A Few Americans Missed Club Action This Weekend, Fueling a Slight Roster Panic
With the World Cup just over a month away, Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT preparations have been rocked by a wave of injuries to key players, raising serious questions about the squad's fitness heading into the tournament.
The most devastating blow came when Atlético Madrid confirmed that midfielder Johnny Cardoso will require surgery on a high-grade right ankle sprain suffered in training last week. The 24-year-old, who made 30 appearances for the Spanish club this season and was one of La Liga's standout holding midfielders, is almost certain to miss the entire tournament. It is a crushing outcome for a player who had 23 caps to his name and had been part of this cycle, though his USMNT performances had been inconsistent relative to his club form.
The situation surrounding Christian Pulisic is less definitive but equally worrying. The face of the tournament was ruled out of AC Milan's 3-2 defeat to Atalanta on Sunday with a gluteal muscle strain, adding a fitness concern to what has already been a deeply difficult stretch. Pulisic has gone 17 club matches without a goal since the start of the year and has cut a frustrated figure, both at club level and during March friendlies against Belgium and Portugal. The early indication is that the injury isn't severe, but any setback this close to the World Cup raises alarm bells for a player who desperately needs to rediscover his form.
Two further injury concerns emerged over the weekend. Tim Weah missed Marseille's win over Le Havre with a muscle problem, though the injury is reportedly not serious and he could return for the club's season finale. Tanner Tessmann has been shut down for the rest of Lyon's season with a muscle strain, though multiple reports suggest he should be fit before the tournament opens June 12 against Paraguay in Los Angeles.
With the roster announcement set for May 26 in New York, Pochettino has little time and precious few answers.
Winger Had a Big Performance Sunday in Hopes of Making the World Cup Roster
If Alejandro Zendejas needed to make a statement ahead of Mauricio Pochettino's World Cup roster announcement, Sunday night in Mexico City was about as emphatic as it gets.
The 28-year-old winger delivered a stunning two-goal, one-assist performance as Club América mounted a remarkable comeback from three goals down against top-seeded Pumas UNAM in the Liga MX quarterfinal second leg. América ultimately drew 3-3 on the night and 6-6 on aggregate, but were eliminated by the Liga MX tiebreaker, which favors the better regular-season finisher, sending Pumas through to face Pachuca in the semifinals.
The result stings, but Zendejas's individual display was extraordinary. With Pumas racing out to a 3-0 lead inside 23 minutes, it was Zendejas who sparked the comeback. He set up Patricio Salas from a corner kick delivery to get América on the board, then converted a penalty to make it 3-2. In the 61st minute, he beat legendary Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the air with a close-range header to level the tie. América still needed a fourth to advance on the tiebreaker, and a penalty in the 87th minute offered that chance, but Henry Martín struck the post, and the opportunity was gone.
Across 90 minutes, Zendejas created six chances—more than anyone else on the pitch—completed 87% of his passes and delivered 10 corners. The performance followed a Clausura season in which he managed three goals and three assists in 10 appearances despite missing time through injury.
Yet Zendejas hasn't featured for the USMNT since scoring against Japan back in September 2025, and his absence from the March friendlies against Belgium and Portugal drew notable criticism, including from América manager André Jardine, who publicly questioned the omission and rated Zendejas among Liga MX's best players.
American PSV Duo Linked Up For a Goal in PSV's Win
Two of the United States men's national team's most important players combined to good effect on Sunday as PSV cruised to a 4-1 Eredivisie victory over Go Ahead Eagles in Deventer.
Sergino Dest and Ricardo Pepi linked up for a pivotal goal just before halftime that proved to be the turning point in a match that had briefly been level. Ivan Perisic had given the Eredivisie champions the lead in the 19th minute with a well-placed header, but Mathis Suray leveled from the penalty spot shortly after. With the two sides seemingly heading into the break all square, Dest picked out Pepi in the final seconds of first-half stoppage time, and the 23-year-old striker restored PSV's advantage.
