The Athletic reported both Luna and teammate Zavier Gozo were not included in coach Mauricio Pochettino’s 26-man roster, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday.
A source told 13 News that the report appears to be accurate.
For Diego Luna the omission would be a sudden reversal. He played in 18 matches for the U.S. Men’s National Team last year and had been widely considered a near lock for the World Cup squad after those appearances. This season he has four goals and three assists with Real Salt Lake, and another source article lists him with 18 caps, four goals and four assists on the senior national team.
Those figures are blunt evidence of why the report matters now: the World Cup opens June 11 and the United States will play Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles. With the tournament days away and the official roster due Tuesday, any surprise omission changes the group’s options and how Pochettino will fill the forward and wing roles.
Reaction to the Athletic report has been immediate. A source told 13 News that the report appears to be accurate, and social and club commentary has highlighted both Luna’s club form and his recent injury history. One source article even noted, “Not to be confused with the actor Diego Luna who’s taking down the Empire, RSL’s Diego Luna is the most obvious choice here for the U.S. Men’s National Team.” Minnesota United FC and others had described Luna as a leading candidate but also pointed out his knee injury, which forced him to miss the March call-up window.
That collision of facts creates the story’s tension. Luna’s steady national-team involvement — 18 caps last year — and his four goals for Real Salt Lake this season make him difficult to dismiss on form alone. Yet the knee injury in March kept him out of that group, and the Athletic report, backed by FOX 13 News’ sourcing, says he and Gozo are not on Pochettino’s list. The timing is awkward: the roster is pending release even as the World Cup is about to begin, and the team that takes the field June 12 will be selected from whatever Pochettino finalizes on Tuesday.
If the report holds, Pochettino will have passed on a player who, until the injury, looked like a routine inclusion. That would be a clear judgment call about fitness, form in training camps or tactical fit — and one that immediately reshapes how the United States might approach its opener. The single most consequential unresolved question now is whether the published report will match the official roster Tuesday and, if so, which players will fill the roles many expected Luna to take.
For Diego Luna, the coming days are decisive: a roster release that appears imminent stands to confirm whether his summer will be spent in Los Angeles at the World Cup or watching from home after a season that, on paper, had given him a ticket to the tournament.
