Several members of the World Cup squad have been omitted to make way for the youth movement. Christian Pulisic misses out after a slow start to his season with Milan, where he has been a bench option for Ruben Amorim. Weston McKennie is also absent, having missed most of Juventus\u2019s young season with muscle fatigue. Folarin Balogun misses out too, probably due to a lack of minutes after his failed transfer to Everton<\/a>.<\/p>\n In total, nine selections enter this window with at least 30 senior caps: defenders Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, Antonee Robinson and Sergi\u00f1o Dest; midfielders Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Malik Tillman and Gio Reyna; and striker Ricardo Pepi. Eight of those players was part of Pochettino\u2019s 2026 World Cup squad, while Musah has been called up for the first time since before the 2025 Gold Cup.<\/p>\n Other returnees from the World Cup include Matt Freese, Chris Brady, Alex Freeman, Auston Trusty and Sebastian Berhalter.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we need to change the idea a little bit, everyone to say \u2018no, that name need to be here because of the past performance. No, no. It\u2019s a fresh start. It\u2019s a new cycle,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cOf course, all [players] have the door open, but now it\u2019s not what [they] did in the past. \u2018I am Balogun and scored a lot of goals\u2019; or Malik Tilman, \u2018I played and was one of the best in the World Cup.\u2019 Yeah, but now it\u2019s about today. Football is about today. Soccer is about today, and that is the way that we want to build that process in this cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n Hello, Cavan<\/p>\n Sullivan has been in blistering form with Philadelphia, earning a place in interim coach Ryan Richter\u2019s lineup after MLS\u2019s World Cup break. The Union academy product has six goals and five assists in 1,368 league minutes this year, stoking incredible hype<\/a>. Sullivan turns 17 on 28 September, two days after the USMNT\u2019s first friendly (against Peru) and on the eve of their second (against Chile). He\u2019s joined by a pair of club teammates for their shared first camp, defenders Neil Pierre and Frankie Westfield.<\/p>\n \u201cHe deserves all the praise,\u201d Pochettino said on Thursday. \u201cThe important thing is \u2026 to be with him and to try to provide a solid pattern and support, because still he needs to show [what he can do], and needs to improve, and needs to evolve, and needs to be more mature. He\u2019s only 16, he\u2019s a kid, but I think the most important is that we have the opportunity now because he deserved to join us in the national team.\u201d<\/p>\n Fresh faces<\/p>\n Pochettino has picked several more of the country\u2019s most promising prospects. Zavier Gozo could debut after leaving boyhood Real Salt Lake<\/a> for Crystal Palace this summer, while 18-year-old Peyton Miller \u2013 a possible future left-back playing right wing in New England \u2013 is also on the squad. Two uncapped goalkeepers join Freese and Brady: 20-year-old Diego Kochen, a Barcelona product earning starts on loan at Lyngby in Denmark, and 25-year-old Brian Schwake, the backstop for runaway MLS favorite Nashville SC.<\/p>\n A pair of Red Bull New York homegrowns are also on the list. Polish-American dual national striker Julian Hall is MLS\u2019s top-scoring teenager with nine goals and his off-ball movement could make him a factor to score immediately. Adri Mehmeti is another regular in Michael Bradley\u2019s lineups, a 17-year-old midfield anchor already very comfortable shepherding sequences of sustained possession with recirculation and upfield initiative.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789664658_657_500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n