3 Players Mauricio Pochettino Must Call for the USMNT March Friendlies
Back before the calendar flipped to 2026, U.S. men’s national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino said he hoped that his late May, Pre-World Cup roster would effectively be his World Cup squad, looking to avoid heartbreaking final cuts before the tournament kicks off in early June.
With that mindset, there is added pressure on the March international window—the last camp until then and, thus, the final opportunity to impress before the door slams shut. Of course, nothing is stopping Pochettino from making final cuts from a larger-than-26-player roster in June —but it’s clear he doesn’t want to.
The USMNT head to Atlanta later this month to face UEFA giants Belgium and Portugal in a pair of friendlies and are expected to call up a slightly larger roster, looking to narrow down decisions.
Here, Sports Illustrated takes a look at three players that Pochettino and his staff need to call-up and consider ahead of any final decisions.
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Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps)
Few players did more to improve their stock in 2025 and thus far in 2026 than Sebastian Berhalter, whose lung-busting runs and ball-winning abilities make him one of the best defensive midfielders in MLS at just 24 years old. At the same time, his performances from set pieces and curled balls into the box may rank him among the best U.S. players.
Playing as a more offensive piece in the Vancouver Whitecaps’ pivot to a 4-2-3-1, Berhalter has a keen eye to make a quick, threaded pass to a striker on the run. This skill suits U.S. strikers Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi and Patrick Agyemang in the way they tend to attack.
At the same time, Berhalter’s delivery from set-pieces stood out in nearly every match and turned heads in the fall, when he scored and assisted from a free kick and a corner kick in the USMNT’s win against Uruguay to close 2025.
For a depth spot, Berhalter is nearing a lock for the USMNT this summer, making any exclusion from the March camp a major misstep from Pochettino and his staff.
Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough)
Once a highly sought-after dual national during his days in MLS with Columbus Crew, Aidan Morris’s stock has only risen as he stars with Middlesbrough in the English Championship.
While the 24-year-old has not taken hold of a certain spot on the U.S. roster through his 13 previous caps, his play in England this season is by far enough to warrant a serious look this month. This season, the midfielder has three assists in 29 starts for a team battling for promotion to the Premier League, having formed a midfield duo with English 23-year-old Hayden Hackney.
The key to his game has been his ball progressions from defensive midfield, while also bringing the physicality needed at the position in the Championship. His 0.17 Expected Assists per 90 minutes sits in the top 12 percent of all players in his position across the league, while he amasses more touches on the ball per 90 minutes than any other similar player as well.
With the USMNT, he would play a depth role this summer as a late-game, energetic player who can impact an offensive push, and those qualities are invaluable in this window, especially against top-level competition.
Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
If Pochettino is certain that this will be the final opportunity for players to impress before he names the World Cup roster, then Joe Scally needs to be in the camp, especially with the top right back option, Sergiño Dest, unavailable due to injury.
While Scally, who plays in a 3-5-2, offers immensely different skillsets to Dest, he still brings top-level regular minutes, as well as time spent as a more defensive-focused fullback—even if he would likely need a more tenacious winger up the right side to elevate his offensive play.
Should the USMNT stick with a back three, there may only be two spots for right backs on the final 26-person roster. One of them is sure to go to Dest if healthy, but the other will come down to a battle between Scally and Villarreal’s Alex Freeman, who may fit the wingback system but not be able to play as a wider central defender in a back three.
This season, Scally has been a regular starter in the Bundesliga with Borussia Mönchengladbach, playing both right back and right wingback as the club fights for safety in a tense relegation battle.
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