Everyone should feel free to take the rest of the weekend off, but I want to start seeing 2026 projected rosters this coming week— We Are Being Overrun in Midfield (@OverrunMidfield) December 3, 2022 With the 2022 World Cup now over (congrats to Argentina/France/Brazil/Spain or whoever), it's time to get going on the 2026 World Cup roster projections... Here's Matt Doyle to start things off: Armchair Analyst: In 2018 I predicted 6 of the 11 USMNT World Cup starters, which is pretty damn good.Predicting 2026 should be easier, because a lot of these guys will be back. Let's see how I do...https://t.co/WeWDk5qtTN pic.twitter.com/voEuZBtkRv— Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) December 5, 2022 USMNT roster prediction for the 2026 World Cup: Who makes it? A very conservative roster, in that aside from Cruz Medina and the last three CBs (one not a citizen), I can't help but think "this should have been our 2022 roster!" Not nearly enough guys currently aged 14-18 (would be 18-22) on this projected roster, get working on those prospect spreadsheets people!! the 2022 world cup now a distant memory we can return to our true passion which is prospect spreadsheets— watke (@watke_) December 3, 2022
Some found on Twitter... Updated this post WC. We'll be back stronger. https://t.co/IaR3xcSOzl pic.twitter.com/kTJB3XPTs8— Jack Stephen 🇺🇸🇮🇳 (@USMNTZ) December 4, 2022 Not a bad depth chart, but by 2026 Busio will be playing in the Italian third division and Konrad for the Birmingham Legion... USMNT Twitter seems pretty confident that we're getting Folarin Balogun...
These things are so hard to predict this far out and any prediction is bound to be fraught with errors. I think it's easier to put guys in buckets in terms of where they stand Core guys: Pulisic, Reyna, Aaronson, Weah, Musah, McKennie, Adams, Dest, Jedi, Turner Strong Contention: Pepi, Sargent, Scally, CCV, Ferreira Contenders:: Wright, EPB, McKenzie, Horvath, Steffen, Slonina, Paredes, Vines, Sands, Tillman, Cannon, Pefok, Mihailovic Injury questions: Robinson, Dike, Richards In need of look: Vazquez, Tolkin, Pomykal, Parks, Booth, Trusty, Cardoso, Williamson January Camp Candidates: Morris, Flach, Mendez, Ebobisse, Miazga, Fagundez, Callender, Celentano, Lennon, Kessler, Campbell, Jones, Sonora, Bassett Dual Nationals:: Balogun, Elliot, Need better club situation LDLT, Busio, Reynolds, Bello, Tessmann, Ledezma, Duncan, Hoppe, KDLF Hot Prospects: Brady, Paxton Aaronson, Gomez, Wiley, Cowell, Che, Medina, Vargas, McGlynn, Alvarado, Gutierrez, Wynder, Henry, Craig, Clark Veteran MLS guys who will probably be surpassed: Roldan, Morris, Moore, Arriola, Gioacchini, Zardes Probably too old: Johnson, Zimmerman, Yedlin, Brooks, Long, Ream With that said here's my speculative crack at a 23 man roster (that I'm sure will be way off in 4 years) GK: Turner, Slonina, Steffen LB: Jedi, Gomez CB: Richards, Robinson, McKenzie, Wynder RB: Dest, Scally DM: Adams, Morris CM: Musah, McKennie, Pomykal, Reyna WF: Pulisic, Weah, Aaronson, Paredes FW: Pepi, Balogun And if it's 26 I'd add Sargent, Williamson, and Reynolds
These 2022 picks from the summer of 2018... yikes! If Canada finished 31/32 this roster would have finished 35/32 https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/world-cup-predicting-2022-usmnt-roster-armchair-analyst GOALKEEPER: Zack Steffen (27), Tim Melia (36), Jesse Gonzalez (27) LEFT BACK: Danilo Acosta (24), Antonee Robinson (24) CENTER BACK: Matt Miazga (26), John Brooks (29), Tim Parker (29), Erik Palmer-Brown (25) RIGHT BACK: Tyler Adams (23), DeAndre Yedlin (29) DEFENSIVE MIDFIELD: Weston McKennie (23), Chris Durkin (22) CENTRAL MIDFIELD: Keaton Parks (24), Cristian Roldan (27), Paul Arriola (27) ATTACKING MIDFIELD: Andrew Carleton (22), Sebastian Lletget (29) WINGER: Christian Pulisic (23), Tim Weah (22), Jonathan Lewis (25) CENTER FORWARD: Josh Sargent (22), Jozy Altidore (32)
