Jozy Altidore has a take on the USMNT striker situation — and it's more nuanced than the Folarin Balogun coronation most people are already writing.
Speaking ahead of his new role as a Telemundo analyst for the 2026 World Cup, Altidore — 115 caps, 42 goals, two World Cup appearances — didn't hand Balogun the job unopposed. "I like Flo," he said, "but I think we have three strikers that offer something."
He's not wrong. Balogun is the presumptive starter under Mauricio Pochettino, and Altidore sees the resemblance to his own game: running in behind, one-touch finishing, capable of beating a man and bending one into the far post. The cheeky chip attempts aren't accidental — that's a player with real confidence in front of goal. But Ricardo Pepi brings relentless pressing and a finisher's instinct, and Haji Wright is the hybrid — a bit of everything. Altidore's expectation is that Balogun starts and tires defenses, then Pepi and Wright exploit the spaces that open up. Three forwards, three different problems for opposing backlines.
It's not all about Pulisic
Altidore made a point worth sitting with: he's not worried about Christian Pulisic. "I'm worried about who's going to step up and help Christian." The same goes for Weston McKennie, who he regards as one of the team's structural pillars.
The name he kept coming back to was Tyler Adams. A fit Adams for the full tournament, he argued, is a genuine differentiator — the kind of player the U.S. simply doesn't have a backup for. If you're pricing USMNT deep-run markets, Adams' fitness is the variable that deserves the most attention. His absence or diminished form doesn't just weaken midfield — it changes the team's entire defensive shape.
He also made the goalkeeper point firmly. Argentina didn't win in 2022 on attacking talent alone. Emiliano Martínez was spectacular across the tournament. The U.S. will need the same from whoever starts between the posts — concentration, composure, and saves that arrive at the right moment.
From VHS tapes to 2026
Altidore joins Telemundo specifically because it's new territory for him — Spanish-language broadcasting, a different audience, a different energy around the game. "It's so exciting, so emotional," he said. For someone who spent his career as a target man in physically demanding leagues across Europe and MLS, pivoting to the studio at 36 is its own kind of challenge.
His broader point about the tournament's legacy landed with some weight. His father recorded World Cup matches on VHS. That's how Altidore fell into football. Now, with the tournament stretching across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, he believes the same thing happens again — on a much larger scale, across the Caribbean, Central America, and beyond. "There's going to be a birth of thousands of footballers with a dream."
He put it plainly: the host nations have a duty to perform, not just participate. "They all can play in a way that inspires all the young kids watching." Whether the USMNT delivers on that is the question the whole summer revolves around.
