Three USMNT Players Who Must Prove Themselves in Germany Friendly

After its confidence-building win against Senegal on Sunday, the U.S. men’s national team has just one more tune-up friendly before kicking off 2026 FIFA World Cup play on home soil, which means manager Mauricio Pochettino has just one more opportunity to determine his starting lineup for soccer’s most competitive showcase.

The Stars and Stripes will face European powerhouse Germany on Saturday in front of a sold-out crowd at Soldier Field in Chicago. It will be a key chance for Pochettino not only to solidify his tournament plans, but also for the Stars and Stripes to continue to prove themselves as a real contender this summer, an identity they set in motion with the 3–2 victory over the No. 14 globally-ranked West Africans last week. Should the No. 16-ranked U.S. secure a draw or even a win against the No. 10-ranked Europeans, it would signify promise for a highly successful summer.

Although the USMNT provided a strong performance last week across the board, there are a few players who still need to prove themselves in the friendly against Germany if they hope to make a real impact on the World Cup stage.

Matt Freese

Matt Freese, 27, is the USMNT’s anticipated starting goalkeeper this summer; however, Pochettino’s mind is far from made up. The Argentine boss put both New England Revolution’s Matt Turner and Chicago Fire’s Chris Brady between the sticks against Senegal, and even if that was a decision made predominately to save New York City FC’s Freese for the match against the tougher of the week’s two opponents, the fact that Pochettino is still trialing all three of his rostered goalkeepers indicates he is still adamant to see all of them in game action.

Turner, 31, also split matches with Freese during the March international window, playing 90 minutes against Belgium, while Freese played the full Portugal friendly.

Turner also has the advantage of veteran experience with 54 total caps, debuting for the senior team in 2021 before becoming a key starter at the 2022 World Cup. Freese, conversely, only made his debut last year, capitalizing on Turner’s downturn in form in 2025 Concacaf Nations League play and usurping the starting position at the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Freese only has 14 caps for the U.S. thus far and will need to have a strong showing against Germany to fully convince Pochettino that he is the clear starter, despite his lack of experience and time spent under soccer’s brightest lights.

Haji Wright

Haji Wright, 28, was one of just three healthy players on the USMNT that did not feature in Sunday’s friendly. Pochettino employed the likes of Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun at the No. 9 position over him, but the striker is likely to earn some minutes on Saturday.

Pepi started the match against Senegal, the PSV Eindhoven striker combining brilliantly with the USMNT’s star player Christian Pulisic in the final third and notching an assist on the second goal. Balogun relieved him in the second half, and the Monaco goalscoring machine notched the game-winner in the 63rd, but not after creating two more goal chances that were deemed offsides.

The masterful acts of Pepi and Balogun will be hard for Wright to follow, but the Coventry City forward must try against Germany if he wishes for any minutes on the pitch this summer. Brilliance is well within Wright’s wheelhouse, having scored 17 goals in the Championship this season to secure the Sky Blues’ Premier League promotion for the first time since 2001 and finish third in the Golden Boot race.

Auston Trusty

Auston Trusty, 27, has a real opportunity in front of him to earn a starting role this summer at center back, no matter if Pochettino employs a three-back or a four-back formation.

On Sunday, Pochettino resorted to a three-back, a formation that yielded the U.S. great success last fall but was briefly abandoned in the March international window for a more traditional four-back lineup. Although Trusty did not earn the start, he substituted onto the pitch at halftime for veteran captain Tim Ream and immediately gave a more promising performance on the backline.

Where 38-year-old Ream was unconfident, lacked dynamic movements and struggled under pressure with the ball at his feet, Trusty was contrastingly poised, explosive and integral to second-half buildups. He also had three big defensive contributions, presenting a clear picture to Pochettino that Ream isn’t the obvious starting choice despite his captaincy.

Especially amid the continued injury setback of defensive stalwart Chris Richards, who reportedly trained separately from the squad on Tuesday, Trusty must follow up last week’s performance with another solid outing against Germany to prove to Pochettino that he is a more consistent and reliable option.

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