The U.S. men’s national team is facing a busy summer, and it sounds like fans should expect a lot of players being tested.
Interim head coach B.J. Callaghan said as much on Thursday, repeatedly emphasizing that one of his major objectives in the coming months is to expand and deepen the player pool with an eye on the 2026 World Cup.
“The main objective that we were trying to accomplish here with the Nations League and looking to the Gold Cup, is how we can expose the most amount of players in our player pool,” Callaghan told reporters in a press conference shortly after releasing his CONCACAF Nations League roster.
While the Nations League squad includes some USMNT stalwarts like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Antonee Robinson, there are also three uncapped players (Folarin Balogun, Drake Callender, and Josh Cohen) and four more with three or fewer caps.
The newly-appointed coach noted that in the absence of World Cup qualifying, it will be vital “to make them battle-tested in knockout type of games, tournament group play type of games.”
“It’s two big tournaments for us,” said Callaghan. “An important piece for us [is] to use as many players as possible, to make sure that as we continue on this journey to the 2026 World Cup, these big moments that come across, we have the most experienced player pool as possible.”
Callaghan: ‘Pressure testing’ key
Callaghan made it clear that the focus in the coming months will include identifying new contributors and helping youth national team players take the next step up the ladder.
“It’s the same reason that Mikey Varas is down with the U-20 group, that is a really strong group and doing a lot and having a lot of success,” said Callaghan. “It’s our responsibility to have as many players exposed to high-level, knockout stage, group stage type of environments. That’s going to extend beyond the Gold Cup as well, when we look into 2024 and 2025, when you’re looking at the Olympics and you’re looking at Copa America and all of these tournaments.”
For the 41-year-old, making sure the team is ready for high-pressure environments — especially as the schedule will lack the cauldron that is qualifying in CONCACAF — is an imperative. That means both from the angle of analyzing individual players, and in terms of readying a robust internal culture for a World Cup in just over three years’ time.
“You’re pressure testing your on-field ability, you’re pressure testing each individual’s ability to handle the pressure, and you’re also pressure testing the culture, right?” explained Callaghan. “That’s what holds everything together and allows you to be successful.”
“We don’t know what the 2026 player pool is going to look like,” said Callaghan. “This is what we’re dealing with in the short term, but it’s a much broader picture of how we can prepare a wide, deep player pool for competition as we prepare for 2026.”
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