Christian Pulisic out, Gio Reyna in: Takeaways from the USMNT's November roster

The injury list is long...and Pochettino doesn't want it to get any longer

Christian Pulisic. Malik Tillman. Antonee Robinson. Tim Weah. Johnny Cardoso. Each one of these men is expected to be a first-choice starter in 2026, and each one of them is absent from this roster due to injury. Blame it on what you want—fixture pile-up, over-training or just pure bad luck—but it's disappointing to see so many presumed starters struggling with their fitness at this juncture.

It's encouraging, though, to see Pochettino keeping two more team anchors—defender Chris Richards and utility man Weston McKennie—off this roster to give them a bit of a break. Moves like this may help them avoid joining the injured list in the future.

Gio Reyna is making an eleventh-hour World Cup push

Few USMNT players are more polemic than Gio Reyna—he's been at the center of so much controversy for so long, it feels impossible that he's only 22 years old. But he is, and to hear certain segments of the USMNT faithful tell it, he's got a higher ceiling than any other American player on earth.

Perhaps. But that high ceiling has felt unreachable since 2022, when Reyna's petulant World Cup crash-out led to him making enemies within the USMNT (namely, former coach Gregg Berhalter.) Since then, Reyna has struggled for fitness, failed to get regular minutes at his club teams and made himself something of a sporting pariah. 

Reyna signed up with German club Borussia Monchengladbach this summer, and while he hasn't seen too many minutes there, he's been steadily improving. His presence on this USMNT roster shows that Pochettino may be willing to forgive his youthful transgressions...if he can finally reach toward that high ceiling of his.

"The most important is to try to help," Pochettino said of Reyna in a news conference. "It's a good opportunity now to a player like Gio, that is special—I think we are going to be agreed he is a special player—to give the possibility to be with us."

The USMNT striker lineup (finally) looks dangerous

After years of struggle, the USMNT striker lineup looks properly world-class. There's Haji Wright, the Coventry City bulldozer who scored twice against Australia in his last USMNT appearance. There's Folarin Balogun, the Monaco star who scored a decisive goal in the Champions League just a few days ago. And finally, after a long wait, there's Ricardo Pepi.

Pepi, one of the last players cut from the 2022 World Cup roster, suffered a brutal knee injury this January that kept him away from the USMNT all year. He's finally back to full fitness with his club side PSV—and finally able to make his case for the World Cup appearance he deserves. The USMNT is lucky to have him back.

Pochettino's faith in Diego Luna is real

If there was ever a time to drop Real Salt Lake star Diego Luna, it would be now: his Major League Soccer season is over and Pochettino has been adamant about not calling up players who aren't playing. But Luna made Pochettino's cut this time around despite his lack of regular minutes, and that's a sure a sign as any that Pochettino really does believe in what he brings to the team. Moon Boy fans, rejoice: Luna's spot on the World Cup roster just got a lot more secure.

The USMNT will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 15 against Paraguay in Chester, PA.

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.