Cristian Roldan’s hopes to make the United States 2026 World Cup squad just got a big boost. Fresh off impressing in his previous call-up last month, Roldan was again named to Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for a pair of friendlies on Oct. 10 and 14. Unlike the previous roster, many pundits believe this one is likely to be a close approximation of who Pochettino is planning to call up next summer.
Like the World Cup, this roster has 26 players. Roldan is one of eight midfielders, five of whom are more defensive or two-way players. Of the players named to the roster, James Sands, Tanner Tessman and Aidan Morris are likely Roldan’s biggest competition. An additional spot will likely be taken by Tyler Adams, who was excused from this camp due to the birth of his first child.
Yunus Musah, Luca de la Torre, Johnny Cardoso and Sebastian Berhalter are among the players most likely competing for Roldan’s spot who were not called into this camp. This seemingly indicates that Roldan has some sort of leg up on most of those players.
While arguably the top defensive midfielder in MLS, Roldan also has the benefit of having previously made a World Cup roster and having more USMNT caps (39) than any of the players with whom he’s competing. That gives him a level of familiarity with most of the first-choice players that the other defensive midfielders lack. Roldan is generally considered to be popular amongst teammates due to his team-first attitude, as well.
The biggest downside is that Roldan will miss the Sounders’ rescheduled match against Real Salt Lake on Oct. 11 and will miss most of the training sessions ahead of the Decision Day match against New York City FC on Oct. 18. That could leave the Sounders’ pretty short-handed as Obed Vargas (Mexico) and Reed Baker-Whiting (USA) are currently at the U20 World Cup and would be in similar situations if they advance, and Georgi Minoungou has been called in by Burkina Faso. Nouhou may be called in by Cameroon during this window, as well.
DETAILED ROSTER BY POSITION (Club/Country; Caps/Goals)
GOALKEEPERS (4): Chris Brady (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Matt Freese (New York City FC; 9/0), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew; 3/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 52/0)
DEFENDERS (8): Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew; 12/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 19/0), Alex Freeman (Orlando City; 9/0), Mark McKenzie (FC Toulouse/FRA; 22/0), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC; 77/1), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 33/3), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 50/4), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati; 35/3)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 53/9), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake; 14/3), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 60/11), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough/ENG; 9/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 39/0), James Sands (FC St. Pauli/GER; 11/0), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon/FRA; 8/0), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen/GER; 25/3)
FORWARDS (6): Patrick Agyemang (Derby County/ENG; 12/5), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco/FRA; 19/6), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan/ITA; 80/32), Tim Weah (Marseille/FRA; 45/7), Haji Wright (Coventry City/ENG; 17/5), Alex Zendejas (Club América/MEX; 13/2)