Perisic added a second in the 70th minute before Paul Wanner rounded off the scoring to complete a comfortable afternoon for the champions, who now sit 19 points clear atop the Eredivisie table. Dest played 65 minutes before being substituted, finishing with an impressive 97% passing accuracy and a big chance created. Pepi played until the 86th minute, taking five shots, which was the joint-most of any player on the pitch, and registering eight touches inside the opposition box.
The goal will further fuel speculation surrounding Pepi's future, with a move away from PSV expected before the World Cup kicks off this summer. Fulham had shown interest earlier this year but withdrew from talks, and PSV are said to be monitoring potential replacements, with teenager George Ilenikhena among those linked.
For now, though, Pepi remains central to PSV's attack and is in strong form heading into the World Cup. Both he and Dest will be key figures for Mauricio Pochettino's side this summer, and Sunday's combination play was a timely reminder of the quality the pair can offer together.
Midfielder's Second-Half Equalizer Helps Maintain the Whitecaps' Unbeaten Run
Sebastian Berhalter delivered a timely equalizer on Saturday night as Vancouver Whitecaps played San Jose Earthquakes to a 1-1 draw in a clash between the top two teams in the MLS Western Conference standings.
The 25-year-old midfielder ran onto a loose ball inside the area in the 76th minute and flicked a first-touch finish into the net using the outside of his foot to cancel out Preston Judd's fourth-minute opener. It was a composed, instinctive piece of finishing that underlined just how much Berhalter has grown as a player. He now has eight goal contributions across his last seven starts, with three goals and five assists in that stretch.
The goal came at a particularly significant moment off the pitch as well. With U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino set to announce his World Cup roster on May 26, Berhalter is firmly in the frame for a spot. Yet the midfielder insisted after the match that the pressure of the moment isn't weighing on him.
"I'm so grateful. A year ago, I didn't even make my national team debut, and now to be in this position is awesome," Berhalter told ESPN. "So for me, it doesn't feel like pressure... If I get a chance to represent my country at a home World Cup, it would mean the world."
Berhalter also suggested that Pochettino and his staff already have a clear picture of what he offers, given that he has appeared in 11 USMNT matches over the past 11 months. "I think it's pretty already set," he said. "They know what they're going to get out of me."
He faces competition from players like Cristian Roldan and Aidan Morris for a midfield spot, while Johnny Cardoso's ankle injury adds further uncertainty to the picture. Vancouver's remaining schedule includes road trips to FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, and FC San Diego before the roster announcement arrives.
Midfielder's First Goal Was a Consolation in Gladbach's Defeat
Gio Reyna ended a lengthy goalless drought at club level on Saturday, netting a consolation strike in Borussia Mönchengladbach's 3-1 Bundesliga defeat to Augsburg.
The 23-year-old American attacker had not scored for his club since January 2025, making the late goal, which was his first for Gladbach and first of the 2025-26 campaign, a meaningful moment despite the disappointing result at the WWK Arena.
Reyna entered the match in the 58th minute with the Foals already trailing 2-0, and he immediately made his presence felt. In just 32 minutes of action, he completed all 26 passes he attempted and created six chances—more than any other player on the pitch. His performance offered a glimpse of the dynamic, creative attacker that has made him such a coveted talent.
The goal itself came deep into stoppage time. Rocco Reitz played a clever layoff into Reyna's path, and the American coolly tapped home into the bottom-right corner to make it 3-1, which was a small consolation in what was otherwise a tough afternoon for Gladbach.
The timing of Reyna's return to goalscoring form could hardly be more significant. With the 2026 World Cup on home soil just a month away, U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino will be delighted to see his player approaching full fitness. Pochettino had carefully managed Reyna's return from muscle injuries through limited minutes in March friendlies against Belgium and Portugal, and Reyna had already shown his quality for the national team with a goal against Paraguay and an assist in a 5-1 thrashing of Uruguay last November.
