The start of the European league season is upon us.
This past weekend, the English Championship and 2. Bundesliga got underway, with the Premier League, LaLiga and Ligue 1 kicking off this weekend. Serie A and the Bundesliga will begin the week after that. That means the U.S. men’s national team diaspora will begin getting games under their belt with their respective club teams, if they haven’t already, while their brethren in MLS are in the thick of their respective 2025 campaigns.
As such, ESPN will be monitoring the progress of those players throughout the season, and every week, delivering insights into the players whose form or fitness has made them particularly intriguing, as well as providing updates on the USMNT player pool at large. We call it the USMNT’s Countdown to the men’s World Cup.
What informs the player pool in the USMNT’s Countdown to the World Cup? Our Big Board, updates of which will publish every other month.
ESPN will count down to June 11 every week, so that way when the U.S. team is announced for this highly anticipated World Cup on home soil, no names on that 26-man roster will come as a surprise.
So, without further ado, welcome to the USMNT’s Countdown to the World Cup. Only 301 days to go.
2025-26 minutes: 172
2025-26 FotMob rating: 8.2
Dest has started the season on fire at PSV, scoring the game winner against Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch Super Cup, and then finding the net again in this past weekend’s 6-1 rout of Sparta Rotterdam. His return to form is fantastic news for U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino, too. Pochettino has yet to see the right back up close after Dest had an ACL injury a year ago, and the player’s absence has been keenly felt.
Dest’s ability to create the unexpected from right back had been a key part of the national team’s attack, and his injury meant opponents could clamp down on other attacking threats such as Christian Pulisic. Dest’s likely return for the USMNT in September should provide a significant boost.
2025-26 minutes: 152
2025-26 FotMob rating: 7.2
The chasm that exists between Sargent’s club form and his play with the USMNT was illustrated again this past weekend. In Norwich City’s 2-1 defeat against Millwall to open the Championship season, Sargent scored the Canaries’ only goal with his butt, blocking an attempted clearance from Millwall keeper Steven Benda and watching it loop into the net.
With the USMNT, Sargent can’t beg, borrow or steal a goal, having gone more than five years since his last national team tally. If he’s going to find a way back into the good graces of Pochettino, he’s going to have to continue delivering for Norwich. That’s if he doesn’t move to a new club in what is left of the summer transfer window.
2025 minutes: 90
2025 FotMob rating: 8.2
Turner has already achieved his primary goal for this window, and that was finding a club where he’s guaranteed a chance to play. This past season while on loan at Crystal Palace he made just four appearances, and none in league play. But in making his return to New England — he played there previously between 2016 and 2022 — Turner got off to a perfect start, making three saves in a 2-0 win over D.C. United.
This is not to say that Turner has the starting spot with the USMNT all sewn up. Colorado’s Zack Steffen is having an excellent season, as is New York City FC’s Matt Freese, who gained some critical national team experience in the recently concluded Gold Cup. But Turner’s World Cup experience gives him an edge if everything else is equal. The next nine months will make for a fascinating three-player race ahead of the World Cup.
The in-form XI
If the World Cup started tomorrow, who would make up Pochettino’s starting XI? Each week we take our best attempt to name a starting lineup based on form and fitness, which means there’s no room for injured players like Pulisic (ankle, although he could yet be available for Sunday’s Coppa Italia tilt against Bari), Malik Tillman (muscle strain) or Antonee Robinson (resumed training, but not yet match fit).
Injuries are a constant factor when it comes to national team lineups, and this attempt at coming up with a USMNT XI is no different. In this iteration, left back is a sore spot. Fulham manager Marco Silva said last weekend that Robinson isn’t fit to start the Premier League season following minor offseason knee surgery. One of Robinson’s possible replacements, Watford’s Caleb Wiley, is dealing with a back injury, so he’s not available either. That leaves Columbus Crew’s Max Arfsten.
Arfsten’s performances were a bit all over the place at the Gold Cup, especially on the defensive side of the ball. But the Crew defender’s play without the ball did improve over the course of the tournament, and while Holstein Kiel’s John Tolkin was also an option, Arfsten gets the nod based on Pochettino’s preference for how the player gets forward and contributes to the attack.
