UNITED STATES MEN’S National Team head coach formally announced his 26-player roster for the 2025 Gold Cup that will open on June 15 in California. The Gold Cup team was almost entirely comprised from the players who were on the recent training camp roster along with the subsequent changes that were listed over the weekend.

But there were two notable exceptions. The first is that Sergino Dest was removed from the roster due to fitness issues that were determined during a physical evaluation. He was replaced by John Tolkin, who arrived in camp on Thursday.

“The technical, medical and high performance staffs have done a series of evaluations this week on all the players in camp, and in the case of Sergiño we determined the best decision is for the player to have an individualized training program for the summer so he can focus on being fully recovered and ready to perform next season,” Pochettino said.

Meanwhile, Pochettino added Walker Zimmerman, Nathan Harriel, and Paxten Aaronson in place of DeJuan Jones, Sean Zawadzki, and Folarin Balogun. Prior to that, Chris Brady replaced Patrick Schulte.

With that, here is the Gold Cup roster along with some thoughts.

The 2025 United States Gold Cup Roster

(Club/Country; Caps/Goals) 

GOALKEEPERS (4): Chris Brady (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Matt Freese (New York City FC; 0/0), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace/ENG; 51/0)  

DEFENDERS (9): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 3/0), Alex Freeman (Orlando City; 0/0), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union; 0/0), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse/FRA; 19/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 68/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 24/1), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 32/3), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel/GER; 4/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 43/3) 

MIDFIELDERS (9): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 47/8); Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 44/2), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 0/0), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 18/0), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC; 24/1), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 4/0), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo; 4/1), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union; 0/0); Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 17/0) 

FORWARDS (5): Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht/NED; 1/0), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC; 4/3), Damion Downs (FC Köln/GER; 0/0), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps/CAN; 4/1), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 15/4) 

Significant changes

Many familiar faces from recent camps were left off this roster. Some were due to injuries, some were due to the Club World Cup, Christian Pulisic needed a break, and Yunus Musah withdrew due to personal reasons - but many were football decisions.

Some of those include Josh Sargent, Joe Scally, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Tanner Tessmann, Aidan Morris, Auston Trusty, Marlon Fossey, Alex Zendejas, and others.

Meanwhile, Pochettino has given a big opportunity for others to impress at this Gold Cup. If they take advantage, it could give them the inside track for being in the plans in the run-up to the World Cup.

Many of these faces would have been seen as extremely surprising as recently as the start of 2025. But players like Brian White, Sebastian Berhalter, Max Arfsten, Alex Freeman, Nathian Harriel, and Chris Brady have continued to do well and Pochettino wants to give them a chance.

That’s completely fair. The U.S. team is coming off a year where it crashed out of the Copa America on home soil during the group stages and followed it up by a fourth place finish out of four teams at the Nations League (also on home soil) the bigger risk is to make few changes. The benefit for having a coach like Pochettino who comes in from the complete outside is that he sees things with fresh eyes.

When watching the Gold Cup, the right approach is to look at team as if there are very few locks. Before Pochettino arrived, most of the call-ups were assumed and this came regardless of club form. Now, it is more open and many of the newcomers over this past year are there not because of reputation but because they are playing well.

We will now see if that hunger carries over into the national team.

Central defense: wide open

Aside from Chris Richards, who had a very good season for Crystal Palace, the rest of the team’s central defenders all have serious questions and there is no clear pecking order.

Tim Ream is 37 and is always battling the age issue. Mark McKenzie had a good season overall in France but stumbled down the stretch. Miles Robinson has been good but unspectacular for FC Cincinnati. Walker Zimmerman now reenters the equation and is among the more consistent players but has only recently returned from a concussion.

Richards is a lock, but it is an open audition for the other four centerbacks.

Fullbacks: Freeman & Arfsten have huge opportunities

No one questions that Antonee Robinson is the team’s best left back. But who backs up Robinson has been an open question for years. While Ream can play left back, he seems like an unlikely option there outside of an emergency.

Gold Cup’s calling. Max picked up the phone ????

Max Arfsten has been called in to compete with the @USMNT at the 2025 Gold Cup where they will take on Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia, and Haiti in the group stage ???? pic.twitter.com/K9SGRItPts

— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) June 5, 2025

That leaves Max Arfsten and John Tolkin. Arfsten has been on the team all camp while Tolkin only was added when Dest was forced to withdraw. Both players should get opportunities over the coming month but Arfsten has the value having worked with Pochettino in January and March. Another good camp could put him in the drivers’ seat to back up Robinson moving forward. It’s there for the taking.

As for Tolkin, he showed well in the Bundesliga but after Holstein Kiel’s relegation, he has to shift down to the 2.Bundesliga unless he gets sold (which didn’t sound likely based on his media call in May). But he is a good player and has played a lot of soccer over the past three and a half years. He’s still very much in the race.

FREEMAN CALLED UP BY THE @USMNT FOR THE 2025 @GOLDCUP ???????? https://t.co/0TEFiUDHlk pic.twitter.com/rXHKUmFH01

— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) June 5, 2025

Right back becomes even more interesting. Dest hasn’t played with the national team since March 2024 due to his ACL surgery and recovery. Joe Scally wasn’t called up and DeJuan Jones had to withdraw due to an injury when he was replaced by Nathan Harriel – who hasn’t even always been the starter for the Union at right back due to the emergency of Frankie Westfield – who is with the U.S. U-20 team.

