USMNT’s Four Best Players of the Week—Midfielder Ends Four-Year Drought

The USMNT will face Belgium and Portugal later this month.

Yunus Musah scored his first goal since 2022 on Sunday. | Image Photo Agency/Getty Images

In just two short weeks, USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino will name a U.S. men’s national team roster for March friendlies against Belgium and Portugal as the 2026 World Cup draws closer.

This week will see the USMNT’s June 12 opening match against Paraguay tick past the 100-day mark. As such, the situation for players chasing a roster spot becomes all the more stressful.

Some players have embraced the challenge and elevated their game.

Here, Sports Illustrated takes a look at four of the best U.S. players from across the world over the past week. 

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Yunus Musah

A FIRST SERIE A GOAL FOR AMERICAN YUNUS MUSAH 🇺🇸🔥 pic.twitter.com/WPNdD4EB9V

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 1, 2026

Yunus Musah is doing everything he can to crack Pochettino’s roster. 

On Sunday, the Atalanta midfielder took a massive step forward, netting his first Serie A goal and snapping a four-year goal drought in a 2–1 road loss to Sassuolo.  Musah’s goal came in the final three minutes of the match. The 23 year old made a late-arriving run into the box before firing a first-touch finish off a cross from Davide Zappacosta to cut the deficit to a single goal. 

His last competitive goal at the club level had come with Valencia against Atlético Madrid, back in January 2022. 

While his 15 Serie A appearances and three starts are significant, it’s the least amount of playing time in his senior career. Still, he has shown promise since the calendar flipped to 2026, with seven appearances so far in the new year.

Despite the ever-growing gap since his last USMNT call-up in March 2025 and now, he is still holding out hope for the World Cup roster.

Previously he told Sports Illustrated that he saw Pochettino’s consistent rotation as “opportunities to see lots of different players.“ 

A goal to snap Musah’s drought is a massive step toward finding his way back into the international picture. Should he make the team, Musah would bring significant experience as a regular starter in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

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Folarin Balogun

Folarin Balogun is enjoying a stellar run of form. | Valery HACHE/AFP/Getty Images

Folarin Balogun is the most in-form U.S. striker at this point, netting his 12th goal across all competitions in Monaco’s 2–0 Ligue 1 win over Angers on Saturday. It was his sixth in league play.

While the race for the USMNT’s starting striker role has heated up over the last several weeks, Balogun’s continued goalscoring is pushing those questions aside. At a minimum, he is sure to get the starting opportunity in the March window.

With his latest strike, he has now scored four goals in his last four matches and will hope to carry that form into the next match against Paris Saint-Germain on Friday, a team he scored a brace against in the UEFA Champions League last month.

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Haji Wright

Haji Wright is chasing the Golden Boot in the English Championship. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

As Balogun ramps up the confidence in his own goalscoring form, Haji Wright is making sure not to get too comfortable.

He played 79 minutes in Coventry City’s 2-1 win over Stoke City on Saturday in the English Championship, bringing him to 16 goals across all competitions. 

Of those goals, 15 have come in league play, putting him second in the race for the second division’s Golden Boot, only one goal behind Swansea City’s Žan Vipotnik.

While the Championship may not rival many of Balogun’s regular Ligue 1 and Champions League opponents, it has shown to be a beneficial league for American strikers. At a minimum, Wright’s output potentially puts him as a second option for now, ahead of Derby County’s Patrick Agyemang and Toronto FC strikerJosh Sargent.

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Julian Hall

Julian Hall has enjoyed a standout start to the 2026 MLS season. | Adam Hunger/Getty Images

Julian Hall isn’t a realistic option for 2026, but he’s a name you’ll want to become familiar with for 2030, especially given his start to what is already his fourth season in MLS. 

The 17-year-old Red Bull New York striker has been potent in the first two weeks of the season, scoring three goals on six shots, including a brace on opening day against Orlando City and another goal in a 1–0 win over the New England Revolution this weekend. 

Playing under manager Michael Bradley, a former USMNT star himself, Hall is leading a youth movement for RBNY and will likely be integrated at an appropriate level, given Bradley’s experience as the former RBNY II manager in MLS Next Pro. 

Will the 17-year-old win the MLS Golden Boot this season? Probably not, but it’s a promising start for the New York City native, nonetheless.

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