The USMNT may not have been their first choice, but for most of the players listed—despite being dual nationals—it ultimately became the only realistic option. They simply weren’t at the level required to break into France, Brazil, Germany, Colombia, or Uruguay. You could argue that a few might have had a shot with Mexico or the Netherlands (like Dest and Stewart), but even then, they probably wouldn’t have been consistent regulars. All that said, I completely agree that choosing a national team is a deeply personal decision. I’m disappointed when a player doesn’t pick the USMNT, but I don’t take it personally, get worked up about it, or turn on the player. It’s their life, their career, and their choice to make.
Pochettino on Banks just now: "He has not yet made a decision. He is thinking a lot. He is in a situation that is not easy for him.. He was very clear he was not available to be selected."
My guess is that he realized that he most likely wasn't going to be on a WC roster this time around, so he and his agent figured it would be more beneficial to wait and get the 'lay of the land' in the next couple of years.
I wasn’t too worried about this World Cup cycle because it always felt unrealistic to expect an 18‑year‑old with only 29 professional games, zero senior caps, and no Champions League or Europa League experience to start for the USMNT — or for any substantial national team on the biggest stage. Even if he made the roster, the odds of him actually seeing the field would’ve been extremely low given his lack of experience. I’m not a fan of adding players just for “experience” either. Banks has tremendous potential, but right now the inexperience is still a major risk. His time will come, but this cycle feels too soon. If his age is worth anything, he's telling him time is on his side. Put your head down, concentrate on club and continuing weigh options. Everyone around the world sees these high potential players and we want everything to be put on a platter right now. He want everything to be instantaneous. It's unwanted pressure and why players flame out.
The full quote from Pochettino Here is the full quote from Mauricio Pochettino on Noahkai Banks - who made himself unavailable for selection to the March #USMNT camp pic.twitter.com/my3tYi9b8u— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 17, 2026 "I think Noahkai is a young kid that has become a man so quickly, because now he's playing in the Bundesliga. If you remember, we brought him in September in New Jersey and in Columbus. He was a little bit unlucky because we wanted to give him the possibility to play and he was injured. But he was with us and I think it was a great opportunity to see and to talk with him and to get to know each other - with the team, with the rest of the team and the staff and everything. He still has not yet made the decision. He's thinking a lot. He's in a situation that is not easy for him. We are very focused on him because we follow him. He's in the pool of players that we follow. In the moment that we signed the contract with the U.S. men's national team, I think we started to work to identify talent and young talent. If he made the decision and the decision is to be with us, of course, he is going to be on our radar to see if we will select him or not. But at the moment, he was very clear in the situation that he is not available to be selected because he still has not made the decisions Jesus [Perez] was seeing him in Augsburg, and he was talking with him. I was talking to him by FaceTime, Zoom. We have great contact and I really appreciate him. He's a very nice kid, but it's a difficult situation and hope for USA that the decision will be for our side because I think it's not only the present, it's the future too. I think it's only to give time and to support him in the way that we, and when I say we - the whole federation, are supporting him and trying to, not to convince because it's not about to convince, it's about to show that the federation really cares about him."
i thought the same until i read the quote from poch - clearly poch see him as a special talent and he is - im surprised how empathetic poch is towards banks hesitance given his previous hardline stance about goldcup - but im glad. bc i beleive banks is going to be an incfedible player once he hits his peak im extremely worried aboutthe centerbacks this cycle - and i dont know how anyone cant be - even supposed cant miss guys like richards make errors. this is probably the weakest centerback corps i can remember in a long long time and bank is probably playing better than anyone right now. fwiw banks has more bundesliga experience (and impact) than john brooks had prior to brazil 2014 wc i cant beleive anyone could analyze usmnt centerbacks and not be worried. that and gk are huge question marks. i suspect poch was planning to use banks in the wc and thats why his stance is different than it has been until now and i predict that if banks decides for the usmnt that he will be on the wc roster and will play
He has turned down a chance to play a home World Cup with the USA. He should never be called in ever again. What a shame. Good luck to him with Germany.
