USMNT's World Cup Qualifying Squad: Pulisic Returns, Dest, Reyna Out Injured

Injuries continue to impact who's available for the U.S., but Christian Pulisic is back to face Mexico and Jamaica after making his return for Chelsea.

The challenge should be a bit more manageable this month, but the spotlight will brighten as the U.S. men’s national team’s quest to reach the 2022 World Cup continues with a massive home game against archrival Mexico (Nov. 12) followed by a visit to Jamaica (Nov. 16).

The Americans (3-1-2) sit second in Concacaf’s eight-team qualifying competition, which will send the top three finishers to Qatar and the fourth to an intercontinental playoff. This month’s window will mark the halfway point and also will be the only one that features two matches instead of three. That, plus a more forgiving schedule that offers three days between games rather than two, should allow U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter to field a first-choice lineup in both qualifiers—he rotated the squad significantly across the first two windows. He’ll choose from among the 25 players named Thursday to the November roster.

The team will begin training Monday in Cincinnati, the site of the Mexico qualifier.

"We made a lot of decisions based on [the lighter schedule],” Berhalter said later Thursday. “It should be reasonable that if we’re happy with the performance of the players in the first game, that they can continue on and play the second game and we won’t need to rest them or rotate them.” 

Berhalter added that he was conscious of adding cover for potential two-game starters on yellow cards (including midfielders Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie).

Injuries and fitness also impacted Berhalter’s options, as usual. The timing is never ideal for everyone.

But it did work out for Christian Pulisic, who returns after a long journey back from an ankle injury suffered in the Sept. 9 qualifier at Honduras. The talented but injury-prone forward, who’s played for the U.S. just six times over the past two years, flew back to London following the first qualifying window and remained sidelined for another six weeks. Pulisic, 23, finally returned to the field Tuesday, when he played 16 lively minutes toward the end of Chelsea’s Champions League defeat of Malmö.

Just last week, Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said the club was targeting Saturday’s Premier League game against Burnley for Pulisic’s return. So in a way, he’s ahead of schedule despite the long layoff.

“We’re going to see what type of minutes he gets this weekend. He just started training with the team at the beginning of the week. It was unexpected that he played against Malmö,” Berhalter explained. “So for us it’s about progressing him in a safe way. We know he’s valuable to the team. We know we want him on the field, but we’re also not willing to risk anything. It’s about how he feels, and depending on that will dictate what role he plays in the two games.”

Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire/Imago Images

Pulisic’s recovery coincides with some unwelcome attrition elsewhere in the player pool. Right back Sergiño Dest, whose brilliant goal kickstarted the Americans’ comeback win over Costa Rica in Columbus three weeks ago, is out with a back problem. He was on the bench but did not play in Barcelona’s win over Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday and on Thursday morning, the club announced that he was “unavailable for selection” because of “lower back pain.”

Dest’s absence—which wasn't confirmed until 7:30 a.m. Thursday, according to Berhalter—opens the door for the eagerly awaited debut of Joe Scally, 18, who’s been thriving at Borussia Mönchengladbach since his transfer from New York City FC.

Also missing this month are winger Gio Reyna, who still hasn’t recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered on U.S. duty in September, and veteran striker Gyasi Zardes, who sprained his MCL a couple of weeks ago.

Twenty of the 25 players are holdovers from the October squad that defeated Jamaica and Costa Rica at home and lost to Panama away. Among them are Adams and winger Brenden Aaronson, who are the only two players to appear in all six qualifiers so far. As has been the case throughout Berhalter’s tenure, this team is young. Sixteen players are 24 or younger, and the team will average 23 years, 363 days of age when camp opens Nov. 8.

Four players on the team have previous World Cup qualifying experience against Mexico: Pulisic, Kellyn Acosta, Paul Arriola and DeAndre Yedlin.

Here’s a closer look at Berhalter’s World Cup qualifying squad:

GOALKEEPERS

Sean Johnson (New York City FC), Zack Steffen (Manchester City), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)

Turner played in the first five qualifiers before making way for Steffen, who recovered from a messy start against Costa Rica to earn the victory. He’s played twice for Manchester City since then, shutting out Burnley in Premier League play and West Ham United in the EFL Cup (before losing on penalties), and Thursday he signed a new deal with the club through 2025.

