ST. LOUIS— It’s no secret that some key members of the US men’s national team aren’t getting as much playing time as they’d like with their European clubs this season.
As the biggest event in sports approaches, a few of those players are probably wondering how their chances of staying with the USMNT in the lead-up to the US-co-hosted 2026 World Cup might be impacted if they return to MLS, where the competition level is lower but minutes are easier to come by.
“Some players asked me if the MLS is a good platform for them to compete,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said on Sunday, a day before the Americans face Jamaica in the second leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal home-and-home,”I remarked, and I’d like to translate in public, that it makes no difference to me whether they play in the Premier League in the United Kingdom, La Liga in Spain, Argentina, or Mexico.
“The world’s best player, Lionel Messi, is playing here. It is difficult to play in the MLS after being acquainted with it.
Nonetheless, the majority of the players on the U.S. roster preparing for Monday’s crucial showdown with the Reggae Boyz make their money across the Atlantic. While 13 of the 25 players Pochettino called up this month were developed by MLS academies, only four are still playing in the United States domestic league.
In some ways, this reflects the improvement of the American player pool in recent years.
“You can see the progress in the national team,” said striker Tim Weah, who plays with United States colleague Weston McKennie at Italian Serie A club Juventus. “Almost everyone is playing in Europe. And I believe that’s the only way the sport will grow here.”
MLS will undoubtedly try to entice some of the USMNT’s most prominent players back home ahead of the World Cup. According to various sources, FC Cincinnati was willing to spend a $15 million transfer fee to get McKennie this summer. He ended up signing a new contract with Juventus, but the offer alone demonstrated MLS’s desire.
Other players may be tempted as time passes. When asked last week if he would consider returning home in quest of playing time, starting goalkeeper Matt Turner, who has only participated in one game for England’s Crystal Palace this season, said he is “not quite there yet.”
“I know I can play at the level that I’m currently at,” said Turner, who was named MLS goalie of the year in 2021 before moving to the Premier League, where he had mixed results. “It’s just about finding that consistency, that opportunity.”
If that doesn’t materialize within the next six months or so, Turner may rethink.
According to Pochettino, competing in MLS every week is preferable to riding the pine on one of the world’s top circuits. The coach made a special effort to emphasize this concept on Monday. He described a recent talk about MLS with LAFC’s Hugo Lloris, France’s former World Cup-winning goalkeeper who was Pochettino’s No. 1 backstop when both were at London side Tottenham Hotspur.
“He said it’s a very competitive league, they have good discipline, and they train very well,” Pochettino said of Lloris.
“[So] why not?,” the USMNT coach added. “For me, they will have the same chance of representing the USMNT by playing in MLS as they would in the Premier League, La Liga, Belgium, or France. They need to know both privately and publicly.”
