USMNT will be without Gio Reyna at the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup
<!–>
Gio Reyna won’t play for the United States men’s national team at this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup. The 22-year-old attacker was left off of USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino’s 60-player preliminary roster for the tournament, which kicks off on June 14 and represents the Americans’ final competitive event before the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil.
Like Juventus duo Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, Reyna’s club, Borussia Dortmund, is participating in FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup, which is being held at the same time as the Gold Cup. Global soccer’s governing body ruled that teams involved in that competition don’t have to release players for international duty.
But because Dortmund is expected to sell the little-used Reyna this summer, there was speculation that the German titans could allow Reyna to join the U.S. for the Gold Cup instead.
That can’t happen now; the final 26-man squad, which is due to CONCACAF by June 4, must be selected from the preliminary list. Pochettino is expected to name his final roster on Thursday. The U.S. will face Türkiye and Switzerland in early June tuneups before opening its Gold Cup campaign on June 15 against Trinidad and Tobago in San Jose, California.
ADVERTISEMENT
–>
Christian Pulisic headlines the regulars
Besides Reyna, McKennie and Weah, the usual suspects are mostly there. Christian Pulisic, who has scored a career-high 17 goals for AC Milan this season with one more Serie A game to go, leads the way. Pulisic hasn’t played in the Gold Cup since 2019, which marks the last time the USMNT sent a full-strength side to the biennial regional championship.
Pulisic is joined by Milan teammate Yunus Musah, star left back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson, 2022 World Cup captain Tyler Adams, and Premier League center back Chris Richards, who is fresh off an FA Cup win with Crystal Palace. Striker Folarin Balogun is included despite sitting out Monaco’s last two matches with an ankle problem. So is star fullback Sergino Dest, who has missed most of the past year after undergoing knee surgery.
Recent U.S. starters Cameron Carter-Vickers, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Miles Robinson, Josh Sargent, Joe Scally, Matt Turner, and Walker Zimmerman were also picked for the preliminary list. Zimmerman, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on Monday, recently returned to training following a concussion he sustained playing for MLS side Nashville SC.
Sadly, the Gold Cup will come too soon for Ricardo Pepi, as the Texas-born striker is still rehabbing a serious knee injury.
Sebastian Berhalter among the notable inclusions
The uncapped son of the former USMNT coach is on Pochettino’s list and deserves to be: One of the best midfielders in MLS this season, Sebastian Berhalter has also helped the Vancouver Whitecaps reach the June 1 Concacaf Champions Cup final. Will Berhalter, 23, then head to the Americans’ Gold Cup camp?
There’s lots of competition for places in the middle of the field, even with Reyna and McKennie missing. Diego Luna, Johnny Cardoso, Jack McGlynn and Tanner Tessmann were all part of the Nations League group that lost to Panama and Canada in March. Brenden Aaronson, Gianluca Busio, Aidan Morris and Malik Tillman have all been in camp with Pochettino in the past.
Other interesting names on the 60-player list are Richy Ledezma, who didn’t make the Nations League provisional roster and remains eligible to represent Mexico; Alex Freeman, son of former Super Bowl champion and Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Antonio Freeman; and German-American forward Damion Downs.
Plenty of spots are up for grabs
With three extra places on the final Gold Cup roster compared to the Nations League plus the three March call-ups who are unavailable, there will be at least six new faces in camp next month and probably more.
Pochettino promised changes after the Nations League debacle. That could bode well for the likes of Aaronson and his younger brother, Paxten; Downs; Morris, Mexico-based spark plug Alex Zendejas; and young left back John Tolkin, who left the USMNT’s January camp early to sign with then-German Bundesliga club Holstein Kiel.
“I think I’ve played well enough to have a chance to be on the squad,” Tolkin told FOX Sports last week during a Zoom call with reporters.
“If I’m able to go and play the two friendlies and then the Gold Cup, that’s another really good opportunity, obviously, with the World Cup coming up.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.
<!–>
Get more from United States Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
–>