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Turner and Steffen split starting duties this month.

DEFENDERS

Reggie Cannon (Boavista), Mark McKenzie (KRC Genk), Chris Richards (TSG Hoffenheim), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Sam Vines (Royal Antwerp), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC)

Outside backs Cannon and Vines return to the national team for the first time since the Concacaf Gold Cup final triumph over Mexico on Aug. 1. Both were dealing with injuries at the start of the European club campaign.

Vines will vie for playing time on the left with Antonee Robinson, while Cannon and Scally will join Yedlin as options on the right.

Berhalter said that while Dest’s attacking threat would be missed, multiple U.S. fullbacks have demonstrated an ability to contribute to the attack in recent months. For example, Cannon scored in a June friendly against Costa Rica and Robinson had a goal and an assist during the September window.

Center back John Brooks is a notable absence. Once considered almost indispensable to the U.S., the Wolfsburg veteran was poor during the September window and then was left out of the team last month. He’s been starting regularly in Bundesliga play. Miles Robinson and Zimmerman probably have a slight lead at the top of Berhalter’s center-back depth chart.

Brooks responded to his omission early Thursday, telling Fox, “The decision to leave me out of this camp isn’t surprising given some of my recent performances for the USMNT that aren’t up to my standards. My job now is to work hard to be the very best I can be.” 

Berhalter lauded Brooks’s approach. 

“That’s all you can ask for as a player’s response, right? Normally what players do is they start picking off other players and saying, ’Well, this guy is doing this.’ And all John did was take accountability for his own performance,” the manager said. “We saw him play midweek in the Champions League at Salzburg. He had a good game and he’s working his way back into form. I don’t assume that this is going to be his last time in the national team. I’m sure he’ll be back, and it’s just about regaining your form and performing at a high level when you get the opportunity.”

MIDFIELDERS

Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Gianluca Busio (Venezia), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)

Things change quickly in soccer. In September, McKennie was sent home early from U.S. camp for breaking team rules. And there were questions and speculation about his future at Juventus. Now, he may be the most in-form American in Europe, and he’ll likely play a critical role in this month’s qualifiers. He’s started five games straight for the Bianconeri, has scored twice and nearly netted a third on a spectacular run in this week’s Champions League win over Zenit St. Petersburg.

What a run by Weston McKennie! Everything but the finish for the #USMNT and Juventus midfielder 😱 #UCL

(via @CBSSportsGolazo) pic.twitter.com/3506A6Qnlt

— SI Soccer (@si_soccer) November 2, 2021

“Weston’s one of the few players that actually thrives under pressure,” Berhalter said. “You can count him out. You can put him under pressure and not play him. But he’ll find a way to get back on the field. He’s that competitive. … It’s great to get him in this type of form going into November.”

MLS linchpins Acosta, Lletget and Roldan are back, while Musah’s inclusion makes the Adams-McKennie-Musah midfield that started in October’s two wins likely against Mexico.

FORWARDS

Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg), Paul Arriola (D.C. United), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Tim Weah (Lille)

Pulisic and Aaronson should be the likely starters against Mexico in support of Pepi, the 18-year-old El Paso, Texas, native who chose to play for the U.S. over El Tri and then tallied three goals in his first two senior internationals. His scoring has slowed, however, as European transfer rumors have picked up pace. Pepi has just one goal in his past eight matches for FCD and none in his past four.

Nevertheless, Berhalter said he envisions Pepi “playing a large portion of these two games. So we think we’re in a good spot.” 

He added that Ferreira or even Pulisic or Weah could fill in up top if necessary.

More Soccer Coverage From Brian Straus:

• A Lot of Fight, a Little Fate and a Course Correction for USMNT
• Musah's Wait Was Worth It—and He's Worth the Wait
• The Pepi Hype Train Chugs Right Along
• USMNT to Face Bosnia-Herzegovina in Bridge of a December Camp