As it stands now, if I’m the coach, here’s my shortlist of players (excluding the January Camp) (also note that I excluded most of the u20’s) which I will cast a wide net to build the player pool around as we build the roster towards 2026. Goalkeepers1. Matt Turner, 31, Arsenal 2. Gabriel Slonina, 22, Chelsea 3. Ethan Horvath, 30, Luton Town, olf Nottingham Forest —————- 4. Zack Steffen, 31, Middlesbrough, olf Manchester City 5. Sean Johnson, 37, New York City FC 6. Josh Cohen, 33, Maccabi Haifa Right Backs1. Sergino Dest, 25, AC Milan, olf FC Barcelona 2. Joe Scally, 23, Borussia Moenchengladbach ——————- 3. Reggie Cannon, 27, Boavista 4. Bryan Reynolds, 24, KVC Westerlo, olf AS Roma 5. Shaq Moore, 30, Nashville SC Center Backs1. Miles Robinson, 28, Atlanta United 2. Chris Richards, 26, Crystal Palace 3. Cameron Carter-Vickers, 28, Celtic 4. Auston Trusty, 27, Birmingham City, olf Arsenal ————- 5. James Sands, 25, Rangers FC, olf New York City FC 6. Mark McKenzie, 27, Genk 7. Erik Palmer-Brown, 29, Troyes 8. Matt Miazga, 30, FC Cincinnati 9. Walker Zimmermann, 33, Nashville SC Left Backs 1. Antonee “Jedi” Robinson, 28, Fulham 2. John Tolkin, 23, New York Red Bulls ————— 3. Sam Vines, 27, Royal Antwerp 4. Jonathan Gomez, 22, Real Sociedad [Mexico dual] 5. DeJuan Jones, 27, New England Revolution 6. George Bello, 24, Arminia Bielefeld Def/Center Midfielders1. Tyler Adams, 27, Leeds United 2. Weston McKennie, 27, Juventus 3. Yunus Musah, 23, Valencia 4. Johnny Cardoso, 24, Internacional 5. Kelyn Acosta, 30, Los Angeles FC 6. Luca de la Torre, 28, Celta Vigo ——- 7. Taylor Booth, 25, FC Utrecht 8. Richie Ledezma, 25, PSV Eindhoven 9. Paxton Pomykal, 26, FC Dallas 10. Eryk Williamson, 29, Portland Timbers 11. Cristian Roldan, 30, Seattle Sounders 12. Gianluca Busio, 24, Venezia 13. Alex Mendez, 25, Vizela Attacking Mid/Wing/2nd Forward1. Christian Pulisic, 27, Chelsea 2. Gio Reyna, 23, Borussia Dortmund 3. Tim Weah, 26, Lille 4. Brenden Aaronson, 25, Leeds ——- 5. Malik Tillman, 24, Rangers, olf Bayern Munich 6. Djordje Mihailovic, 27, AZ Alkmaar 7. Kevin Paredes, 23, Wolfsburg 8. Alejandro Zendejas, 28, Club America [Mexico dual] 9. Alan Sonora, 28, TBD 10. Konrad De la Fuente, 24, TBD 11. Luca Koleosho, 21, Espanyol [would bring him in for a camp] Forwards1. Ricardo Pepi, 23, FC Groningen, olf FC Augsburg 2. Josh Sargent, 26, Norwich City ——- 3. Folarin Balogun, 24, Reims, olf Arsenal [England dual] 4. Daryl Dike, 25, West Bromwich Albion 5. Jordan Pefok, 30, Union Berlin 6. Brandon Vazquez, 27, FC Cincinnati 7. Jesus Ferreira, 25, FC Dallas 8. Haji Wright, 28, Antalayaspor 9. Matthew Hoppe, 25, Middlesbrough 10. Maurice Malone, 25, Wolfsberger, olf FC Augsburg [German dual] 11. Santiago Munoz, 23, Newcastle United [Mexico dual] Comments: On this first year, and especially as we look at our player pool, we want this first year to determine who’s going to be in and who’s going to be out on who will be in their prime years for 2026. All the prospects, for now, we can let them focus on the u20’s/u23’s. We will have time to integrate them in 2024. But we don’t even know which will be on the radar yet. Hopefully, we will soon though.
GK Turner, Slonina, Horvath D Dest, Jedi, Scally; Elliot, Brooks, Trusty, Henry MF MMA, Booth, Mendez AM/W Gio, Pulisic, Paredes, Weah, Aaronson FW Sargent, Balogun, Pepi
It makes zero sense to have Steffen Johnson and Cohen listed here below the line when they're older than the top three guys... Steffen maybe, but: Johnson: How many goalkeepers who average less than 1 cap a year at age 31-33 end up still being relevant to their national teams at age 37? Cohen: This is a USL level goalkeeper that people are hyping up because he plays in friggin Israel. And same point as SJ, zero career caps at 30, likelihood of being relevant as he's about to turn 34? I hope the next coach doesn't waste ANY time with Johnson or Cohen. It's time to try out the next generation of young MLS guys like Celentano Brady Callender etc.
