Can the USMNT’s roster depth impact their performance at the 2026 World Cup?

Let’s take a moment to reflect on the positive aspects of the U.S. men’s national team during the last World Cup.

Their standout player — and the most accomplished player in the program’s history — performed exceptionally. Christian Pulisic risked his future to net the decisive goal in the final group stage match against Iran. He was involved in every goal the U.S. scored in Qatar, either by scoring or assisting, and consistently posed a threat. He topped the team in both expected assists and expected goals. It’s hard to ask for more than that.

Timothy Weah complemented the attack by scoring the first goal against Wales and putting pressure on the opposing defense. The midfield trio of Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, and Tyler Adams was the backbone of the team, particularly in neutralizing England during a group-stage match where the Americans contested possession aggressively.

The fullbacks, Sergiño Dest and Antonee Robinson, were crucial in the buildup play: Dest with his passing and dribbling, and Robinson with his relentless off-ball movement. Tim Ream, making his World Cup debut at age 35, enabled the U.S. to maintain possession and build from the back in a way that had not been seen before at a World Cup. Matt Turner performed as expected, despite being a backup at Arsenal.

In summary, all of the top American players delivered performances befitting their status. The issue was not a deficiency in elite talent. Clearly, Pulisic, McKennie, and others must perform well this summer for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad to advance far, but these are genuinely skilled players who typically excel.

What truly impeded the Americans in Qatar — and what will, aside from luck, influence their progress this summer — was their lack of depth. Every World Cup-winning team possesses depth, which the USMNT lacked four years ago.

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How crucial is depth at the World Cup?

To explore this, I reviewed the last 16 World Cup semifinalists.

In 2006, soccer was still influenced by the reactive tactical approaches of Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez, but by 2010, Pep Guardiola’s possession-oriented style had prevailed, and Jurgen Klopp’s gegenpressing was beginning to emerge. The game’s demands were quite different in 2006, so I decided to conclude the analysis there.

I focused on the semifinalists because they represent the teams that have objectively succeeded in the tournament, and then examined how each team utilized its bench players. In essence, how significant was depth for the teams that performed well at the World Cup?

First, here’s a comparison of the average percentage of minutes played by the 12th- through 16th-most utilized players across the 16 semifinalists:

Player: Avg. Min. %
12th: 42.6%
13th: 34.6%
14th: 28.8%
15th: 21.9%
16th: 16.9%

And here’s how those figures varied by tournament:

Thus, the usage of the 12th player has remained relatively stable over time, but the dependence on players ranked 13 through 16 has increased significantly. This is due to a combination of a growing recognition that managers should substitute more frequently, along with the increase from three substitutions allowed per game to five since the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, there is some variability in these figures since two of the semifinalists typically compete in a third-place match where they rarely field their full first-choice starting 11. This likely inflates the minutes for all of these players. If we focus solely on the eight finalists from the last four World Cups, the distribution of minutes appears as follows:

Player: Avg. Min. %
12th: 40.4%
13th: 33.4%
14th: 28.5%
15th: 20.3%
16th: 13.7%

This shows only a slight decrease across the board.

Regarding the per-tournament statistics of the finalists:

Each tournament has had its unique characteristics. The 2010 World Cup took place during the South African winter. The 2014 World Cup included cooling breaks due to high temperatures in parts of Brazil. The 2018 World Cup in Russia was relatively standard, while the 2022 tournament in Qatar occurred in December, amid the club season.

Considering the expected heat in the United States this summer, the peak figures from 2022 seem appropriate to guide us moving forward. They may even be somewhat conservative.

In Qatar, France’s manager Didier Deschamps allocated minutes as follows:

12th: Ibrahima Konaté, Liverpool center back: 44.2%
13th: Youssouf Fofana, Monaco midfielder: 34.1%
14th: Randal Kolo Muani, Eintracht Frankfurt forward: 27.3%
15th: Kingsley Coman, Bayern Munich winger: 25.0%
16th: Marcus Thuram, Inter Milan forward: 22.3%

Here’s how it appeared for coach Lionel Scaloni, who led Argentina to its third World Cup title:

12th: Lisandro Martínez, Manchester United center back: 43.6%
13th: Angel Di María, Juventus winger: 42.0%
14th: Lautaro Martínez, Inter Milan forward: 34.5%
15th: Leandro Paredes, Juventus midfielder: 32.5%
16th: Gonzalo Montiel, Sevilla fullback: 17.1%

Winning the World Cup likely necessitates at least four players beyond your most-utilized 11 to play 25% of the minutes or more. In 2022, those players predominantly came from Champions League or Champions League-caliber teams.

