With less than 200 days to go until the U.S. men’s national team kicks off the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil, the importance of gaining and maintaining form is becoming critical for Mauricio Pochettino’s band of merry hopefuls.
With 2025 in the rearview mirror for national team games after a successful November window yielded impressive wins over Paraguay and Uruguay, it’s of paramount importance that players continue to shine for their clubs, building confidence to what will be the biggest occasion in the career of many who make the roster.
Pochettino and his team will be watching closely, keeping particularly close tabs on those on the periphery, but they would have been pleased with what they saw this past weekend from a couple of USMNT’s most established stars.
Here, Sports Illustrated ranks the top five performances of the week.
5. Tim Weah (Olympique Marseille)
It had been over two months since Tim Weah had last scored for Olympique Marseille, but he found his way onto the scoresheet for the first time in Ligue 1 during his side’s crushing 5–1 win over OGC Nice.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mason Greenwood had all but sealed victory for Marseille before Weah’s strike in the 58th minute made it 4–0, but it was pleasing moment for the 25-year-old who was starting once more at right back.
4. Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Fresh off a solid 67-minute showing for the USMNT against Paraguay, Joe Scally put in one of his best performances of the season with Borussia Mönchengladbach, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 win over FC Heidenheim that extended the club’s winning streak to four games.
Scally led the match with 11 duels won, 13 defensive contributions, and 91% passing accuracy. USMNT teammate Gio Reyna also came into the game for the final 18 minutes.
3. Matt Freese (New York City FC)
Matt Freese is the frontrunner to start for the USMNT at the World Cup and he earned himself at least one more game in 2025 with an outstanding performance for New York City FC, who defeated the Supporters’ Shield-winning Philadelphia Union in the MLS Cup playoffs Eastern Conference semifinal.
Freese made several top-tier saves in his five stops as NYCFC rode Maxi Moralez’s 27th-minute goal to qualify for their first Eastern Conference final since 2022, where they will face Lionel Messi and Inter Miami for a spot in MLS Cup.
2. Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)
Malik Tillman became the first USMNT player in three years to score a goal and an assist in a Bundesliga match, as he helped Bayer Leverkusen to a 3–1 win over VFL Wolfsburg.
The USMNT midfielder put himself in a perfect position to flick on an Alejandro Grimaldo cross into Jonas Hoffman, who scored the opening goal in the ninth minute. With Leverkusen already leading by a pair, Tillman scored his goal, finishing in the 33rd minute for his third goal in seven Bundesliga games this season.
1. Christian Pulisic (AC Milan)
Pulisic with the winner for @acmilan 👏🔥#InterMilan pic.twitter.com/tatpin5TF8
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) November 24, 2025
Christian Pulisic just loves the Derby della Madonnina as he scored his third goal in eight games against Inter Milan, leading AC Milan to a 1–0 win on Sunday. His 54th-minute finish came from a counterattack, as he found himself in the perfect spot to cash in on Alexis Saelemaekers' shot from distance, which Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer had parried away.
It was the first goal Pulisic had scored since Sept. 28 and it brought him to five goals in eight games, good enough for a tie atop the Serie A Golden Boot race, despite missing significant time due to injury.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Road to World Cup 2026: USMNT’s Five Best Players of the Week—Ranked.
