USMNT Camp: Pulisic, McKennie, and Balogun Return
Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Folarin Balogun are back in the frame, and for the first time since the World Cup, a USMNT camp is starting to look like the full-strength version fans have been waiting for.
Pulisic and McKennie race the clock
They will not stroll into Atlanta on time with the rest of the group. Serie A won’t allow it.
McKennie’s Juventus head to Fiorentina in Sunday’s late kickoff, a typically snarling fixture that demands every ounce of his energy. A few hours earlier, Pulisic will be across the country with Milan at Genoa, trying to extend the sharp form that has already made him a central figure at San Siro.
Only after those matches will they board planes and cross the Atlantic, dropping straight into a camp where the faces are familiar but the stakes feel refreshed. New cycle, new manager, same expectations. The leaders of this generation are expected to set the tone, even if they arrive a step behind on rest.
Balogun searching for rhythm
Balogun’s situation is different. He has not had the same volume of minutes as his two high-profile teammates, despite both of them wrestling with injuries in recent months. His battle has been about carving out a place at Monaco.
The signs, at last, are encouraging. He scored against Paris FC last weekend, then earned a start in the Conference League against Nordsjaelland in midweek. That selection said plenty: Monaco appear to be moving from vague promises to an actual plan for their American striker.
Now comes the next decision point. Monaco face Le Mans on Sunday. If Balogun plays and builds on his recent momentum, he could arrive in U.S. camp with the sharpness and confidence that have been missing. If he sits, next weekend’s likely minutes against Haiti become even more important, a chance to rediscover rhythm on international duty rather than at club level.
Freeman and Villarreal under pressure
Alex Freeman doesn’t have the luxury of easing into the break.
Villarreal’s 6-0 home collapse to PSG in the Champions League was brutal in every sense: the scoreline, the setting, the spotlight. Nights like that leave a mark. You either let it linger or you rip it up and move on.
They have no choice. Getafe await before the squad disperses for international duty, and this one carries weight. Villarreal have built a reputation as a Champions League club, but the table tells a harsher story: ninth in La Liga, too many domestic points tossed away while chasing European nights.
In that context, every league match tightens the screws. Freeman and his teammates need a response, not a respectable performance, but a result that stops the slide and keeps their season aligned with their ambitions.
New faces, new auditions
Bryan Reynolds and Santiago Castaneda arrive in Atlanta with something different: opportunity, not redemption.
Both have earned their first USMNT call-ups under Pochettino, and both have one more club audition before they step into a national-team environment where every training session is a test.
Reynolds has come alive as a wing back for Rennes. His blend of pace and attacking intent fits the role, and his club are pushing near the top of Ligue 1 again, sitting fifth after nine games. Many of his recent minutes have come in Europe, but Lille this weekend offers another domestic stage to show why he belongs at this level and why his profile intrigues the national-team staff.
Castaneda’s platform looks different but is no less demanding. Paderborn, promoted from the 2. Bundesliga via the playoff, entered the season with one clear objective: survive. They sit 14th heading into a meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt, and for a newly promoted side, the spine of the team often decides whether you cling on or drop back down. Castaneda has anchored the midfield, doing the unglamorous work that keeps a team competitive.
For both players, this weekend doubles as a final statement before they land in camp and discover what it really means to fight for a permanent place in the U.S. setup.
The snubbed and simmering
Of course, the story of any national-team roster is as much about who is missing as who made it.
Brenden Aaronson, Joe Scally, Tim Weah, Max Arfsten, Yunus Musah, Tanner Tessmann, Aidan Morris – the omissions run deep. Each has a case, some stronger than others, and each now has to answer the same question: what do you do with that frustration?
Scally might be the most in-form of the group. He will lead Borussia Monchengladbach into a clash with Hamburg, and his recent performances gave him arguably the strongest argument for inclusion. That call never came. His response now has to be simple: keep driving forward, keep impacting games, maybe keep scoring, and force the conversation again in March.
Weah is in a similar place, but with a captain’s armband to show for his current standing at Marseille. He wore it in a win over Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday and will now try to carry that authority into a meeting with Lens this weekend. His absence from the squad stings, but his influence at club level is growing, and that is often how these stories turn.
For Scally, Weah and the rest of the snubbed group, the disappointment will sit in the background, unspoken but present. They do not have the luxury of dwelling on it yet. The league fixtures come first, then the international break, then the next verdict on where they stand in the national-team hierarchy.
The door is not closed. It is just a little harder to push open now.
