The U.S. men’s national team will head to the 2022 World Cup with a defender who hasn’t played for it in over a year, with a striker who’s never scored an international goal from open play, and without its No. 1 goalkeeper for most of this World Cup cycle.
USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter announced his 26-man roster on Wednesday. It includes Haji Wright, a red-hot forward, but not Jordan Pefok nor Ricardo Pepi. It also includes Fulham captain Tim Ream, a 35-year-old center back who hasn’t played for the national team since last September.
The biggest stunner, though, was the absence of Zack Steffen, who has started more than any other goalkeeper since Berhalter took charge in 2018.
U.S. World Cup roster for Qatar 2022
Goalkeepers: Matt Turner, Ethan Horvath, Sean Johnson
Fullbacks: Sergiño Dest, Antonee Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin, Joe Scally, Shaq Moore
Center backs: Walker Zimmerman, Aaron Long, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Tim Ream
Midfielders: Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Luca de la Torre, Kellyn Acosta, Cristian Roldan
Wingers: Christian Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Gio Reyna, Brenden Aaronson, Jordan Morris
Strikers: Jesús Ferreira, Josh Sargent, Haji Wright