Pulisic, Musah, Robinson and Sargent to skip CONCACAF Gold Cup, leaving US with depleted roster

By Canadian Press on May 22, 2025.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson and Joe Scally will miss the CONCACAF Gold Cup, leaving the United States with a depleted roster for its last competitive soccer matches before the 2026 World Cup.

Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna already were expected to miss the regional championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean because FIFA ruled the expanded Club World Cup has priority on players over national teams.

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino announced his 27-man squad Thursday for friendlies ahead of the tournament, and missing players also included defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and midfielder Tanner Tessmann.

Outside back Sergiño Dest returns to the national team for the first time since March 2024 after recovering from a torn ACL. Forward Folarin Balogun is with the team for the first time since last September following his recuperation from shoulder surgery.

After this summer, Pochettino will have just four brief training windows before players report ahead of the World Cup. The U.S. program was shaken in March by losses to Panama and Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League.

Robinson also missed the March matches with what the U.S. Soccer Federation said was an injury it didn’t specify but has started 34 of 37 Premier League games for Fulham this season.

Pochettino’s roster included Alex Freeman, a son of former NFL All-Pro receiver Antonio Freeman. The 20-year-old right back made his Major League Soccer debut for Orlando in April 2023 — his only league match that season. He had two MLS appearances last year and has become a regular this season.

Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, a 24-year-old son of former U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, also was picked for the first time along with 20-year-old forward Damion Downs and 21-year-old defender Quinn Sullivan.

Downs has played on youth teams of Germany and the U.S., and helped Cologne gain promotion to the Bundesliga for 2025-26 after a one-season absence.

Goalkeeper Matt Freese, who has attended national team camp previously but not played in a game, also was selected.

Players will start reporting June 1 for training in Chicago. The U.S. plays Turkey on June 7 at East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland three days later at Nashville, Tennessee, then meets Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the first round of the Gold Cup.

Twenty-six players can be on the Gold Cup roster, of which 23 can dress for a match. Sixteen of the players picked are from Major League Soccer.

The roster:

Goalkeepers: Matt Freese (New York City), Patrick Schulte (Columbus), Zack Steffen (Colorado), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace)

Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando), DeJuan Jones (San Jose), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati)

Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego), Diego Luna (Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus)

Forwards: Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte), Folarin Balogun (Monaco). Damion Downs (Cologne), Brian White (Vancouver), Haji Wright (Coventry)

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Associated Press