The last time the US hosted Men’s World Cup games was in 1994, when Alexi Lalas was out on the pitch. The USMNT’s talent pool and profile have continued to grow steadily over the last couple of decades, but they haven’t found the signature breakout performance to transform their international reputation.

The Americans enter the 2026 tournament ranked 17 in FIFA’s World Rankings, after watching World Cup co-host Mexico take home the last two Gold Cups. Their recent World Cup record has been consistently competent – they’ve made it out of Group Stage in three of the last five Cups, but they haven’t advanced through a knockout game since 2002 (when they lost to Germany 1-0).

FanDuel’s World Cup odds foretell a similar pattern this year. The Americans are -135 favorites to reach the sweet 16, but +260 underdogs to reach the quarterfinals (tied with Colombia for 13th). They lag far behind France, Spain, England, and other leading favorites to win the tournament.

Here’s a list of all 26 players who’ll be looking to change the USMNT’s fortunes and make the leap to international stardom.

#20 Folarin Balogun led AS Monaco in goals scored last season, and he’s entering the World Cup as the betting favorite to be the US’s top goalscorer. He averaged about 0.5 goals + assists per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 play.

#9 Ricardo Pepi broke his forearm in January, but he used his feet to establish himself as a high scoring option for PSV Eindhoven in Dutch Eredivisie.

#19 Haji Wright was the lead goalscorer (17 goals) for the Coventry City club that earned promotion to the Premier League after winning the English League Championship in April.

#21 Timothy Weah comes from Ballon d’Or lineage (his father, George Weah, won in 1995), and he helped Olympique Marseille to a fifth place finish in Ligue 1.

#26 Alejandro Zendejas has scored nine or more goals in each of the last three seasons for Club América in Liga MX.

#10 Christian Pulisic is eight years removed from being named the youngest-ever USMNT captain, and he’s now an experienced veteran entering his physical prime at 27. He went through an extended scoring drought but still netted eight goals overall for AC Milan, and he enters the tournament as the market’s second-best bet for top US goalscorer.

#4 Tyler Adams was playing well for AFC Bournemouth before suffering a torn MCL in December 2025. He’s had about four months to work himself back into form, and will be an important defensive presence.

#8 Weston McKennie might still line up at midfield for the US, but he has stepped up to start at forward for Juventus, and put away five goals and five assists in Serie A.

#7 Gio Reyna played primarily as a sub last year for Borussia Mönchengladbach after spending the previous six seasons with Borussia Dortmund. His father, Claudio Reyna, was on the 2002 USMNT squad that made it to the quarterfinals.

#17 Malik Tillman established himself as a starter with Bayer Leverkusen, scoring six goals in the Bundesliga last year.

#11 Brenden Aaronson took a step forward with Leeds United this year, logging 4 goals and a team-high 5 assists.

#14 Sebastian Berhalter has helped lead the Vancouver Whitecaps FC to four straight Canadian Cups. His father is former USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter.

#15 Cristian Roldan plays for Seattle Sounders FC, and helped them win the 2025 Leagues Cup.

#18 Max Arfsten plays for the Columbus Crew in league play, and he started all but one game in the USMNT’s runner-up finish in the 2025 Gold Cup.

#13 Tim Ream is captain of this year’s squad, and an experienced vet with 82 caps under his belt. He’s been a steady defensive presence for Charlotte FC.

#16 Alex Freeman is enjoying his first season with Villarreal CF after a breakout 2025 in which he scored six goals for Orlando FC. He came up with two goals in USMNT 2025 friendlies.

#12 Miles Robinson helped FC Cincinnati pull within one point of the top of the MLS table last year.

#2 Sergino Dest has had two years to recover from an ACL injury, and has played both offense and defense for a PSV Eindhoven team that ran away with the Dutch Eredivisie title.

#3 Chris Richards started 31 games for Crystal Palace, serving as a constant presence and helping the club avoid relegation from the Premier League.

#5 Antonee Robinson just finished his fifth season playing with Fulham FC.

#23 Joe Scally earned appearances in 32 out of 34 matches for Borussia Mönchengladbach.

#6 Auston Trusty helped Celtic FC secure first place in the Scottish Premiership.

#22 Mark McKenzie played on a Toulouse team that finished in the middle of the pack of France’s Ligue 1.

