USMNT roster watch: Who's rising and falling after a tumultuous 2025?

The United States Men's National Team finished its 2025 schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 18, with a confidence-boosting 5-1 victory over two-time World Cup champion Uruguay. The win allowed the USMNT to close out the year on a five-game unbeaten streak.

It's a huge turnaround for a team that lost 4-0 to Switzerland just five months ago. Coach Mauricio Pochettino has accomplished incredible things with this young, eager team, and he's doing so while steadily building up his player pool.

As 2025 comes to an end, several big-name stars seem to be losing favor with Pochettino, while a few lesser-known high-potential candidates continue to grow stronger.

Big names on the fringe

Johnny Cardoso, midfield

Cardoso cruised through the first half of 2025 on an impressive high. He capped off his 2024-25 season by starting for Real Betis in the UEFA Conference League final; he kicked off his 2025-26 season by sealing a big-money move to Spanish powerhouse Atletico Madrid. In a summer of risk and uncertainty for the USMNT, Cardoso felt like one of the team’s only safe bets.

Injuries, unfortunately, derailed the Cardoso hype train. He’s barely played for Atleti since his transfer, and he hasn’t appeared in a USMNT shirt since last March. Cardoso’s talent remains undeniable, but with his recovery taking longer than expected — and other midfielders breaking through for the USMNT in his absence — his spot in the World Cup roster is far from guaranteed.

Yunus Musah, midfield

Musah was one of the USMNT's best young talents at the 2022 World Cup, and his performances there left many believing he'd be a fixture in the starting 11 for years to come. 

Things haven't quite played out that way. A poor start to USMNT life under Pochettino begat a dry spell at his club, and today Musah looks to be out of the World Cup picture entirely. Three fall camps, zero national team call-ups: after a blistering start to his USMNT career, Musah is on the outside looking in.

New faces on the rise

Sebastian Berhalter, midfield

Set pieces have been a thorn in the USMNT’s side for years. Despite a rotating lineup of solid offensive midfielders and competent target men, the team hasn’t been able to score regularly from dead-ball situations — and it knows it.

"Offensively, I feel like we’ve always had the ability to be good at them, but we’ve never been good at them," Tyler Adams told reporters this summer.

Enter Berhalter, son of former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter and one of the most pleasant American soccer surprises of 2025. The 24-year-old had a banner year in Major League Soccer with the Vancouver Whitecaps and earned a spot in the league’s end-of-season Best XI.

Berhalter brings plenty of skills to the table — he’s a composed passer, a great man-marker and a true fighter on the field — but it’s his set pieces that make him an interesting shout for the USMNT. Could Berhalter be the one to unlock the USMNT’s dead-ball potential? It certainly seems like it.