The U.S. men’s national team is poised to announce its 2026 World Cup roster, cutting a pool of 91 players who have appeared for the country since the last tournament down to 26 for the home-hosted event. Mauricio Pochettino, who took charge in late 2024, has repeatedly stressed that no player’s place is guaranteed, and a recent roster leak underscored how fluid the decision-making has been, according to the article.
For the players on the bubble, the wait is tense. Former striker Jozy Altidore told a podcast with U.S. legends Landon Donovan and Tim Howard that the selection period is impossible not to think about and that the process is nerve-racking for all involved, according to the report.
Landon Donovan’s omission from the 2014 World Cup squad remains perhaps the most polarizing U.S. selection decision in recent memory. Coach Jürgen Klinsmann left the 32-year-old off the roster despite Donovan’s status as a four-time U.S. Soccer Player of the Year, the nation’s all-time leading scorer and a defining face of the program. Klinsmann initially cited sporting reasons and later pointed to a winter sabbatical the player took in the year before the tournament; Donovan said afterward he still believed he should have been included following the U.S. exit in the round of 16 to Belgium, according to the article.
John Harkes’ exclusion from the 1998 World Cup squad also drew shock. Then-coach Steve Sampson dropped Harkes, who brought Premier League experience and a goal at Wembley to his résumé and had been named an MLS All-Star for a second straight season in 1998. Former defender Marcelo Balboa criticized the move as removing the team’s captain; the decision followed revelations that Harkes had an affair with the wife of teammate Eric Wynalda, a matter later made public by Wynalda, according to the piece.
Tough choices are a constant when national teams name World Cup rosters, and the official list will prompt renewed debate over notable absences. The article notes that any drops due to injury are not included in this look back at the most surprising U.S. omissions.