The attacking midfield positions — both central and out wide — are also a bit injury hit, with the aforementioned ailments for Pulisic and Tillman meaning that more digging into the USMNT’s depth is required. The inclusion of América’s Alejandro Zendejas might raise an eyebrow or two, especially considering he was on the outside looking in in ESPN’s USMNT Big Board 1.0. But based purely on current form, Zendejas is the pick, as he has been lights out for América during the entire calendar year. The big question is: Does Pochettino actually rate him? The September window will be revealing.
Diego Luna is the pick for a central role. Yes, he was sent off in this past weekend’s 2-1 defeat to the New York Red Bulls for two bookable offenses, although he looked more like a victim than perpetrator in the sequence that earned him a second caution. He also delivered a defense-splitting pass to set up RSL’s lone goal. With some other U.S. players nicked up, Luna gets the nod, although he’ll need to keep his composure as he’s bound to be on the receiving end of more physical challenges.
The rest of the side is stocked with familiar names this week, but the weekend should provoke plenty of movement.
Big Board 1.0 update
ESPN’s USMNT Big Board 1.0 went live this past week, and each Big Board will provide the foundation for weekly player updates. Below are the minutes and player ratings for each of those 35 players.
Matt Turner, goalkeeper, New England Revolution: 90 minutes in 2025; 8.2 FotMob rating in 2025.
Matt Freese, goalkeeper, New York City FC: 2,160 minutes in 2025; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025.
Zack Steffen, goalkeeper, Colorado Rapids: 1,710 minutes in 2025; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025.
Patrick Schulte, goalkeeper, Columbus Crew: 1,890 minutes in 2025; 6.7 FotMob rating in 2025.
Chris Richards, center back, Crystal Palace: 90 minutes in 2025-26; 6.4 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Tim Ream, center back, Charlotte FC: 1,712 minutes in 2025; 6.6 FotMob rating in 2025.
Mark McKenzie, center back, Toulouse: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Cameron Carter-Vickers, center back, Celtic: 180 minutes in 2025-26; 7.7 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Miles Robinson, center back, FC Cincinnati: 2,180 minutes in 2025; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025.
Auston Trusty, center back, Celtic: 48 minutes in 2025-26; 6.4 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Sergiño Dest, fullback, PSV Eindhoven: 172 minutes in 2025-26; 8.2 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
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USMNT’s Chris Richards reacts to Community Shield win with Palace
Chris Richards speaks after Crystal Palace’s penalty shootout win over Liverpool in the Community Shield.
Antonee Robinson, fullback, Fulham: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Joe Scally, fullback, Borussia Mönchengladbach: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Caleb Wiley, fullback, Watford: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Max Arfsten, fullback, Columbus Crew: 2,150 minutes in 2025; 7.6 FotMob rating in 2025.
Alex Freeman, fullback, Orlando City SC: 2,275 minutes in 2025; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025.
Tyler Adams, midfielder, AFC Bournemouth: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Weston McKennie, midfielder, Juventus: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Johnny Cardoso, midfielder, Atlético Madrid: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Luca de la Torre, midfielder, San Diego FC: 1,950 minutes in 2025; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025.
Tanner Tessmann, midfielder, Lyon: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Yunus Musah, midfielder, AC Milan: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Sebastian Berhalter, midfielder, Vancouver Whitecaps: 2,290 minutes in 2025; 7.4 FotMob rating in 2025.
Christian Pulisic, attacker, AC Milan: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Timothy Weah, attacker, Marseille: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Malik Tillman, attacker, Bayer Leverkusen: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Diego Luna, attacker, Real Salt Lake: 2,005 minutes in 2025; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025.
Alejandro Zendejas, attacker, América: 200 minutes in 2025-26; 7.3 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Giovanni Reyna, attacker, Borussia Dortmund: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Folarin Balogun, forward, AS Monaco: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Ricardo Pepi, forward, PSV Eindhoven: 28 minutes in 2025-26; 6.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Josh Sargent, forward, Norwich City: 152 minutes in 2025-26; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Patrick Agyemang, forward, Derby County: 0 minutes in 2025-26; 0.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Haji Wright, forward, Coventry City: 86 minutes in 2025-26; 6.6 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Damion Downs, forward, Southampton: 93 minutes in 2025-26; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
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