Jul 08, 2025 - 19:01
By foxnews.com

USA Gold Cup Player Reviews: Which World Cup Hopefuls Helped And Hurt Their Cases?

While the U.S. men's national team fell just short of claiming a trophy this summer, the squad must now shift its focus to the 2026 World Cup. For manager Mauricio Pochettino, that means honing in on 26 players who can help the team compete.

On Sunday night in front of a sold-out crowd at NRG Stadium in Houston, Mexico defeated the U.S. 2-1 to clinch back-to-back Concacaf Gold Cup titles. That signaled the last time the USMNT will play a competitive match before co-hosting the sport's biggest event in less than a year.

The team won’t convene again until September when it hosts Korea Republic and Japan in a pair of friendlies (Sept. 6 in Harrison, N.J. and Sept. 9 in Columbus, Ohio, respectively). Whoever is called in for that camp will seemingly have an inside track to a World Cup roster spot.

But who will those players be? While Christian Pulisic, Antonee "Jedi" Robinson, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Sergino Dest likely would have been starters at the Gold Cup had they been part of the roster – they were not for a multitude of reasons – how will their spots be impacted by players who impressed Pochettino and his staff this summer?

There’s no doubt that after this summer’s tournament, Pochettino’s mindset is shifting. But who stood out? Who bought more time to prove themselves? And who has more work to do to stay in the mix for 2026? We take a look below:

Note: This list does not include players who were at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar ( Tyler Adams , Tim Ream , Luca De La Torre , Brenden Aaronson , Matt Turner ), nor does it include Chris Richards , who was one of the best players at the Gold Cup.