The USMNT heads into another Gold Cup as reigning champion, but without many stars

Traditionally, the Concacaf Gold Cup is the premier event contested by the U.S. men’s national soccer team outside of the World Cup. But for myriad reasons, this edition of North America’s biennial regional championship is no conventional competition.

For one, the introduction of the Concacaf Nations League — a year-long event that culminated with the United States topping Canada in Sunday’s final — put a second, more prized regional title up for grabs. The recency of the World Cup, which was played in Qatar this past fall instead of its usual summer slot, left most of the U.S. team’s Europe-based stars in need of a break. And Gregg Berhalter’s appointment last week came too late for the returning U.S. coach to take charge for the tournament.

So when the United States opens the Gold Cup group stage against Jamaica on Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago, it will do so with interim coach B.J. Callaghan at the helm and an MLS-heavy roster devoid of standouts such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest. But after the Americans claimed both championships in 2021, they want to go 2 for 2 in title defenses this summer.

"The messaging is very clear," said goalkeeper Matt Turner, one of five Nations League holdovers on the 23-man Gold Cup team. "When there's a trophy on the line, we expect to compete for it. And we know our fans expect us to compete for it and put our best foot forward. Last weekend, we took care of business and we got a trophy. Now, it's time to completely shift gears and win another one."

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Although the Nations League and Gold Cup both crown a king of Concacaf, the competitions are radically different. The Nations League, which launched in 2019 and involves all 41 of Concacaf's member associations, includes home and away matches contested across the region over many months. The Gold Cup, which has been staged since 1991 and features 16 teams, is Concacaf's crucible — a World Cup-style tournament that requires the winner to play six matches over three weeks on U.S. and Canadian soil.

After facing Jamaica, whose squad includes the Union’s Andre Blake and Damion Lowe, the Americans will meet Saint Kitts and Nevis on Wednesday in St. Louis before concluding the group stage against Trinidad and Tobago on July 2 in Charlotte. The top two teams in each group advance to the eight-team knockout round, culminating with the July 16 final at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

"It has a very similar feel to what a World Cup would look like," Callaghan said. "For us, it continues to battle test and prepare a deep player pool."

Turner is one of seven players on the Gold Cup squad who participated in the Americans' run to the World Cup round of 16. Although the Arsenal shot-stopper played every minute in Qatar, the other six — goalkeeper Sean Johnson, defenders DeAndre Yedlin and Aaron Long, midfielder Cristian Roldan, and forwards Jordan Morris and Jesús Ferreira — were seldom-used reserves. Turner and defender Miles Robinson, meanwhile, are the only players on the Gold Cup team who got starting assignments in this month's Nations League matches.

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The rest of the squad is highlighted by promising prospects, such as 19-year-old San Jose forward Cade Cowell and 21-year-old Columbus midfielder Aidan Morris. There are also several familiar faces — defender Matt Miazga and midfielder Djordje Mihailovic, among them — who have been in the U.S. fold for years but didn’t make the cut for Qatar. Some players entering their primes, such as Cincinnati striker Brandon Vazquez and winger Alejandro Zendejas of Mexico’s Club América, are on the team after not making their U.S. debuts until after the World Cup.

"Obviously, [there's] a lot of different individuals," Turner said. "But I think you can expect to see a similar style. This is a group that, from top to bottom, everybody understands their roles. They understand the type of style that we want to play, the team that we want to be, and it doesn't change with personnel. Everybody just plugs into those spots."

That continuity comes from Callaghan, a Ventnor, N.J., native who coached the United States to a 3-0 shellacking of Mexico in the Nations League semifinals and a composed 2-0 victory over Canada in the title game. An assistant under Berhalter at the World Cup, the 41-year-old took over after Anthony Hudson, the team’s previous interim coach, left the program in May.

Although U.S. Soccer announced Berhalter’s return last week — after a messy feud between Berhalter and the parents of rising U.S. star Gio Reyna became public, denting the coach’s case for a new contract — the federation confirmed that Callaghan will remain in charge through the Gold Cup. At Friday’s news conference, Callaghan said he has spoken to Berhalter but isn’t taking instructions from the soon-to-be-reinstalled coach.

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Once Berhalter returns to the helm, the Americans will shift their focus to grander goals: the 2023-24 Nations League, next summer's Copa América on home soil and, ultimately, the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. For this group, meanwhile, the objectives are twofold: To play their way into the mix for those events and to seize their chance to lift a trophy.

“The group that was competing in the Nations League did an unbelievable job and we’re just trying to carry that on over,” said Yedlin, a veteran right back. “We’re not defending the Gold Cup — we’re attacking it. That’s our mind-set going into it. That’s how we want to play every game. We want to be aggressive. We want to dominate the games, just as the group that was involved in Nations League did.”