Why do you want our team to be worse in the future? Because someone who is also German might feel some personal conflict over his national team choice?
He previously accepted a senior callup after playing for youth teams. This isn’t him struggling with a decision over divided loyalty. It’s him thinking he may end up being good enough to play for Germany after what has been a breakout season in the Bundesliga. So best of luck to him. Don’t want him called in again.
I see it both ways after thinking a lot about it. Talent is tempting. But fans having national pride in a national team is a good thing. It's why international sports exist. I can understand fans who are upset with Banks. It should be the default reaction. This is a very different time for a player to be hopping on the fence. Less than 3 months until the World Cup should be crunch time - all hands on deck. Walking away from a World Cup effort now when you've made yourself available to the program for years can fairly be seen as bailing on the team in its hour of need. His indecision is putting the USMNT World Cup effort into a worse position. I am not going to blame fans for turning on Banks. U.S. Soccer gave the kid a lot internationally and Germany ignored him until recent months. I get dual nationals being conflicted. But he only seemed to become "conflicted" recently when Germany just made some phone calls. That being said, my guess is most fans would be totally cool with Banks if he does choose the USMNT
Bro, wake up. He is turning down a chance to play at a home World Cup, that's not just "some personal conflict over his national team" that's him saying he only really wants Germany. The USMNT is at best, a backup, and he seemingly only really wants to play for Germany. So he should go try and play for Germany if he can, nothing wrong with it. But I don't want a guy playing for the USMNT who saw this team as nothing more than a back up plan, and is only willing to play for us once all Germany options are exhausted. I don't want someone who is going to be playing difficult away qualifiers down in San Pedro Sula, San Jose, or the Azteca for the next decade only because this was the backup plan. And how do you know this will make us worse? One guy isn't going to make or break the USMNT. This team has struggled with what seems a culture, mentality and commitment problem for some time, last thing we need to do is keep a guy who only sees this team as a back-up plan. The game has never been more popular and we've never developed as many young talented footballers as we currently are, we will be fine in the future.
Think about it like this too, if he can’t be convinced to play for the US team with a World Cup spot realistically there for him in less than 100 days, with a national team program he has been involved with since his U17 days… how much does he really want to play for that team? earlier in this thread, there was a long list of conflicted, dual nationals who ended up playing for the United States. Some of them even played very well for the United States. I just don’t think this guy is very conflicted if he walks away from the United States national team at this time with his history with the program in favor of a German team that has done nothing for him. It would be a real conflict if a guy could not make up his mind between two national teams when they’re both interested in him at the same time and he has no history with either national team. It this case, the US did everything for him while Germany just came in and said hello. That creates a “conflict”??
Oh, I didn’t know we had a genuine, bona fide, certified psychic on our hands. Any other people’s heads to can see inside of, Kreskin?
He took call-ups to our youth teams. Thats the part that grates me bottom. I don't wish him poor luck, I just don't wish him well either.
I think you’re misunderstanding what I mean by “worried.” I’m not worried in the sense of I am expecting him to be a long‑term solution and wasn't counting on him for this cycle. I’m not in love with our current center backs, but it’s incredibly difficult—even for top talents—to walk into a World Cup as a modern, inexperienced CB and handle that pressure. It happens, but it’s rare. I’ve watched way too many Augsburg matches this season specifically to track Banks. I really like a lot of what he brings, but let’s be honest: because he’s still so inexperienced, there are moments every single game where I think, “Oh no… that gets punished at a World Cup.” And yes, I’ve seen Ream’s mistakes with Charlotte and cringed. He shouldn’t be going to the World Cup either, but that doesn’t automatically mean there’s a spot for Banks. Brooks had 30+ games in the 2BLin 202/13 and around 20ish 1BL games in the 2012/13. He also had some Cup games in there. Not a ton more experience but more pro games than Brooks.