In a too early but not “crazy early” prediction for the next World Cup, we go through our projected starting XI for the USMNT for World Cup 2026. The team will line up in Pochettino’s preferred 4-2-3-1, and we will assume everyone is healthy.

Analysis
This is a pretty good team on paper! Let’s see who is more likely to stay in the lineup come next summer.
Locks:
Pulisic, Robinson, McKennie, Adams, Robinson
Not much to be said about these five, which form the core of this squad. They have been performing consistently well for club and country when called upon. Adams has had some injury problems in the past couple of years, but when healthy he will take up the destroyer role in midfield. Everyone else is a no-brainer.
Pretty solid bets:
Richards, Dest
These two would be in the above category, but for some minor, lingering issues.
Our best center back, Richards, has just regained his starting spot at Crystal Palace. If he can keep his spot into next season, he will be a lock. He might be even if he maintains a rotation role at club level, as we are not that strong at center back.
When healthy, Dest is a lock. He is an elite attacking fullback with a skillset to unlock defenses that is rare from his position. While not great defensively, his talent going forward offsets this weakness. The question mark comes in his return from a long-term ACL injury. Will he be able to regain the level he had before his injury? If not, Joe Scally is performing well in the Bundesliga and could provide competition.
At the end of the day, if Dest does hit his previous levels, he will start.
Probably in:
Musah
Yunus Musah is one of the most talented and highest-ceiling young players in our squad. The question mark comes in his position. Although his preferred position is in the middle, he has played well on the right side of midfield for both his club, AC Milan, and the USMNT recently.
In this set up, that gets him in the squad. However, the form of Tim Weah could change this – he is playing well this season, and Musah might be the odd one out if Weah continues his progression.
Either way, Musah will likely see a lot of playing time either out wide or in the middle, depending on the opponent, situation, and form of others. Truly a great option to have in the starting XI or off the bench.
On the bubble:
Turner, McKenzie, Reyna
These three will probably start next summer, but their spots are in jeopardy due to form and lack of consistency.
Turner is the frontrunner to start in goal, but it’s not ideal if he’s not playing regularly. To make a deep run, we’ll need a goalkeeper to win us a game or two. If Turner is the man, then playing consistently will give us a better chance of having a “hot” goalkeeper to rely on. I think he has that ability (definitely on the shot-stopping side), but it’s a big question mark if he’s not starting at the club level.
Unfortunately, it does not look like any other GKs are in a position to step up and take the number 1 spot. All the contenders have a big deficiency right now (experience, form, level of play), so it may still be Turner by default.
McKenzie is playing well in France, but there is a lot of decent competition for this second CB spot. With another solid season, I think he cements his position as the front-runner, but he’ll need to be on his toes.
Reyna is the biggest question mark. Even if he’s not playing regularly, his talent is unique on this team and his ability probably still gets him in the starting XI (and at minimum a spot as an impact sub).
But anyone who has seen glimpses of his immense potential knows he should emerge as our second best player. He needs the form and confidence to start realizing this potential, and his tumultuous club situation will not help in that regard.
A move away from Dortmund, probably to a slightly lower level, will help. But he has to be careful – another move like the one he made to Nottingham Forest last season will be disastrous. He needs to go the way of someone like Kevin DeBruyne when he went from Chelsea (where he wasn’t playing much) to Wolfsburg. That move really accelerated his career, at which point he made a big move to Man City and has since become one of the best ever Premier League midfielders.
Reyna needs to do the same. Be the main man somewhere, then make your next move a big one after proving yourself.