Fellow USMNT player Joe Scally also featured in the loss, playing the full 90 minutes for Gladbach. Reyna will look to push for a starting spot when the Foals close out their Bundesliga season against Hoffenheim next weekeend.
On This Day in 1990, The US Beat Poland 3-1 to Build World Cup Momentum, Then Announced the Squad Heading to Italy
The Finland win in March had offered a genuine flicker of hope. What followed was a reminder of just how steep the climb remained.
After the 2-1 victory in Tampa, the Americans traveled to Europe for two away matches against continental opposition. In Budapest on March 20, Hungary proved a different class entirely, running out 2-0 winners. Eight days later in East Berlin, the US showed more fight in a 3-2 defeat to East Germany, at least finding the net, at least competing, but two losses in 10 days on foreign soil reinforced the gap between where this team was and where it needed to be.
Back home, the results steadied. A 4-1 demolition of Iceland on April 8 was the most encouraging performance of the year. Eric Wynalda bagging twice, Steve Trittschuh adding a third, Bruce Murray completing the rout, though Iceland, like Finland before them, was hardly World Cup-bound opposition. The Colombian side that visited on April 22 provided a sterner test and won it 1-0, a narrow but sobering defeat. Then came Malta on May 5 in Piscataway, a side that had finished last in their qualifying group without a single win. The US scraped through 1-0 in what the New York Times called a "puzzling" performance, with coach Bob Gansler acknowledging afterward that "finishing is something of a mystery to us."
Entering May, the US sat at 4-0-6 (WDL) against national teams in 1990. They had scored more than one goal only three times all year. The World Cup opener against Czechoslovakia in Florence was 36 days away.
Poland arrived in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on May 9, carrying their own recent form, including a loss to Colombia and a win over Costa Rica in the Marlboro Cup in Chicago the previous weekend. Crucially for Gansler, Poland hadn't qualified for Italy 90, ending a run of five consecutive World Cup appearances, but nine of the players who took the field at Hersheypark Stadium had been part of that qualifying campaign. More to the point, Gansler had specifically sought them out as opponents: their style, their physical directness, their central European organization made them the closest available approximation to Czechoslovakia, the Americans' first World Cup opponent.
Gansler also had a welcome roster development to work with. Peter Vermes, who had been unavailable while his Dutch club Volendam completed their season, was back in the fold. His return prompted a tactical reshuffle. Vermes was partnering Murray at forward, with Wynalda dropping into midfield. Wynalda, candid as ever, admitted the adjustment didn't feel natural. "I'm a natural striker," he said. "I felt like I was getting into a groove up front." With Tony Meola away on duty with the US B team in Vancouver, Kasey Keller started in goal.
The match at Hersheypark Stadium—a few hundred yards, as one reporter couldn't resist noting, from the arena where Wilt Chamberlain once scored 100 points—began badly for the Americans. For the opening 20 minutes, Poland won aerial duels and intercepted passes with ease, and when the breakthrough came, it was gifted. In the 27th minute, Roman Kosecki crossed from the right, and Steve Trittschuh, under pressure, attempted a backpass to Keller. His outstretched foot missed the ball entirely. Jacek Ziober needed no second invitation, knocking in from three yards. Gansler later called it a "cupcake goal."
What happened next was more significant than the goal itself. The Americans didn't fold.
Sweeper Zbigniew Kaczmarek, trying to play out from the back under pressure from Wynalda, turned the ball over inside his own penalty area. Murray read the moment before anyone else, darting in from the blind side, getting a toe to the ball ahead of goalkeeper Jozef Wandzik, and composedly rolling it home from the left. The 33rd minute. 1-1. "We hadn't really created anything up to that point," Murray said, "but that got us back to even."
Gansler wanted more composure from his side in the final third. He'd been saying so all spring, but for once, he had little to complain about. "Even though we gave up a cupcake goal, we didn't hang our heads," he said. "We remembered our confidence, stayed upbeat and got through the bad patch."
