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The U.S. men's national team is set to unveil its official 26-man World Cup roster on Tuesday at a New York City event, but manager Mauricio Pochettino's selections are already taking shape.
On Friday, The Athletic reported that U.S. Soccer had begun notifying players of their status, contacting those on the 55-man preliminary list about their World Cup futures.
Friday's report confirmed that midfielders Sebastian Berhalter, Brenden Aaronson and Gio Reyna had secured spots, along with defender Mark McKenzie and goalkeeper Matt Turner. Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake standout Diego Luna, who appears prominently in U.S. Soccer and FOX Sports' World Cup promotional materials, and his 19-year-old teammate Zavier Gozo, both missed the cut.
Reyna Included Despite Form
Reyna is poised to appear at his second World Cup, despite logging limited minutes over recent seasons with Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach and the USMNT. Nevertheless, his ability and ceiling-raising potential make him an appealing choice for Pochettino and his coaching staff.
Although the 23-year-old wrapped up the season with just 509 minutes of action, netting once in a 3–1 late-season defeat to Augsburg, he enters the USMNT fold after Pochettino previously described him as a "very special talent" when naming him to the squad for March friendly defeats against Belgium and Portugal.
Pochettino has made clear that current form isn't the deciding factor, maintaining his belief in Reyna, who will aim to make his mark at the 2026 World Cup after nearly being sent home from the 2022 tournament in Qatar over behavioral concerns.
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Berhalter, Aaronson Standout Inclusions
The remaining players reportedly named to the roster came as little surprise.
Leeds United's Aaronson earns his second World Cup berth after completing a strong Premier League campaign on the wing, contributing four goals and five assists across 36 appearances. Turner also returns to the World Cup following an impressive season with the New England Revolution and is expected to battle New York City FC's Matt Freese for the starting goalkeeper position.
Berhalter is set for his World Cup debut after recording six goals and seven assists in 12 matches for the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2026, building on his breakout campaign last year. The son of former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter is recognized for his relentless defensive work, set-piece quality and long-range shooting ability. He made a strong impression with a goal and an assist in a USMNT victory over Uruguay in November.
McKenzie, meanwhile, earns his place as a central defender after featuring in 30 Ligue 1 matches for Toulouse FC this season. The 27-year-old was cut late from the 2022 World Cup squad but now joins the center-back group on home soil.
Diego Luna's Commercial Spotlight, Gozo's Snub
Luna had been a central figure in the USMNT under Pochettino through 2025 and was widely considered one of the standout performers during the run to the final at the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.
Despite posting four goals and three assists in nine 2026 MLS appearances and possessing a distinctive close-dribbling style, he appears to have missed out, partly due to Reyna's inclusion and an injury-disrupted start to his MLS season that kept him out of the March camp. In 2025, he was the national team's breakout performer, featuring in 17 of the USMNT's 18 matches.
He will, however, remain highly visible this summer. The 22-year-old played a prominent role in the USMNT's World Cup kit launch and is featured centrally in a FOX Sports commercial centered on Christian Pulisic scoring from a corner kick to clinch the World Cup against Brazil.
While Pochettino and others have noted that appearing in a kit reveal does not guarantee a World Cup place, such promotional content is often prepared well in advance.
"The players that today are on the roster, they cannot think they are going to be in the final roster," Pochettino said in March, ahead of friendlies in Atlanta, the last full window before the World Cup. "When we go to Atlanta, maybe we can take some pictures, prepare things for marketing or things like this, because it is the last opportunity to make these types of things."
Over recent windows, both the U.S. and Canada hosted extended media days for players, involving content-capture sessions for in-house and partner use — resulting in many players being filmed or photographed who ultimately won't make the final squad. Conversely, stars like Alphonso Davies and Christian Pulisic, who have been less available to their respective national teams, appear in fewer commercial campaigns.
The photos of both Luna and Reyna in the new USMNT kits were shot in November, a window that did not include Pulisic or Weston McKennie, whose portraits were taken in March.
For Gozo, the situation is far more straightforward. He simply ran out of time. Despite catching the eye with six goals and four assists as a versatile midfielder and wingback this season, it wasn't sufficient to break into a deep USMNT talent pool.
The full squad will be announced on Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT, with injury replacements permitted up to 24 hours before the tournament opener against Paraguay on June 12, leaving the door ajar for others should players pick up setbacks in training or pre-tournament friendlies against Senegal and Germany.