USMNT stars realize "American dream" with 2026 World Cup call-up | OneFootball

By Charles Boehm

NEW YORK – For the 26 players who made the cut, the call of a lifetime arrived at precisely 1 pm ET on Friday afternoon.

Well, technically speaking, it was a WhatsApp group message, sent by Sam Zapatka, the team manager of the US men’s national team, who created the new group, then delivered to its members a video in which head coach Mauricio Pochettino informed them they had been selected for the Yanks’ 2026 FIFA World Cup roster.

Inevitably, it hit different players in different ways. It was less of a shock for some of the program’s stars, and more like a thunderbolt for those on the bubble, an explosive update to share with loved ones as quickly as possible.

“My brother, my sister, my brother-in-law, my girlfriend – everyone, man; their families. Just a great moment,” Club América standout and FC Dallas product Alejandro Zendejas revealed after the USMNT’s official unveiling event at Pier 17 on the lower Manhattan waterfront on Tuesday.

“When I saw my parents, we all started crying.”

Answering the call

The fulfillment of a childhood dream is not the kind of news one really gets accustomed to.

“I was actually leaving the training ground, walking to my car with a box full of bobbleheads to take home to my kids, and my WhatsApp started to go a little bit crazy with the video that got put in,” explained Charlotte FC defender Tim Ream, a late-breaking inclusion in 2022’s squad who’s now defied the odds to make it again at age 38.

“It made me stop in my tracks, to be completely honest.”

Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder Sebastian Berhalter’s mind traced back to the last World Cup, which he attended as a fan supporting his father Gregg, then in charge of the USMNT and now leading Chicago Fire FC. A fairly obscure utility player at the time, Sebastian had just finished his first season with Vancouver, his third club in as many years, his own international ambitions deeply submerged, but alive.

“It's just – it's like the American dream, you know?” Berhalter told reporters on Tuesday. “I was in the stands watching the games in Qatar. People would have thought you were crazy if you said that this kid could be on the team four years later.

“I brought home a mini World Cup trophy, and I told myself that I'm going to be there in 2026. That was a goal I had, and people would have thought I was crazy. That's how I've been my whole life. I always believed. And if you don't believe, no one else is going to believe.”

It’s the second World Cup call for Antonee ‘Jedi’ Robinson, though this one carried more emotional weight after the litany of injury woes that have sidetracked him in recent years.

“It feels like all the effort, the kind of sacrificing, going through the pain of what I've been through, it makes it all worth it,” said the Fulham FC left back. “There were plenty of times where I didn't feel like I was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Painful decisions

Amid such raw emotions for those who did make the squad, those present at Pier 17 were hesitant to delve into the experiences of those who didn’t.

Pochettino declined to discuss the specific circumstances of prominent snubs like Real Salt Lake star Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann and Aidan Morris, asking fans and media to trust that he and his staff have worked relentlessly to reach this point since he took the job in September 2024.

“We cannot talk about the players that are not in the roster, because it’s very disrespectful to the players that made the roster,” said the Argentine. “If you listen to what I say from the beginning, we were working really hard during one year and a half or more, trying to arrive in this moment in the best condition, with all the information to try to make the best decision. It’s impossible to be fair with everyone, but I think to make the decision, to be competitive in the end and try to win.

“We really believe that squad, these 26 players, are the right players. If they are the right players, are the best players.”

As Pochettino pointed out, the former Argentina international knows these feelings as intimately as anyone can. In his own playing days, he narrowly missed out on his country’s World Cup rosters in 1994 and 1998 before “finally,” in his words, earning the call from Marcelo Bielsa in 2002.

That, rather than coldness or disinterest, informed his choice to notify those who missed out via email and not a phone or video call.

“I understand the players that didn't make the roster; they don't want to hear me say, 'Oh, I apologize, oh…'” he said. “I care. Do you know why I care? Because during two weeks, I didn't sleep. And today, still I cannot enjoy the 26 guys that are in front of me, because I am thinking of players that are out.

“That is about to care – it’s not to call. Because if I call, it’s about myself. I say, ‘Oh, I call, I am very human about calling and then giving an explanation.’ Come on. That is bulls--t. Sorry.”

The final stretch

There’s precious little time to reflect.

After Tuesday’s pageantry, which included a breathless live television broadcast on FOX, a rooftop crowd of hundreds of supporters and a surprise performance from rapper Gunna, the Yanks flew immediately to Atlanta to begin their final preparations at the brand-new National Training Center.

Warm-up friendlies vs. Senegal on May 31 (at Charlotte FC’s Bank of America Stadium) and Germany on June 6 (at Chicago’s Soldier Field) are the last chance to build rhythm and iron out the kinks before their tournament kicks off vs. Paraguay in Southern California on June 12. The players know just how high the stakes are.

“It's just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said FC Cincinnati’s Miles Robinson, who missed out on Qatar ‘22 due to a ruptured Achilles tendon in MLS play a few months prior.

“It's going to be, I think, how a lot of these players will be remembered for the rest of their lives, almost. So it's a big moment. It's about taking advantage of it.”