The decisive moment arrived 12 minutes into the second half, when Polish defender Piotr Czachowski handled inside the area. Referee John Purcell of Ireland pointed to the spot. Vermes, fresh off the plane from the Netherlands, barely 72 hours back with the squad, stepped up and drilled it inside the right post. 2-1. "The ball was bouncing in the middle, and it took a bad bounce," Vermes said afterward. "I couldn't tell whether he handled it purposely, but he handled it for sure. Luckily, the referee saw it."
Poland's coach, Andrzej Strejlau, was direct about what it meant. "The game would have been different if not for the penalty kick," he said. "We collapsed mentally after that."
With 12 minutes remaining, Tab Ramos, who had been industrious all night, retrieved a looping pass from John Harkes on the right wing, found himself boxed into the corner by a defender, manufactured space with a clever wall pass, and laid the ball back into the middle. Chris Sullivan, arriving unmarked, finished from seven yards for his first national team goal since February and the Americans' third.
The 12,063 crowd at Hersheypark was vocal throughout. In the dressing room, the mood reflected what the result meant. "The bad rap on our forwards should be over for a while, at least," Wynalda said. "More than anything, I'm happy we came from behind. We gave up a goal on a gift, and I'm really happy we came right back and won."
The US record against national teams moved to 5-6. It had been an inconsistent year. But three wins in the last five games, and now this, a composed, come-from-behind victory against a side that had pushed England and Sweden in World Cup qualifying, suggested something might be building at exactly the right time.
Six days after the match against Poland, the United States Soccer Federation made it official. The 22-man squad for Italia '90 was announced, with few surprises for those who had been watching the year unfold: Goalkeepers Tony Meola, Kasey Keller and David Vanole. Defenders Desmond Armstrong, Marcelo Balboa, Jimmy Banks, John Doyle, Paul Krumpe, Steve Trittschuh and Mike Windischmann, midfielders Brian Bliss, Paul Caligiuri, Neil Covone, John Harkes, Chris Henderson, Tab Ramos and John Stollmeyer, and forwards Eric Eichmann, Bruce Murray, Chris Sullivan, Peter Vermes and Eric Wynalda.
The most conspicuous absentee was Hugo Perez, the 26-year-old midfielder who had played in France with Red Star 93. A combination of injuries and limited availability had ultimately cost him his place. The group was strikingly young—an average age of 23, with UCLA midfielder Chris Henderson, just 19, the youngest of the lot.
Gansler addressed what the players had built together over the preceding year. "They have had the opportunity to work together and come together, both on the field and off the field," he said. "The team has improved its play in recent weeks."
Before departing for Europe, the US played out a 1-1 draw with Ajax of Amsterdam in Washington, which was a respectable result that added a final note of quiet confidence, before a send-off dinner in Little Italy that blended the solemn and the sardonic in equal measure. Walter Bahr, a midfielder from the 1950 side, was there, and his presence served as both inspiration and perspective. Asked whether the 1950 team could beat the 1990 squad, he was characteristically dry: "If we played, they would beat us by eight or ten goals. Six of our players are dead."
He turned more reflective when talking about what the new generation's journey meant for the old one's legacy. "When we went in 1950, no one knew we went," he said. "After the game was over, the reports back here were minimal. The first 20 years after 1950, it was still pretty much a secret what we had done. In the last 20 years, I've done more interviews talking about the World Cup than ever."
London bookmakers had the Americans listed at 1,500-to-1 for the tournament. Gansler didn't dispute the odds. "We're going to have to have a bit of good fortune on game day," he said. "Is it possible? Yes, that's why you play games."
Italy was waiting. 40 years of waiting were nearly over.
Two Americans with World Cup aspirations will be on opposite sides when Fulham hosts Bournemouth at Craven Cottage on Saturday.
Antonee Robinson has been a reliable presence at left back for Fulham across 19 league appearances this season, but his side head into the weekend in poor form. The Cottagers have found the net just four times in their last eight matches, failing to score in five of their last seven. A 3-0 defeat at Arsenal last weekend was the latest setback, and Robinson's team is now fighting to salvage any hope of European football.