Wow this dude didn't even add Euro club crests next to his selections, this new cycle is already different JUST FOR FUN: here's a 2026 World Cup roster prediction.Of course it's going to be hilariously wrong. It's impossible to predict what's going to happen over the next 4 years. But it will be fun to look back in 2026 and see how wrong I am. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/kag6SSsLQT— Justin Moran (@kickswish) December 5, 2022 The competition for midfield spots is going to be insane.Midfielders I didn't include:Luca de la TorrePaxten AaronsonMalik TillmanDjordje MihailovicAlex MéndezJack McGlynnBrooklyn RainesNiko TsakirisI kind of already regret picking Alvarado over Paxten. 😦— Justin Moran (@kickswish) December 5, 2022
Jack Elliott on the Union. He's Scottish or English or something, but he'll have been here a while and never gotten a sniff on the other side. He's a better passer than Walker and a little less physical, but he's also a perennial defender of the year. Tall, but skinny.
I like Taylor Booth a lot, but it's definitely four good weeks and a guy who might have made honorable mention is suddenly on the squad. I think he actually plays more as an 8 as he moves up. I don't know how many AMs actually make the squad, but I wouldn't write off Ledezma of people he didn't list. Lots of potential all around and 3.5 years to go.
Look at those ages. It's impossible to not get excited. And you're right, there are some great young guys in the pipeline, too.
Who are the top dual nationals we are hoping to get this cycle, and the odds they choose the US? I'm assuming everyone already with the US (Richie Ledezma, Jonathan Gomez, etc.) stays. top three off the top of my head based on need... Folarin Balogun (25, forward, Reims/Arsenal) - 50.1% Bryan Okoh (23, center back, RB Salzburg) - 20% Amir Richardson (24, midfielder, Le Havre) - 80% Jack Elliott is pretty much 100% if he gets his citizenship
Ah. That can just be a filler spot. Maybe bring in Johnson and bring in someone like Celentano. Who knows? Who cares? I don’t see anyone but Steffen, Turner, Slonina, and Turner actually playing. Unless the situation demands something else.
Add in.... Luca Koleosho Santiago Munoz Alejandro Zendejas How far away is Ellliott? You could maybe count Julian Gressel and Latif Blessing if you really want to.
Lots of good players to choose from, but don’t forget I’ve got dibs on the end-of-roster vibes spot. You guys can project the other 25.
I am pretty darn excited about how things could look four years from now when we play the WC on home soil. We actually did quite well given we had terrible striker play and our CBs could have been a lot stronger IMO. I love how the U20s have been performing.... if they can do well in the U20 WC in 2023 and then do even better in the U23 Olympics I think we are going to have a very deep team. I also hope we move away from a 4-3-3. It puts too much pressure on Adams manning in the single 6 and I am a big fan of formations with a true ACM. In the end I hope we get a new coach that knows how to change his formations around to suit the talent. E.g. I think a 4-4-2 diamond would have been perfect for our 2022 WC squad.
But he did manage to make a list of players who are exclusively based in Europe again, while conveniently ignoring like 10 of those guys were in MLS w/in the last few years. He's such a defective dweeb. He looked at the Euro logos on Football Manager right now to make his decisions. Just didn't list them after. Might be time for you to point out the error of his illogicality and abdication of any actual scouting. I can't with Twitter these days, let alone with that guy.
Gomez seems pretty locked in for the U20 World Cup and I imagine he will be for the Olympics too. Hopefully playing for those teams helps bind him to the program long term. I imagine we’ll see Vazquez in January and hopefully in March too.
My best crack: CF - Pepi, Sargent, Vazquez W - Pulisic, Weah, Paredes, Tillman M - Gio, Aaronson, Musah, McKennie, Pomykal, Adams FB - Dest, ARob, Scally, Tolkin CB - Richards, MRob, Brooks, Che GK - Turner, Slonina, Horvath These are always tough. There are guys I like, but then I find out new guys I'm also impressed with during the next few years. And who knows which of the bright prospects supplants the incumbents. Incumbents have the advantage, but there are levels. And I guess that's 24. 23 is so repressive. They can't let that continue anymore, can they. Hopefully they never turn back from 26, like with 5 subs. It's like they just want you to endure as much pain as possible and see who comes out winning the war of attrition.