Christian Pulisic left off USMNT roster after World Cup fail as teen phenoms get their chance
It is a whole new U.S.men’s national team picture following a home World Cup that featured exhilarating highs and an epic crashout.The roster that reports to Fayetteville, Ga., next week for the first camp of the 2030 cycle will scarcely resemble that which lost to Belgium in July as Mauricio Pochettino called 12 uncapped players among a 28-man group for four friendlies over the next two weeks against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada.The group includes 16-year-old wunderkind Cavan Sullivan, who has a goal or assist in seven of the past eight games in which he’s featured for the Philadelphia Union and represents the next great hope of American soccer.It does not include Christian Pulisic, who has yet to start a game this season for Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan, though his contribution off the bench helped the Rossonieri salvage a draw at Lazio this past weekend and counted as a positive sign after the winger suffered a microfracture in his lower right leg at the World Cup.Tempting as it is to read into Pulisic’s absence given that Pochettino has seemingly yet to forgive him for skipping the 2025 Gold Cup to rest, that may be a tad premature.
The circumstances of this camp — which represent the only unofficial games the USMNT will play in the near future, with the CONCACAF Nations League taking up the November and March windows — make it imperative for Pochettino to use it as a proving ground for the pool’s young talent.Pulisic’s lack of games at the club level are also a factor and probably the most pressing concern as relates to his immediate outlook.Ditto for Folarin Balogun, who is also absent from the roster and has yet to feature for AS Monaco following the collapse of his transfer to Premier League team Everton on deadline day.Though there are 13 players on the roster who featured at the World Cup — Chris Richards, Sergiño Dest, Jedi Robinson, Alex Freeman, Tyler Adams, Gio Reyna and Malik Tillman among them — these weeks will be much more about...