As Patrick Agyemang strolled through the lobby of the U.S. men’s national team’s 5-star hotel in the swanky Buckhead district of Atlanta late last month, the mother of two young soccer fans approached the lanky young striker.
“Are you a player?,” she asked. Agyemang stopped, flashed his 1000-watt smile and, somewhat sheepishly, confirmed that he was and introduced himself.
Witnessing this interaction was a timely reminder both of the national team’s place within the larger American sports landscape and of how the coming World Cup has the power to turn someone like Agyemang — a 25-year-old former Division III college player from Connecticut who’d never represented his country at any level until last year — into a mainstream celebrity in a matter of weeks.
At least it had.
On Wednesday, English second-tier club Derby County confirmed that Agyemang, probably a World Cup roster shoo-in for USA coach Mauricio Pochettino even before he scored his sixth international goal against No. 9-ranked Belgium on March 28, will miss the tournament after rupturing his Achilles tendon.
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(Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
It’s a dream-crushing blow for Agyemang, obviously. We’ll get to that in a minute. But it’s also a big loss for the U.S. and for Pochettino, who seemed poised to use the 6-foot-4 forward off the bench at the World Cup, or possibly even as a starter should top choice Folarin Balogun get injured or suspended.
This is the greatest World Cup fear for every player everywhere: because it comes just once every four years, even a relatively minor ailment at exactly the wrong moment can ruin what’s often a once-in-a-career experience. There’s no guarantee a player who can’t participate ever gets another chance.
All that said, Pochettino still has 26 available roster spots. If the assumption is that Agyemang would have taken one, an available place just opened up. That sure can’t hurt the odds of fellow strikers Ricardo Pepi and Haji Wright, who just went from probable inclusions to almost certain locks. It also boosts the chances of strikers who haven’t been called in lately (Josh Sargent, Brian White) but who are now possibly just one more injury away from serious consideration.
And there could be a knock-on effect down the roster. Since there’s no like-for-like replacement for Agyemang, Poch could bring another defender or midfielder or winger that he otherwise wouldn’t. A versatile option who can plug multiple positions, like 2022 World Cup alum Joe Scally, is another possibility.
We’ll find out when the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager names his selections on May 26. What’s certain is that Agyemang’s loss will be someone else’s gain.
Talking to him that day in Georgia’s capital, it was clear that Agyemang fully understood that the opportunity o play in a World Cup on home soil was unique. After coming so agonizingly close to achieving every soccer player’s dream, something he said hits differently.
“This career goes quick,” the Agyemang told me. “You have to enjoy it.”
Stock Up 📈
Although he didn’t add to his eight international goals last month, Balogun is now even more firmly entrenched up top. He also keeps scoring at club level, with 15 combined in the UEFA Champions League and Ligue 1. His divine chip on Sunday against Weah’s Marseille is the best of the bunch so far.
The best American player on the planet throughout 2026 picked up where he left off in Juve’s first game after March’s international break. On Monday, Worldwide Wes scored his ninth goal of the season in Juve’s 2-0 Serie A win over Genoa.
Somewhat lost amid the negatively that followed the defeats to Belgium and Portugal was the return of Jedi, who’d missed more than a year of national team action pre- and post-knee surgery. The left back started both games and flashed the ability that made him U.S. Soccer’s Male player of the Year in 2024. Robinson and the Cottagers return to action at Liverpool on Saturday.
If there were questions about Freese status as the USA’s World Cup No. 1before the March games, he answered them with a commanding performance in the 2-0 loss to the Portuguese. The Harvard grad, who helped the Pigeons earn a point in St. Louis last weekend, will take on Sebastian Berhalter’s Vancouver Whitecaps north of the border on Saturday.
Timing is everything ahead of a World Cup and Trusty’s is good: With Miles Robinson hurt, the left-footed center back was one of the best American performers versus Portugal. He also appears to have won back his job in Glasgow, going 90 minutes in Sunday’s 2-1 win at Dundee United after sitting out four straight Scottish Premiership games.
Although Poch has never seemed totally sold on Scally, a defensively sound stay-at-home right back who doesn’t attack up the flank the way Sergiño Dest or Alex Freeman or Tim Weah can, his experience at left and center back is compelling. With Dest still nursing a torn hamstring and Freeman still not starting in Spain, could that newly-open roster spot go to Joe?
He played just 11 minutes for the national team in March but continues to have a fine season for Premier League Leeds. On Sunday, he won a penalty that Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored from, then converted his shootout attempt in the tiebreaker to help send Daniel Farke’s team to the FA Cup semifinals. Leeds will face Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on April 26.
Left off the March roster after missing the start of the MLS season because of injury, Luna responded in the way Pochettino wanted: by getting on the scoresheet for RSL. Luna’s first goal of 2026 arrived less than three minutes into his first start.
Stock Down 📉
Not to bury the lead here, but Pulisic’s struggles over the last few months is easily the biggest concern facing the national team ahead of hosting the largest World Cup in history. The 27-year-old star has now gone 13 games without a goal for the Rossoneri. He’s gone scoreless in eight for his country. Yes, there’s still time for the USA’s top attacker to find his form. If he doesn’t, it’s hard to see how the home team can make a deep run.
Robinson got hurt in training in Atlanta, which isn’t his fault. Missing both games still hurts Miles, who anchors a FCC back line that has conceded 15 times in six MLS games. He was on the field when Cincy gave up five more goals in a lopsided March 19 defeat to Mexico’s Tigres that eliminated them from the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Not only did Arfsten struggle in his brief cameos (18 minutes total) against Belgium and Portugal, Jedi’s backup now no longer a left back at club level. In each of the Fresno, California product’s six MLS appearances this season, Crew boss Henrik Rydström has deployed Arfsten as a dedicated winger with more defensive-minded Dane Malte Amundsen behind him.
Another player who could, in theory, benefit from the opening Agyemang’s injury created. But in the deepest position in the player pool, hard-tackling Morris’s best chance of a World Cup trip could be if one (or more) of Tyler Adams, Johnny Cardoso or Tanner Tessmann can’t make it.