That leaves us with Alex Freeman. The Orlando City homegrown has impressed this season to the point where he’s one of the top young American players in MLS at age 20. Freeman (who is the son of former NFL great Antonio Freeman) is extremely athletic and fits the profile of a modern fullback. Despite only being in his first season as an Orlando starter, he is now heading into the Gold Cup where he will play a lot of minutes and perhaps even be the team’s starter. He on a very accelerated push in his development. It is reminiscent of when DeAndre Yedlin forced his way on the 2014 World Cup team. Like Yedlin, big European suitors could soon follow (but whether he wants to risk losing playing time in a World Cup year is another question).

Central midfield

The central midfield of this Gold Cup roster has a lot of interesting names including Sebastian Berhalter, Jack McGlynn, and Luca de la Torre. It’s important to note that Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah would be here in normal circumstances, so it remains unclear how many spots are up for grabs (although it doesn’t seem like Musah is a lock right now given his second half of the season). But these players are all here over players such as Tanner Tessmann, Aidan Morris, and Gianluca Busio. That means there is likely at least one opening if they play well this month.

Berhalter has taken his game to another level in 2025 and that has seen him rewarded with a call-up. Despite being suspended for the final, Berhalter was critical in helping the Caps advance to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final and he is also a big factor in their first place standing. The concern is that he has not been playing at a very high level for a long period of time. He must show that his form the past three months is not a blip.

De la Torre has been out of the team for almost a year after dealing with injuries and a lack of playing time at Celta Vigo. Now on loan with San Diego FC, he is in good form and is playing regularly again. He offers a lot to this team in that he brings experience, quality, and the benefit of not having been part of the team’s recent problems.

While Pochettino made several changes to the USMNT midfield from March, McGlynn remains on the team. His January camp along with a decent shift off the bench in the loss to Panama helped his case, but by no means is he a lock. He needs to play well.

Attacking midfield and wings

Without Tim Weah, Christian Pulisic, or even Alex Zendejas on this roster, the U.S. team is short on players who attack from wide positions. Players like Diego Luna, Malik Tillman, or either Aaronson brother can play outside as a second position, but that isn’t a strength of this team. And all those players could bring a lot to the team if they could also thrive on the wings.

Haji Wright plays on the wing a lot for Coventry, but he frequently tries to cut inside. Wright is just one of the many players who has been around the team for years but who shouldn’t be considered a lock anymore. There is pressure on him to produce.

Quinn Sullivan is more comfortable playing outside than most players on this roster. He arrives in camp in the middle of another strong season for Philadelphia and he has an opportunity in the month ahead that could be surprisingly significant in his hopes of being with the team moving forward.

Attacking midfield is very interesting because Gio Reyna is not on the team due to the Club World Cup (although it is not a given he would have made it anyway given his lack of minutes).

Diego Luna is in a great position now given his contributions this year which is reflected by the complements from Pochettino.

Malik Tillman is coming off a great season but is under some pressure given that he has never seen his club form translate over to the national team and that needs to happen soon.

The Aaronson brothers are also key to watch. Brenden was left off the USMNT roster in March and that might have been a blessing in disguise as he was 6000 miles removed from the disaster that unfolded. But it also showed that Pochettino is hesitant with him. He has been a regular for a long time and he had a good season where he played a lot to help Leeds earn promotion. But his grip on a roster spot is tenuous and he has a lot to lose with a bad camp.

Meanwhile Paxten has been involved with the USMNT before, but this is different. Now he is no longer seen as a future prospect, but rather he is a player who is more ready to be able to contribute now. This past season, he was on loan to FC Utrecht and emerged as one of the top young players in the Eredivisie. His parent club, Eintracht Frankfurt, is looking forward to his return as they prepare for the Champions League.

Center forward

Ricardo Pepi is injured and Folarin Balogun had to withdraw from this past USMNT camp due to injury. Pepi made a great impression with the team under Pochettino in the fall and likely remains in good standing. Balogun is different because he’s not in a great position with his club and might have lost his starting position heading into next year.

Josh Sargent, meanwhile, was left off this roster due to Pochettino’s decision. Sargent didn’t impress in two camps under Pochettino and hasn’t scored for the national team since 2019. Despite being named to the Championship team of the season, he has work to do to get back in the squad. He’s in the mix, but on the outside of the bubble.

That leaves us with three center forwards on this roster.

Patrick Agyemang and Brian White have been involved in both camps in 2025. Even if all options are healthy, there are likely open roster spots for Agyemang and White – who are both very different. White is a close-range finisher with impressive size while Agyemang is more mobile. A good month by either or both could make a World Cup spot theirs to lose.

Damion Downs is in a slightly different position than White or Agyemang. He’s a forward but this is his first USMNT and his youth national team experience is also limited. He is behind others, but that doesn’t mean he can’t make up ground. He is coming off a very good season with Cologne where he scored 11 goals across all competitions and helped the team to promotion to the Bundesliga. That gives him a great stage heading into year before the World Cup. But there is also a longer-term play for him. At just 20 years old, this is important for him just to get involved in the program. He will be 24 in 2030 and 28 in 2034. Even if he doesn’t make the 2026 World Cup team, he is an important prospect for the future.

Goalkeeping

Goalkeeping continues to be a big question mark for the team given that Matt Turner is still the No. 1 and has only rarely played in England over the past two seasons. He remains the USMNT starter because no one else has made a compelling case. But if he continues to be a backup at the club level, Turner is at risk every time he reports to USMNT duty. One bad camp could see him moving to a backup role there as well.

In recent camps, it appeared that Zack Steffen and Patrick Schulte were the ones pushing him. Both of those keepers had to withdraw due to injury. Will Matt Freese and Chris Brady push Turner? Perhaps. But Schulte and Steffen will continue to be in the picture over the next year.

The key takeaway is that if Turner doesn’t perform for the team over the next month, the goalkeeping position will become chaotic.