The Audition Turns Real — USMNT’s Gold Cup journey begins now
After a flawless group stage capped by a nervy 2–1 win over Haiti, Mauricio Pochettino’s young U.S. squad enters the knockout rounds with World Cup roster spots — and reputations — on the line.
They’ve danced around the edges long enough. Three wins, nine points, eight goals — and still the U.S. men’s national team feels like it’s been circling the runway, waiting for permission to really take off.
That moment comes now. Not just for this Gold Cup but for something bigger — the World Cup on home soil next summer.
Because this isn’t just about a regional trophy. It’s about jobs. It’s about auditions. And for Mauricio Pochettino’s experimental U.S. roster, these next few games will tell us who’s ready to graduate from potential to permanence.
“This was preparation,” Pochettino said after Sunday’s 2–1 win over Haiti. “Now we’ll be playing a final. It’s all or nothing.”
That’s the mindset from here on out. No more soft landings, no more gentle opposition. Costa Rica awaits in the quarterfinals. Mexico could loom in the final. And the World Cup clock is ticking louder with every match.
The U.S. got through Group D without a blemish — wins over Trinidad, Saudi Arabia and Haiti — but the path wasn’t always smooth. Sunday night in Arlington was another example: a match that never slipped away but never fully settled either.
Malik Tillman continues to make it look easy. The PSV Eindhoven midfielder opened the scoring with a clever five-yard header, curling it back across goal and into the far corner. Brenden Aaronson’s persistence and clever delivery made it happen. “What a player, no?” Pochettino said. “What a player that is showing in this camp his talent and capacity.”
Tillman had two more goals disallowed — one for a handball, one for offside — but his impact was constant. “His runs, his touch and his defensive work,” as one report put it, made him the heartbeat of the U.S. midfield.
Tillman has been the breakout name of the tournament. But he’s not the only one making noise. Patrick Agyemang, the physical unpolished forward from Charlotte FC, has now scored five goals in 2025 — more than any other U.S. player.
He needed the one he got against Haiti.
After a string of missed chances — a breakaway, a scuffed effort in the box, a mis-hit volley — Agyemang and John Tolkin had a quick word during a stoppage.
“I said, ‘Listen, play the ball in that space because they’re playing a high line, and if I make my run and time it well, I’ll get in behind — and it’s my job at that point,’” Agyemang said. Tolkin kept it simple: “Next one, I’m going to play him behind. And, yeah, he was there.”
Sure enough, in the 74th minute, Tolkin floated a perfect ball over the top. Agyemang beat the keeper to it, tucked the ball home from a tight angle and exhaled.
“With an open net, it was like: ‘All right, Pat, do your thing. This is what you do,’” he said.
“Maybe we weren’t clinical with the chances we had,” Pochettino admitted. “We should score more.”
Agyemang’s finish spared the U.S. from a frustrating draw after Matt Freese’s brutal first-half giveaway. “An accident,” Pochettino called it.
The NYCFC keeper had gone 180 minutes without conceding before misplaying a routine back-pass. His scuffed clearance landed at the feet of Louicius Don Deedson, who buried the equalizer.
“I was probably trying to overcomplicate a scenario that I probably shouldn’t have,” Freese said. “It’s probably a moment to be smart, be safe and put it out.”
It wasn’t the first miscue of this camp. Defensive errors haunted the U.S. in June friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland. But this time, they survived it.
“The best way to trust in a player is not to [say anything],” Pochettino said. “Move on. Remember, the most important action is the next one.”
That next action is everything now. Costa Rica won’t be as forgiving.
And the stakes — well, they speak for themselves.
The 2026 World Cup is the most important tournament in U.S. men’s soccer history. A showcase at home. A moment to reset the global perception of the program. The core of that roster is already penciled in — players like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Antonee Robinson.
But this Gold Cup group? They’re writing in pen.
This is where the final pieces come from. The depth players who prove they can handle tournament pressure. The late bloomers who make themselves impossible to leave off the roster.
In 2021, a “B” team went to the Gold Cup and won the whole thing, lifting a trophy and launching careers in the process. Matt Turner started that run and never looked back.
Now, guys like Agyemang, Diego Luna, Luca de la Torre and Tolkin are fighting to follow the same path.
“The steps we’ve made are huge,” Aaronson said. “From two not great results with Turkey and Switzerland… it’s tough. You get down on yourself, but what I see from this group is just like that bounce-back mentality.”
The warm-ups are over. The real tests start now. And for a group of players chasing the biggest summer of their lives, there’s no time to coast.
It’s prove-it season.