USMNT World Cup roster reveal: Ricardo Pepi, Zack Steffen out; Haji Wright, Josh Sargent in for Qatar 2022
Pepi #Pepi
The United States men’s national team roster for this month’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar was unveiled Wednesday in Brooklyn by Gregg Berhalter and it came with some shocking omissions.
As reported the night before, longtime No. 1 goalkeeper Zack Steffen was kept out of the 26-player squad in favor of Matt Turner, Ethan Horvath and Sean Johnson. The move paves the way for Turner to battle for the starting job in goal. Joining Steffen is Ricardo Pepi, who was viewed as the future star striker for the national team thanks to some clutch performances in World Cup qualifying. Barring injury, the 19-year-old, now playing for Groningen in the Netherlands, will watch the United States from home.
Berhalter also had quite the shocking and surprising selection at striker, bringing Haji Wright along with expected forwards Josh Sargent and Jesus Ferreira. The roster is a young one, as expected, with DeAndre Yedlin being the only player on the list to have participated in a previous World Cup.
This is the United States’ first trip to the tournament since 2014 after failing to qualify for the 2018 edition. The Americans were drawn in Group B alongside Wales, England and Iran. The top two teams will advance to the round of 16.
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Due to the tournament taking place in the midst of the club season in Europe, squads will now consist of 26 players as opposed to 23. Each team privately submitted a pre-list consisting of 35 to 55 players in October and they will have until 24 hours before the first match to make any injury changes to the full 26-man squad.
USMNT World Cup squad
USMNT World Cup schedule
Monday, Nov. 21: vs. Wales, 2 p.m. ETFriday, Nov. 25: vs. England, 2 p.m. ETTuesday, Nov. 29: vs. Iran, 2 p.m. ET
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