Breaking down the USMNT roster for Mauricio Pochettino’s first meaningful games, featuring plenty of Union ties

The soccer world hasn’t stopped moving just because the Union’s season is over. Or even after Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami was dramatically booted from the MLS playoffs in the first round on Saturday night, which left a box of eggs on the league and Apple’s faces.

No, there’s still plenty to do, including for the U.S. men’s national team. A FIFA window for national team games starts on Monday, and the Americans will play the first meaningful games of new manager Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure: a Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal series against Jamaica.

The home-and-home, aggregate-goals series, which begins on Thursday, will have plenty of star power on both sides, from Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah on the U.S. squad to English Premier League stalwarts Leon Bailey and Michail Antonio for the Reggae Boyz.

There will also be Union ties on both sides. Alums Brenden Aaronson, Mark McKenzie, and Auston Trusty are on the U.S. roster, along with academy product Zack Steffen. Andre Blake captains Jamaica as always, and will have Damion Lowe in front of him.

Aaronson continues to play well for England’s Leeds United, McKenzie has been a regular starter for France’s Toulouse, and Trusty has helped Scotland’s Celtic pull off some impressive upsets in the Champions League. Steffen helped the Colorado Rapids make this year’s MLS playoffs and Leagues Cup third-place game, though he didn’t play well in the playoffs.

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A number of major U.S. players are out injured: right back Sergiño Dest (ACL), attacking midfielder Gio Reyna (groin), and forwards Folarin Balogun (shoulder), Josh Sargent (groin), and Haji Wright (ankle). Sargent just suffered his injury recently, had surgery earlier this week, and is expected to be out for eight weeks.

Stalwart defensive midfielder Tyler Adams is the other big absence. The frequent U.S. captain missed the first two months of the season with his English Premier League club, Bournemouth, due to a back injury that he played through at the Copa América. He just returned to playing for Bournemouth, including a start on Saturday, but isn’t ready yet for the full load of a national team series.

”We know very well that we need to look after him if we want to have him in the best condition for 2026,” Pochettino said in a news conference Sunday morning. (He also noted he wanted to sign Adams to English club Chelsea when he managed there last season.)

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” I think that is an important decision to help him to be now training properly and see if he can be consistent in his club,” Pochettino added. “It’s not a player that we need to have here to know, and to bring for nothing or to bring only to have contact. Because we already know the capacity of him to play and to compete.”

When Adams is ready, Pochettino said, “he’s going to be here for sure.”

There’s always an extra focus on the forwards, and this time it’s not just because of the injured list. Sargent did not play well with the U.S. in its October friendlies that marked Pochettino’s debut on the sideline. In particular, Sargent flubbed a wide-open shot against Panama, and while that game ended up as a U.S. win, that play stood out. Three days later at Mexico, Sargent started but did not record a shot.

For this squad, Pochettino has called in Ricardo Pepi of the Netherlands’ PSV Eindhoven and Brandon Vazquez of Mexico’s Monterrey. The latter is good news for fans (and media) who’ve backed Vazquez, a big target-style forward, to get a better look from Pochettino than predecessor Gregg Berhalter offered.

” I was really happy with him in Austin [for the Panama game] and in Mexico,” Pochettino said. “I think he has the profile to help us. … I think he can add to the team a different perspective of the game.”

Weah, who usually plays as a winger for the U.S., can also play at striker. He has four goals in 11 games for Italy’s Juventus this season, including three in his last four outings. But he is suspended for the opening game of the series as the last part of the multi-game suspension he earned for his red card at the Copa América. Such bans are enforced only in official competitions, not friendlies.

The other wingers on this squad are Mexico’s Club América’s Alejandro Zendejas, who was picked as a winger option for this U.S. squad, along with Cade Cowell of Mexico’s Chivas.

There aren’t many young prospects on this squad, which isn’t surprising since the games are in an official competition. Midfielders Tanner Tessmann and Aidan Morris are two good ones, but they’re the only field players who qualify.

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The rest are goalkeepers: Patrick Schulte of the Columbus Crew and Diego Kochen of Barcelona — yes, the Spanish giant. An 18-year-old Miami native, Kochen has been in Barcelona’s famed youth academy and has played for the club’s reserve squad this season. He has played for U.S. under-16, under-17, and under-19 teams, and this is his second straight call-up to get a taste of the senior squad.

Though Kochen won’t unseat any of the U.S. team’s veterans soon, he’s definitely a prospect to watch for the future.

The U.S.-Jamaica series starts on Thursday in Jamaica at Kingston’s National Stadium (8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, Peacock), then concludes on Nov. 18 at St. Louis City’s newly rebranded Energizer Park (8 p.m., TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, Peacock).

Goalkeepers (4): Diego Kochen (Barcelona Atlètic, Spain), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace, England)

Defenders (7): Mark McKenzie (Toulouse, France), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace, England), Antonee Robinson (Fulham, England), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany), Auston Trusty (Celtic, Scotland)

Midfielders (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Gianluca Busio (Venezia, Italy), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis, Spain), Weston McKennie (Juventus, Italy), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough, England), Yunus Musah (AC Milan, Italy), Tanner Tessmann (Lyon, France), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands)

Forwards (6): Cade Cowell (Chivas Guadalajara, Mexico), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan, Italy), Brandon Vazquez (Monterrey, Mexico), Tim Weah (Juventus, Italy), Alex Zendejas (Club América, Mexico)

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