#24 Matt Freese, the likely starter, went to Harvard before turning pro after two years. He now plays for New York City FC.

#1 Matt Turner brings World Cup experience, and holds down the nets for New England Revolution in MLS play.

#25 Chris Brady is a homegrown product of Chicago Fire FC, and likely the third option in net for this year’s Cup.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially underway and we had five goals scored on the first day of action across two games. The first game on offer saw host nation Mexico dispatch South Africa 2-0. Even though El Tri’s goals were historic for different reasons, there ended up being more red cards (three) than goals. If you had that on your bingo card for the opener, congratulations.

In the late game, South Korea pulled off a comeback victory over Czechia in the second half after a strong display that could fuel a magical run in the competition. Hwang In-Beom and substitute Oh Hyun-Gyu both scored in a 13-minute span to secure all three points.

Check out all the goals, red cards and more from the opening day of action.

Julián Quiñones becomes first Concacaf player to score opening World Cup goal

Mexico opened the tournament in front of the El Tri faithful at the Estadio Azteca (Mexico City Stadium) looking to break their opening match curse. Some sloppy play out of the back by South Africa saw Sphephelo Sithole barged off the ball in a dangerous area. As soon as Quiñones gathered it, a goal felt inevitable. The roar of the crowd truly signified the start of the tournament.

From bad to worse for Sithole…

An opening day South Africa is going to want to forget fast. The midfielder committed a DOGSO offense, or denial of a goalscoring opportunity, just on the edge of the box and he was shown his marching orders. The only silver lining, if there was to be one, was that it wasn’t a penalty.

Raul Jiménez has his moment!

Raul Jiménez is very much Mexico’s talisman up top. The 35-year-old rose to prominence during his time in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham. Though, a head injury in the 2020-21 season threatened to end his career early. For everything he’s gone through to rebuild himself over the years, you could tell by his celebration and the noise emanating from those in attendance how much his first World Cup goal meant to him. What a moment.

If Mexico is to go deep in the tournament, they’ll need their striker firing on all cylinders.

Themba Zwade put South Africa in an even deeper hole late in the second half after being shown a red card for violent conduct. From worse to… catastrophic?

César Montes gets in on the action… the wrong kind!

It would’ve been the immaculate opening to the World Cup for Mexico having won their first opening match of the tournament in their team’s history if not for César Montes’s red card in second half stoppage time. Ruled a denial of a goalscoring opportunity, it’s more than an unforced error given they were up two goals against nine men with less than six minutes to play in the game.

Montes, Sithole and Zwade are all suspended for their next respective games in the tournament.

Czechia-rsenal? Set piece goals have arrived

South Korea vs. Czechia was a fascinating display. Hong Myung-Bo’s team tried to establish their possession-based system, playing through the lines early while relying on stars Lee Kang-in and Son Heung-min to provide the decisive moment. For all the dangerous chances they created early, however, it was Czechia who broke the deadlock in the second half.

A long throw set piece saw defender Ladislav Krejcí rise highest in the box, blasting a header into the back of the net. There were question marks of offside with a player standing in front of the goalkeeper, but the goal was given.

Set piece again, ole ole! Or… set piece for the first time this summer, ole ole? Arsenal coach Nicolas Jover must be licking his lips.

The South Korean response

Hwang In-Beom wasted little time getting his country back in the game. The Feyenoord midfielder made a dangerous run in-behind Czechia’s backline, deftly chopped the ball onto his right foot as he sent a defender for a souvenir before tucking the ball in at the far post. The goal of the day? Perhaps!

The substitute secures the points!

Oh Hyun-Gyu was the hero on the day scoring the game-winner off the bench in the 80th minute. A brilliant ball over the top found Hwang who doubled his goal contributions on the night with a deadly cross to find Oh. The entire action personified South Korea’s willingness to stick to their game plan and they were rewarded for it in the end. All three points puts the Koreans in a strong position to qualify for the knockout stage.

While there weren’t any red cards in the second game, Son reminded fans around the world attending games to pay attention at all times. The LAFC superstar tried a rifled effort from outside the box that went over the bar and into the stands.

It looked like the fan tried to deflect the ball down, but it bounced up and hit them in the face. One, hope they’re okay and two, stay alert for any errant shots for the rest of the tournament please.

Have your say in our poll to decide what the goal of the day was, as we cover every goal, goof and everything in between throughout the World Cup.