How did the USMNT measure up?

In 2022, Ream, Adams, Turner, Musah, Robinson, Dest, Pulisic, and Weah all played at least 85% of the minutes. McKennie was the only core player below that threshold, yet he still participated 75% of the time.

As for the bench, it was quite limited. Here’s how the USMNT’s usage compared to France and Argentina:

And these were the players:

12th: Haji Wright, Antalyaspor forward
13th: Brenden Aaronson, Leeds United winger
14th: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Celtic fullback
15th: Giovanni Reyna, Borussia Dortmund attacking midfielder
16th: Jesús Ferreira, FC Dallas forward

The U.S. numbers are notably low partly because they played only four matches, while France and Argentina participated in seven, including the memorable final that went to penalties. It is natural for managers to rely more on their rosters as total minutes increase.

One might also consider blaming U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter for not managing his squad more effectively — but upon reviewing the players and their performances, it’s difficult to place the blame solely on him. Wright often appeared out of sync, and his goal against the Netherlands in the round of 16 was somewhat fortuitous, having deflected off his heel. I also recall the moment against the Netherlands when Aaronson faced 32-year-old Daley Blind, who was largely ineffective at that stage of his career, and was unable to get past him.

Carter-Vickers performed admirably in the Iran match, but he is a center back. Reyna’s family was reportedly attempting to have Berhalter dismissed during the tournament, and he was largely forgettable in his round-of-16 appearance and afterward during the club season. Ferreira, on the other hand, simply did not match the level of his teammates.

The nine core players for the U.S. in 2022 were all competing, or had recently competed, at a high level in Europe — but that was the extent of it. The fact that Berhalter substituted Walker Zimmerman in a must-win match highlights the uncertainty surrounding the center back position alongside Ream, and the center forward role, with Wright, Ferreira, and Josh Sargent all receiving opportunities, was a significant concern.

This was not a roster capable of sustaining a deep tournament run.

What about the 2026 World Cup?

This is where I encourage U.S. supporters to maintain some optimism.

A few weeks ago, my colleague Jeff Carlisle projected what he anticipates the starting lineup will be on June 12 against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium:

The primary question is the goalkeeper position, but overall, I would argue this lineup is undeniably superior to what was seen in Qatar. Ream will be four years older, but Chris Richards and Mark McKenzie represent significant improvements over the other center backs who participated in 2022. Additionally, Folarin Balogun is far ahead of where any U.S. strikers were four years ago.

What about the players who might fill those 12th-through-16th depth roles?

Weah, who started in 2022, is currently a regular for Marseille, the third-place team in France. Midfielder Johnny Cardoso recently played all 180 minutes in Atletico Madrid’s commanding victory over Tottenham in the Champions League’s round of 16. Attacking midfielder Malik Tillman has participated in approximately two-thirds of the minutes for Bayer Leverkusen, another Champions League club.

PSV forward Ricardo Pepi is expected to transfer for a substantial fee soon. Fullback Alex Freeman recently joined Villarreal, currently positioned third behind Real Madrid and Barcelona in LaLiga, for €3.5 million. Hybrid defender Joe Scally continues to play every minute for Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga.

Even the likely substitutes who were on the bench four years ago have shown improvement. Wright ranks second in the English Championship with 14 non-penalty goals, achieving this with a team that holds a 22-point lead at the top of the table. Aaronson is scoring and assisting at double the rate he did with Leeds in 2022.

There are several other strong Championship players, Aidan Morris and Patrick Agyemang, and the MLS players this time around, particularly Cristian Roldan and Max Arfsten, appear more likely to make a positive impact than what was observed previously.

If the U.S. aims to secure at least one knockout round victory, it will require significant contributions from players who do not start every match.

While we are still awaiting the emergence of the first true American superstar, Pochettino will enter this summer’s tournament with something no American manager has ever had: a group of Champions League starters and European mainstays available on his bench.

In summary, if depth is essential for a successful World Cup run, this version of the U.S. men’s team has the potential to advance further than it has in a considerable time.