Christian Pulisic Back for U.S. Men’s Team; Weston McKennie, Matt Turner Out

Doug McIntyre

Soccer Journalist

Christian Pulisic is back with the U.S. men’s national team after skipping this summer’s Gold Cup. But there was no place for Pulisic’s fellow 2022 World Cup starters Weston McKennie and Matt Turner as USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino named his 23-player roster for the Americans’ September friendlies against Korea Republic and Japan.

Pulisic is among a number of regulars who missed the continental championship in June and July, when the Americans lost the final to chief rival Mexico. Also returning are 2022 veterans Tim Weah, Sergino Dest and Josh Sargent, who will get another chance to compete for the No. 1 striker job with Gold Cup starter Patrick Agyemang still recovering from hernia surgery and Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi having just returned from serious injuries of their own.

Sargent has started the new campaign in fine form, scoring in each of English second tier club Norwich City’s first four games.

Like Balogun and Pepi, Fulham left-back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson will also remain with his club during the international break, having just seen his first Premier League action of the season on Sunday. So will Malik Tillman, who has yet to debut for new team Bayer Leverkusen because of a calf problem.

McKennie played only the final minutes of Italian titans Juventus’s Serie A opener last weekend. He was unavailable for international duty earlier in the summer because of Juve’s participation at the FIFA Club World Cup.

Turner recently returned to the New England Revolution after three seasons in the Premier League with Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace.

McKennie and Turner aren’t the only interesting omissions. Central midfielders Aidan Morris and Tanner Tessmann were also left out despite starting the 2025-26 European campaign strong for Middlesbrough and Lyon, respectively.

So was Johnny Cardoso, who joined Spanish power Atlético Madrid for $35 million last month. (Cardoso has started each of Atléti’s first two La Liga matches.) Same for Yunus Musah, who is reportedly close to transferring from Pulisic’s Milan to Serie A rival Atalanta.

Gold Cup depth center backs Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman were passed over in favor of Hawaii-born Noahkai Banks, an 18-year-old who made eight Bundesliga appearances last season for Augsburg, and Vancouver Whitecaps journeyman Tristan Blackmon, 29.

“We have a number of players just returning from injuries or who have had very limited minutes in the last couple months, so they can take this moment to continue to build fitness and sharpness for the upcoming opportunities in the fall,” Pochettino said in a statement. “We continue to strengthen the squad and narrow in on the pool of players who can help us achieve our goals at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.”

With just four more international windows remaining before Pochettino names the USMNT’s 26-player squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil, the September camp represents one of the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain manager’s last chances to look at players he hasn’t seen yet. Banks and Blackmon are among four uncapped players on the roster. The others are keepers Roman Celentano and Jonathan Klinsmann, son of former U.S. coach Jürgen Klinsmann.

The full September roster is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Roman Celentano, FC Cincinnati (MLS); Matt Freese, NYCFC (MLS); Jonathan Klinsmann, Cesena (Italy)

Defenders: Max Arfsten. Columbus Crew (MLS); Noahkai Banks, Augsburg (Germany); Tristan Blackmon, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Sergiño Dest, PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands); Alex Freeman, Orlando City (MLS); Nathan Harriel, Philadelphia Union (MLS), Tim Ream, Charlotte FC (MLS); Chris Richards, Crystal Palace

Midfiedlers: Tyler Adams, Bournemouth (England); Sebastian Berhalter, Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS); Luca de la Torre, San Diego (MLS); Diego Luna, Real Salt Lake (MLS); Jack McGlynn, Houston Dynamo (MLS); Sean Zawadzki, Columbus Crew (MLS)

Forwards: Damion Downs, Southampton (England); Christian Pulisic, AC Milan; Josh Sargent, Norwich City (England); Timothy Weah, Marseille (France); Alex Zendejas, Club América (Mexico)

Doug McIntyre is a soccer reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @ByDougMcIntyre.

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