After the 2026 World Cup, Mauricio Pochettino called 13 debutants into the US squad, which won four consecutive matches while Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie stayed with their Italian clubs.
The Americans beat Peru 4-1, Chile 4-2 and Mexico 3-0 in their first three matches after the tournament. They closed the international window with a 1-0 win over Canada. Pochettino included eight teenagers in the squad.
The Guardian argues the run was notable not just for the number of young players, but also because the team coped without two players long regarded as central to its plans. Pulisic stayed at AC Milan while trying to regain his manager’s confidence, while McKennie remained at Juventus to recover from an injury.
Author Leander Schaerlaeckens links the squad’s depth to a longstanding tendency in US soccer to wait for the next player-saviour. Coaches in the 1990s spoke about building for the future, and World Cup hopes later centred on Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Clint Dempsey and then Pulisic.
After a disappointing home World Cup in 2026, the four wins without Pulisic and McKennie suggest, in the author’s view, that responsibility is now more widely shared. He identifies Cavan Sullivan, Julian Hall, Adri Mehmeti, Zavier Gozo, Justin Ellis and Mathis Albert as young players who could take on leading roles.