
Freeman’s ascendency in 2025 was among the biggest surprises for the U.S., capped off by his two-goal performance against Uruguay. Now, he’s basically in a competition with Joe Scally to see who the backup outside back is, although that’s dependent in part on Dest’s role. Regardless, Freeman will be intent on maintaining his momentum.
Robinson’s return means Arfsten is relegated to a backup role, which is perfectly fine given his overall improvement on defense and his continued effectiveness going forward. Will new Crew manager Rydström use Arfsten differently than Wilfried Nancy did? It’s possible, but Pochettino has been consistent in how he has deployed Arfsten, so the impact of a new Columbus manager figures to be minimal.
McKennie is another player whose role with the U.S. is still unknown, a situation similar to what he’s encountering with Juventus right now. For the U.S., McKennie seems likely to occupy either one of the holding midfield spots or one of the two No. 10 positions. The latter seems to better suit his instincts, but the opponent and the availability of teammates will influence where he lands.
With no competitive games in the past two months, the challenge for Roldan is to reestablish the momentum he created toward the end of 2025. Given the competition in the center of midfield, this will be no easy task, but Roldan has established a body of work that has yielded considerable equity with Pochettino.
Morris continues to punch the clock with Middlesbrough, which currently occupies one of the guaranteed promotion places in the English Championship. His 4.91 recoveries per game rank third on the squad, even as he missed a half-dozen games because of a leg injury. The aim now will be to leverage his consistent club form into a more prominent role with the U.S. team.
A crisis along the backline for Lyon has meant that Tessmann has spent some minutes playing as a central defender of late, where he has performed admirably. But the center of midfield is where he belongs for the U.S., and he remains the favorite to partner with Adams when the Bournemouth player recovers.
Pulisic continues to put in a stellar season for Milan, where his 0.84 goals per game tops Serie A for those players with more than 200 minutes played, although he has cooled off of late. The impulse to put him in bubble wrap until March is strong, but so is the desire to see him continue to excel for the Rossoneri, who are second in league play after 21 games.
Weah is another player whose ultimate spot on the field is to be determined. He could be deployed as a wing back or move play as one of the attacking midfielders. With Dest logging time at wing back recently, the logjam at that position looks set to increase. Weah’s steady minutes with Marseille mean he’s a solid pick to make the final squad. He popped up for his third goal of the season in all competitions last weekend against Angers.
As the Bundesliga emerged from its brief winter break, Tillman remains a big part of Leverkusen’s plans, but both player and team have hit something of a rut of late, with Tillman not making a goal contribution since November and Leverkusen losing twice a row since resuming the season. As for the U.S., Tillman needs to pick his game up a notch or two if he’s to get minutes when the full team convenes in March.
Balogun’s grip on the starting spot for the U.S. remains firm. He hasn’t been completely tearing it up for Monaco, but he has been steady enough with his goal contributions — 10 in 22 games in all competitions — to keep getting consistent playing time. He has been plenty effective in a U.S. shirt as well, scoring three goals in the last three international windows of 2025.
The goals have run dry for Wright, but he finally managed to end his drought with a late winner in last weekend’s match against Leicester City. That rough stretch has left him vulnerable to being overtaken by the likes of Patrick Agyemang, but Wright keeps his place for now.
Celentano remains in the mix for a roster spot, but at this stage, he’s largely dependent on the form of others — or the lack thereof — to shoehorn his way onto the roster. Cincinnati looks to have a very competitive team this season, so Celentano should get plenty of support on that front.
When Cameron Carter-Vickers went down because of an Achilles injury, Trusty stepped into the Celtic starting lineup, but it didn’t coincide with a happy time at Celtic Park, with the club struggling mightily. Much of the blame has been put on now-former manager Nancy, but Trusty didn’t acquit himself well during this period either. Back-to-back clean sheets are steps in the right direction.
Carter-Vickers’ odds of another World Cup are astronomical at this stage, as he has been ruled out for the season because of an Achilles injury. He’ll push himself to the maximum in a bid to return, but it’s just too big of a mountain to climb.
Tolkin remains a longshot, and Antonee Robinson’s return means the odds have only gotten longer. That said, Tolkin had some good moments against Uruguay, and stood up to La Celeste’s physical play. He should keep his phone close by.
Wiley has been plagued by a back injury for much of this season, and with his return getting pushed further into the future, the decision was made to terminate Wiley’s loan to Watford, and he has returned to Chelsea. It’s time for him to get healthy and then retrench with another loan, but any possibility of a World Cup spot is out of reach.
Cardoso has been steadily building up his fitness, and has started Atléti’s past two games (two wins). He has been down this road before, but the hope is that he doesn’t endure anymore setbacks and can begin to make some inroads. That said, there are a lot of players to climb over for a roster spot.
Following a barren November, Musah has had his playing time steadily climb in the past month, and even started last weekend’s match against Pisa. He still seems a long way away from being a consistent starter, which looks to be the bar that Musah will have to get over if he’s to get more of a look at the international level.