Mauricio Pochettino already knows his starting lineup for the World Cup opener against Paraguay. He's had it in his head since before March. That's the kind of clarity that either signals a confident, settled manager — or one who hasn't left himself enough room to be surprised by what he sees in training. Given the personnel questions swirling around this squad, it's worth watching which one it turns out to be.
"If I am honest, yes," Pochettino said when asked whether his first XI is set. "The only thing that can change is watching them in training, but I don't think so."
Pulisic Is In — But He Desperately Needs a Goal
Christian Pulisic is almost certainly in that lineup. He's also gone six months without a club goal, failed to score for the national team since 2024, and just watched AC Milan miss out on Champions League football. That's a rough run-up to the biggest tournament of his career.
Pochettino isn't blinking. "We are going to try in these three weeks to recover his confidence," he said. "He didn't score in the last, I don't know, six months, but he is going to score in the World Cup."
That's a manager backing his player publicly, which is the right move. Whether it reflects reality is another question. Pulisic's odds to score at any point in the tournament will attract attention regardless — but if the form doesn't turn in these warm-up games, the pressure on him going into the group stage will be real.
One Holding Midfielder Is Enough — Pochettino Believes It
The midfield question has followed this team for years, and it's not going away. But Pochettino is comfortable with his answer: one holding midfielder, surrounded by technical players who can shift centrally when needed.
"We don't need another holding midfielder," he said. "Sebastian , Cristian , or Tyler can do it, and if we play with one holding the field, there is enough."
Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Malik Tillman, and Gio Reyna all have minutes in central roles. Brenden Aaronson does too. It's a flexible system built on the assumption that possession control reduces the defensive burden — which works until it doesn't, and usually fails against a team that presses high and wins the ball back quickly. How that theory holds up against better opposition in the knockout rounds, if the USMNT get there, is where the tactical bet really lies.
Tillman, for his part, is unbothered. "I've played there before. I'm quite confident playing there as well."
Reyna Is Four Years Past It — Or Trying to Be
Gio Reyna was out getting smoothies with his wife when the World Cup call came. They were too nervous to go home, so they just drove around and waited. When the phone rang, it was joy. He's earned that.
The 2022 saga — the limited minutes, the reported falling out with Gregg Berhalter, the family drama that followed — keeps getting brought up. Reyna has a clear answer now: he's over it, and he's a little confused that anyone else isn't.
"It's obviously a little bit tiring at this point," he said. "It more confuses me when I get asked the question. It's four years removed, and I think everyone is so far removed from that, so it's hard for me to even think about it, because I never really do."
That's not deflection — that reads like someone who genuinely moved on, got married, got a dog named Melo, and played some actual football for Borussia Monchengladbach at the end of the season. He's one of 13 returnees from the 2022 squad. The experience matters. The grudges don't.
Meanwhile, Folarin Balogun's most vivid memory from his first dinner with the USMNT group? Weston McKennie being exactly who he always is. "Weston's character was just intense," Balogun said. "Intense in a good way, though. I'm just more reserved."
A few years later, they sat next to each other on the flight from New York to Atlanta. Balogun tried to nap. McKennie flicked his ear and made him play Monopoly. Some things don't change — and in a tournament where team chemistry matters as much as tactics, that's probably a good thing.
Goalkeeper Matt Freese, meanwhile, is wearing No. 24 — Tim Howard's number — and brought his own tea kettle and alarm clock from home to keep his routine intact. "If it works for you in small moments, then the game itself doesn't change," he said. Goalkeepers are a different breed, and Freese fits the mold perfectly.