On the other sideline, Tyler Adams and Bournemouth arrive riding a remarkable 15-match unbeaten run—the longest of any team across Europe's top five leagues. Adams has started 19 of Bournemouth's 35 league matches this season, contributing two goals and two assists, and has been an important part of the engine room as the Cherries push for a historic first season in European competition.
"It's not every day that Bournemouth is in this position," Adams said, stressing the importance of staying focused down the stretch. Both players are expected to feature prominently for the USMNT at this summer's World Cup, making Saturday's club clash an intriguing American subplot.
Midfielder's World Cup Summer is Suddenly in Serious Jeopardy
The 24-year-old American midfielder came off the bench for the final 33 minutes of Atletico Madrid's 1-0 Champions League semifinal second-leg defeat to Arsenal on Tuesday, with the Gunners advancing 2-1 on aggregate. Cardoso was tidy in his brief appearance, completing all ten of his pass attempts and winning two of three ground duels, though his side couldn't overcome Bukayo Saka's first-half finish.
Two days later, however, the news turned grim. Atletico announced that Cardoso had suffered a high-grade sprain of his right ankle during Thursday's training session, and the club confirmed he would begin physiotherapy and gym rehabilitation, with his return timeline dependent on how the injury progresses. He is expected to be sidelined for roughly five weeks.
The timing is particularly cruel. USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino must submit a preliminary World Cup roster by May 11, with the final 26-man squad due no later than June 1. The U.S. opens the tournament on June 12 against Paraguay in Los Angeles.
Cardoso will likely make the preliminary list, but whether he recovers in time to earn a spot in the final squad remains very much uncertain.
Defender to Miss the Start of World Cup Camp For a Final
The 26-year-old American center back has been a key contributor throughout Palace's remarkable run in the UEFA Conference League, Europe's third-tier club competition. Richards played an especially influential role in the first leg of the semifinal against Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, where his long throw-in from the left side led directly to a Daichi Kamada goal, helping Palace build a commanding 3-1 advantage heading into the second leg at Selhurst Park.
Palace closed things out Thursday, defeating Shakhtar 2-1 on the night for a 5-2 aggregate victory. Ismaila Sarr, who had also scored within the opening minute of the first leg, the earliest goal in Conference League history, netted the decisive second-leg goal, steering home a Tyrick Mitchell cross to put the tie to bed.
Crystal Palace will now face Spain's Rayo Vallecano in the final on May 27 in Leipzig, Germany, with the winner earning automatic entry into next season's Europa League. It will be the club's first-ever European final. For Richards, the achievement comes with a complication—the final falls on the same day U.S. Men's National Team World Cup preparations officially begin.
On This Day in 2012, the American Reached 50 Premier League Goals in His Final Home Appearance for Fulham
The record books had barely settled after Bolton when Dempsey went and added another chapter. April 9, Craven Cottage, Chelsea, the visitors. The match ended 1-1, Frank Lampard's first-half penalty canceled out by an 82nd-minute Dempsey equalizer that felt less like a salvage job and more like a statement. 22 goals for the season. The suitors were already circling. The Cottage faithful, for their part, were beginning to wonder how much longer they could hold onto him.
Three weeks and one heavy defeat at Everton later, Fulham welcomed Sunderland for their final home game of the season. The occasion carried a weight that the standings alone couldn't quite capture. Martin Jol's side had just pulled off a famous win at Anfield, their first there in living memory, and arrived at the Cottage sitting on 49 points, one shy of what would be their best-ever Premier League total. Jol himself, returning to the dugout after missing two matches with a chest infection, had done the arithmetic publicly. Win both remaining games, and they finish on 55. A record, comfortably. One more win and a draw would equal the 53-point benchmark Roy Hodgson had set three years prior.
Sunderland, for their part, were a side in transition. Martin O'Neill had steadied the ship since arriving in December, steering them clear of the drop, but a summer rebuild was coming, and everyone knew it. Several of his players were auditioning for their futures. The problem, as O'Neill would later acknowledge, was that none of them had managed 10 league goals all season. Dempsey, by contrast, was on 22.
