U.S. men’s national team to reveal World Cup roster Tuesday

Mauricio Pochettino will put a hard number on his vision for the U.S. men’s national team on Tuesday, when U.S. Soccer unveils the 26-player World Cup roster in a live event from New York City. The reveal, scheduled for 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET on FOX, is being treated as more than a list of names. It is the first public answer to how Pochettino intends to shape a team that has more than 70 players under review and one overriding mandate: find the “right 26.”

The stakes stretch beyond selection drama. U.S. Soccer has made the roster announcement part of its Never Chase Reality campaign, and the federation is staging a fan celebration at the Rooftop at Pier 17 in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport starting at 1 p.m. ET. It is being billed as the first-ever live fan celebration tied to a USMNT World Cup roster reveal, with U.S. Soccer legends, FOX Sports broadcasters, live entertainment and other fan programming. The event is free to attend.

The timing only sharpens the scrutiny. The roster reveal comes before the U.S. plays its final two pre-World Cup friendlies, against Senegal on May 31 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Germany on June 6 in Chicago. Then comes the real measure: the Americans open the 2026 World Cup group stage against Paraguay on Friday, June 12, in Los Angeles, with the tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

FIFA has said each World Cup squad will include 26 players, the same number used at Qatar 2022. National teams may announce their squads before FIFA formally confirms the official lists on Tuesday, June 2, but the selections are not official until then. For Pochettino, the task has been less about name recognition than balance, fit and purpose. He has said the challenge is choosing the “right 26,” not simply the best 26.

That distinction matters because the roster is also a signal about what U.S. soccer believes it is becoming. A team chasing its first men’s World Cup title has little room for sentiment, especially with the pressure of a home-soil tournament and a spotlight that will be brighter than any previous U.S. campaign. Tuesday’s reveal will show which players Pochettino trusts to carry that burden, and whether the program is built for comfort or for the demands of a national team trying to turn expectation into history.