The 2026 World Cup is now less than six months away for the U.S. men’s national team, who will get their tournament underway in Los Angeles, California.
While they know they will face Australia, Paraguay, and one of Slovakia, Kosovo, Türkiye or Romania in the group stage, the roster is still very much in flux, especially as Mauricio Pochettino sees stellar form from some hopeful World Cup talents in Europe.
Unlike past years, the USMNT won't have a January camp to see some players in person, meaning their next games come in the March window, where they will hope to fine-tune what the final roster could look like.
Here, Sports Illustrated ranks the top five performances of the week from around the globe.
5. Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco)
Likely the leading choice to start the USMNT's first World Cup match, Folarin Balogun continued his strong form this season in Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
The 24-year-old scored the winning goal in Monaco’s 1–0 win over Galatasaray—his seventh goal of the campaign and third in Europe—and then saw an effort ruled out for offside during the weekend defeat to Tim Weah’s Marseille.
Though that game didn’t go the way Balogun wanted it to, he put in a decent shift up front for Monaco, completing four dribbles and taking three shots on goal.
4. Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen)
Malik Tillman continues to settle in at Bayer Leverkusen after his blockbuster signing in the summer and helped the club to a 2–0 Rhine Derby win over rivals FC Köln.
The dynamic attacking midfielder had two shots and created two chances while playing alongside Jonas Hoffman and also stepped up with five defensive contributions.
Playing in a 3-5-1-1 formation for Leverkusen, he has shown his ability to work the ball centrally but also engage in overlapping runs from the wingbacks, a factor which could be valuable to Pochettino after his switch to using a back three.
3. Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven)
One more week of the season in the books and it’s another week where Ricardo Pepi found himself on the scoresheet. The 22-year-old American scored in UEFA Champions League action against Atlético Madrid midweek, then scored a perfectly placed penalty kick against Heracles Almelo in Eredivisie action on the weekend.
Pepi has now scored in four-straight matches across all competitions, becoming the first American to do so for an Eredivisie club since Aron Jóhannsson for AZ in 2013-14.
The former FC Dallas starlet has nine goals in all competitions this season and will look to close out 2025 in strong form, setting the stage for the 2026 World Cup year.
2. Weston McKennie (Juventus)
This Weston McKennie goal in slow-mo is a work of art 🔥🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/wXWihmBLiM
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) December 13, 2025
Weston McKennie continued to impress with Juventus this season, scoring a goal in a 2–0 midweek Champions League win against Pafos, before playing 90 minutes in the 1–0 Serie A victory over Bologna.
Although he has yet to find the back of the net in Serie A action and was unable to make the most of extra space after Bologna's red card on Sunday, he has shown an ability to be clinical in the biggest matches on European soccer’s biggest stage.
At the same time, his growth as a balanced wide midfielder is commendable, and the 27-year-old looks more comfortable as Juventus continues to grow under midseason managerial appointment, Luciano Spalletti.
1. Antonee Robinson (Fulham)
Antonee Robinson impressed in his first Premier League start of the season with Fulham on Saturday, returning to the lineup after undergoing knee surgery prior to the 2025–26 campaign.
Robinson, 28, played the full 90 minutes in a 3–2 win over Burnley, moving his side up to 13th in the Premier League and boosting his stock with the USMNT as Pochettino seeks options for a three and five-man backline.
He was significantly productive in the match as well, completing eight passes into the final third, while posting six recoveries, four tackles and two interceptions.
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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.
