My answer: NO. All spots on the field/roster are and should be up for grabs. The reality is that many of the current players will make it to 2026 WC with the USMNT - I'm not saying that shouldn't be the case. But these guys shouldn't be feeling super-comfortable, either. Almost to a man, every player on the team has not yet reached their potential and many underwhelmed in recent games/years. There arent any messi/ronaldos in the current pool so no one should be getting that kind of "made man" treatment I have the feeling that the plan is to just keep almost all of the same players in the team no matter what happens from here...as if the peak has already been reached - which couldnt be farther from the truth, imo
No. Although most current core guys would have to have some significant career derailments to not make the roster. Pulisic and Reyna probably the safest bets to be starting aside from injury concerns. Current lock player who I could see possibly falling off: Dest. Somewhat bold pick who will stick around as the grizzled “older” presence: Horvath. Safe picks as to who won’t be there…I’ll leave the honor to the thread starter lol.
No. 3.5 years is a long time in a pool. With so many young players coming in waves, its really hard to say. If you put a gun to my head right now, and demand that I pick a guy.............I'll say Tyler Adams. But who the hell knows.
I want to make a distinction here: I think in the past the USMNT has had players like this. Donovan, Dempsey, Claudio Reyna, Ramos, Eddie Pope, Bocanegra, Cherundolo, Howard etc IF they were healthy they would be starters no question (while still in their primes)...even 4 years out....their starting spots were secure...part of that is that the pool was much shallower....but part of that is simply how well they played on the field. My point is that none of the current players have established themselves to that level yet, imo
I was going to post this even before the Grenada match, but Pulisic is probably there. I've doubted Pulisic at times, but his WC turned me around. There was a time that Reyna was on-track to surpass him, and that may still happen (though currently he's much less important and accomplished for the US at the same age) but even then we'll be relying on Pulisic quite a bit. I don't really see anyone that's already in the pool seriously challenging him for a start and anyone up-and-coming would probably of that caliber would already be known to us.
Of course, anything can happen, so no one is 100% locked in, but excluding the unforeseen, it’s pretty much a guarantee that Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Jedi Robinson, and maybe Dest and Musah have already locked in their starting spots. I would not expect a lot of changeover as we saw from the last tournament where we needed to completely rebuild. We should just be fine tuning while accommodating absences due to injuries and form and while introducing the up and comers.
I'd be very surprised if a healthy Pulisic wasn't a lock starter in 2026. Even with all the new talent currently coming up, no one else can do what he does. On the other hand, I wouldn't assume that Dest or Robinson will be the first choices, because there are an absurd number of outside back contenders who are playing at a high level at a young age. Adams, McKennie, and Musah will almost definitely be among our best players in 2026, but how many of them are in the starting lineup might depend on the formation that we're using at the time and what Reyna's next few years look like.
I find Musah totally unconvincing, and by extension MMA midfield. His end product is simply not there and needs to be for a CM, imo. The offense doesnt creat much with him on the field, unfortunately. Not a final verdict by any means but he needs to improve a lot.
He's only 20....still a lot of time for him to improve. IMO the only lock player for 2026 is Pullisic. Maybe Adams and McKennie. There's a ton of competition for the rest of the spots on the team, plus a ton of young talent that is just getting started at the professional level.
There's actually four players who have already been guaranteed a spot, but I can't tell you who they are.
I would say that we have several players wth the type of quality/potential etc that they very easily could be "universal" locks for 2026.... if they had just a little something extra.. What keeps them a step behind is the intangible stuff that allows them to lift the team onto their backs. Pulisic might be there now but guys that have that little something extra that nobody can put a finger on are the ones that can't be left out of the team...no matter what their form. Between now and 2026, I expect a few to flirt with that next level.