USMNT’s Copa America squad: Christian Pulisic leads largely unchanged roster; Josh Sargent makes the cut

The Copa América lineup is set as Gregg Berhalter cut Timmy Tillman from his prep squad that faced Colombia It is Brazil in friendlies with Josh Sargent making the cut. Sargent was doubtful due to a foot injury City of Norwich which he carried into camp, which kept him out of these friendlies, but in doing so, he was deemed healthy enough to contribute during the tournament.

Berhalter will want his team to perform more like the one they drew with Brazil rather than the one they lost to Colombia when the United States begins its campaign on June 23 against Bolivia, as points will be valuable in the Group C, where the USMNT will feature alongside Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia. With this being the last major tournament before the 2026 World Cup, due to the USMNT not needing to go through World Cup qualifying, expectations are high.

List

GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Cardiff City/WAL; 9), Sean Johnson (Toronto FC/CAN; 13), Matt Turner (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 41)

DEFENDERS (9): Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 17/0), Kristoffer Lund (Palermo/ITA; 3/0), Marcos McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 13/0), Shaq Moore (Nashville SC; 19/1), Tim Ream (Fulham/ING; 58/1), Chris Richards (Palácio de Cristal/ENG; 18/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ING; 43/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 29/3), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/ALE; 11/0)

FIELD MEDIA (7): Tyler Adams (Bournemouth/ENG; 39/2), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis/ESP; 13/0), Luca de la Torre (Celta de Vigo/ESP; 21/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 53/11), Yunus Musah (AC Milan; ITA; 37/0), Gio Reyna (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 28/8), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 11/0)

ADVANCED (7): Brenden Aaronson (Unity Berlin/ALE; 41/8), Folarin Balogun (Monaco/FRA; 12/3), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven/NED; 25/10), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 68/29), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 23/5), Tim Weah (Juventus/ITA; 39/6), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 10/4)

All eyes on Tyler Adams

After logging just 14 minutes during this camp, it remains to be seen how involved Tyler Adams can be during the tournament. With the USMNT not playing their toughest match until the final day of the group stage against Uruguay, Berhalter has the ability to make things easier for Adams, but when he gets to some of those tougher matches, his midfielder’s ability defense of going 90 minutes will be critical. Johnny Cardoso and Yunus Musah can play a similar role to Adams, but when it comes to pure defensive ability, no one in the USMNT midfield has been able to match him. While Adams isn’t the only player coming into camp with injuries or physical issues, he is so important to this team that his are a little higher than others.

Questions about questions

Despite how stable the USMNT squad has been, there are no real surprises in this squad and 18 of the 26 players were on the 2022 FIFA World Cup squad, the group of players still has a lot of uncertainty heading into the Copa América. Tim Weah, Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna all struggled for playing time towards the end of their clubs’ seasons. Joe Scally is entering his first tournament as a starter at right back and there are many questions about the suitability of the midfield if Adams is unable to go. In this tournament, what matters is not who the players are, but rather which players show up and how Berhalter puts them in the best positions to succeed. That’s why, despite now playing against a starting XI that is in the top five leagues, it doesn’t look like the USMNT have kicked into high gear yet, but if they are to progress past the round of 16, cohesion and improvement need to come quickly.