And now, we wait.
The U.S. men’s national team has played its final two games before the 2022 World Cup, and they weren’t pretty. First Gregg Berhalter’s side put in a dire performance in a 2-0 defeat to Japan. Then there was an uninspiring 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia.
Now, all Berhalter can do is watch his players at their club sides and hope that none of them get injured, and also pray that Gio Reyna’s muscle problem against Saudi Arabia really was as minor as he made it seem.
Right now, the only key USMNT player who definitely won’t recover from injury in time for the World Cup appears to be Miles Robinson (Reggie Cannon is a question mark). Several players were missing from September’s roster with injuries, but all will return soon or are already back.
This projection assumes all will be healthy besides Robinson. For Berhalter, that is a dream scenario and also an unlikely one.
Here are the 26 players we see heading to the World Cup.