Goal starts at 7:08
Jol made a single change from the Anfield win, bringing Mahamadou Diarra in for Alex Kacaniklic. Fulham were quickly into their stride. A visionary Danny Murphy ball in the seventh minute sent Damien Duff racing clear, but Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was sharp at his near post to deny him. The crowd sensed something, though. When a marauding Diarra was hauled down 25 yards from goal, and as referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot where the free-kick would be taken, a murmur ran around the Cottage. They knew who was stepping up.
They'd seen it before, of course—the Bolton free-kick, curling and precise, struck with controlled ferocity. What Dempsey produced here was, if anything, better. He bent the ball around the wall and into the top corner with such venom that Mignolet, who got fingertips to it, could only watch it nestle into the net. Twelve minutes gone. His 23rd goal of the season. And the 50th of his Premier League career, the first American ever to reach that milestone. The Cottage erupted. Somewhere in the stands, a large banner urged him to stay.
Sunderland wobbled but steadied. They passed the ball with more composure than their position suggested, and on 34 minutes, from a flowing move that caught Fulham flat, right-back Phil Bardsley received the ball from Ji Dong-Won and absolutely lashed it home from 30 yards. A genuine screamer, only his second league goal of the campaign. The Cottage fell momentarily quiet. It lasted approximately 60 seconds. Mousa Dembélé gathered the ball, drove forward with the directness that had defined his second half of the season, and struck a shot from distance that clipped Michael Turner and looped over Mignolet and into the top corner. Craven Cottage crackled back to life. Jol was animated on the touchline. O'Neill slumped.
The second half was a study in Fulham composure punctuated by Sunderland anxiety. Mignolet made a sharp stop to deny Duff, and Dempsey came agonizingly close to a second when his header from a Brede Hangeland ball over the top drew a goal-line clearance from Jack Colback. O'Neill threw on Nicklas Bendtner and Fraizer Campbell in search of a lifeline, and the game's nerves tightened as a result. Bendtner headed down into Campbell's path with the goal gaping, the kind of chance that ends careers when missed, and Campbell dragged it wide. Schwarzer beat away Campbell's last effort deep in stoppage time. The final whistle blew. Fulham 2, Sunderland 1. 52 points. Jol, who rarely allows himself sentiment, took a lap of honor.
The numbers around Dempsey had become almost impossible to contextualize by this point. 23 goals from midfield, predominantly from wide positions. 50 Premier League goals in total, a barrier no American had ever cleared. Fourth in the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year vote, behind only Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes—the kind of company that, even in his finest dreams, a kid from Nacogdoches, Texas might not have imagined keeping.
"Clint doesn't surprise me in his game," Jol said, with the measured pride of a manager who had backed his instincts. "He knows what the fans think of him, and hopefully it will be enough for him to sign his new contract."
The banner in the stands had said the same thing, less diplomatically. Whether Dempsey had already made up his mind is hard to say. What is certain is that the crowd that afternoon, and the journalists filing their match reports in the Cottage press box, felt the occasion deserved marking. "If this was Dempsey's final game at Craven Cottage," Julian Bennetts of the Daily Telegraph wrote, "it was the perfect way to say goodbye." It had the ring of a eulogy written in hope that it wouldn't be needed.
It was needed. On August 31, without fanfare, Fulham released a short statement. Clint Dempsey had joined Tottenham Hotspur. The club thanked him for his contribution and wished him well.
Fulham finished ninth that season, beaten 2-0 in their final game at White Hart Lane—a ground Dempsey would soon call his own. The record points haul went unclaimed by a single point. But the season itself, with its European campaign and its unlikely run of form and its one brilliant American at the center of it all, stood as something the club would measure itself against for years to come.
The Cottage had given him a proper send-off, even if nobody knew it at the time. He had, characteristically, given it one back.
