Sports Illustrated recently started a new weekly feature analyzing the women’s soccer weekend from a U.S. women’s national team perspective (check out the opening two editions here and here) and with the 2026 World Cup just 10 weeks away, it’s time to get the ball rolling for the men’s team.
The USMNT just wrapped up the March international window, a dismal affair for the Stars and Stripes, who suffered two losses to European giants: a 5–2 thrashing to Belgium on Saturday and a 2–0 loss to Portugal on Tuesday. The clock is ticking for manager Mauricio Pochettino, who has already stated he will finalize his roster by the next international window in May.
Although the USMNT didn’t prove to be in top form, Pochettino insisted there were several positives to take away from the week and that narrowing his deep squad to just 26 players will be quite the challenge.
Here’s our stock up, stock down analysis.
USMNT Stock Up
Chris Richards
Chris Richards has always been a stalwart for the USMNT on the backline; however, the Crystal Palace center back was hit by a knee injury on March 19 in a Conference League match that subsequently sidelined him heading into the March international window.
The star defenseman was expected to miss the entirety of the week’s play, however, he made a surprising recovery for Tuesday’s match, clocking 90 minutes against Portugal.
Richards re-established a sense of calm and collection to the U.S.’s defensive mentality that had been sorely missing in Saturday’s outing against Belgium. For the majority of Tuesday’s match, the Stars and Stripes were highly organized on defense, holding shape and covering well for each other.
Matt Freese
It appears that Matt Freese has firmly established himself as the starting goalkeeper for the 2026 World Cup, which will mark his first appearance on the sport’s grandest stage after earning his first senior call-up only just last year.
After being benched against Belgium, the New York City FC goalkeeper took command of the Americans and made three critical saves to inhibit any further damage from the Portuguese.
Giovanni Reyna
Giovanni Reyna raised a lot of controversy after Pochettino named him to the March roster. The Borussia Mönchengladbach attacker has clocked just 26 minutes in club play this calendar year—a mix of being injured and simply overlooked. Nevertheless, Pochettino was open about his belief that one’s club performance does not influence what they can do at international level.
Pochettino remained steadfast in that belief, giving Reyna 20 minutes of action in the midfield against Belgium and 11 minutes against Portugal—combining for more minutes than he has played all year for his Bundesliga side.
USMNT Stock Down
Christian Pulisic
The star of the USMNT has fallen. Instead of a vision of poise and execution, the forward looked frantic and frazzled in the March window as he attempted to end his scoring drought.
Pulisic, who plays for AC Milan where he is endearingly called “Captain America,” is now 15 games goal-less across all competitions—and eight games in a U.S. soccer jersey, dating back to November 2024.
Pulisic still has eight goals for his Serie A squad this season, thanks to a highly productive fall. He will look to get back to form—and fast—in order to guide the U.S. back to winning ways. He has just the May international window left—games against Senegal and Germany—to get on the board for the Stars and Stripes before World Cup kickoff on June 12.
Matt Turner
The U.S.’s starting goalkeeper for the 2022 World Cup has seemingly lost his place.
Matt Turner started on Saturday in what appeared to be a single shot to prove to Pochettino that he was worth the tournament’s starting role over Freese; however, that chance got gone blow wide open after five goals were buried by the Belgian side.
Although not all were Turner’s fault—it was a collective effort of poor play—the look of panic took over Turner’s face after the second goal and solidified thereafter.
Tim Ream
The veteran center back, although still likely to make the final World Cup roster, had a poor outing this week.
Although savvy when on the offense, Ream’s defensive deficiencies were integral to the U.S.’s disastrous outcome against Belgium. He had zero tackles and just two blocks on the day, while also conceding a penalty kick on a handball in the 59th minute—the cause of Belgium’s third goal. He struggled to hold down the space in the box, while the likes of Manchester City star Jérémy Doku flew down Belgium’s wing and played dangerous balls in front of goal.
It appeared the Charlotte FC defender’s age—38 years old—was starting to get the better of him. Ream did not feature in the Portugal game.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as USMNT Stock Up, Stock Down: Reyna Gets His Chance But Pulisic Worries Continue.
