Alejandro Zendejas was included on the United States’ 26-player roster for the 2026 World Cup when Mauricio Pochettino unveiled the squad on Tuesday in New York, a selection that comes after Zendejas missed the March camp because of a knee injury he suffered in the fall of 2025.
Pochettino’s list, reported on Saturday after a leak to and later independently confirmed by The Athletic, contains several returning names and a handful of notable exclusions. Gio Reyna and Sebastian Berhalter made the final cut; Sergiño Dest, Tyler Adams and Haji Wright were added to the roster after missing March friendlies because of injuries. Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann were left off the 26-player list.
The selection was expected to be announced officially by the federation on Tuesday in New York; a United States Soccer Federation spokesperson told reporters, "Lo que puedo decirles es que haremos el anuncio oficial el martes." ’s early report and The Athletic’s multiple-source confirmation forced the public reveal a day that the federation had been preparing to stage formally.
The roster must be submitted to FIFA before June 1, and managers retain the right to replace players who are injured or ill up to 24 hours before their first match. Those deadlines shape the practical meaning of Pochettino’s choices: naming a player now does not lock in the final traveling party if a late fitness problem emerges.
Chris Richards is among the players on the list despite a recent severe setback — he broke two ligaments in his left ankle on May 17 — a sign that the coaching staff judged his inclusion preferable to leaving the position vacant or selecting a less experienced alternative. That calculus mirrors Zendejas’s own path onto the roster: not called up in March after the fall knee injury, he is now back in the group named for the tournament on U.S. soil.
The leak to on Saturday complicated the orchestration of Tuesday’s announcement and exposed a tension in the lead-up to the World Cup: Pochettino must balance squad stability with the practical uncertainty of player fitness. Several players who missed March’s friendlies returned to the roster, while others who had been in contention did not. The Athletic said it independently confirmed the 26-player list through multiple sources, underscoring that the composition had largely been settled before the formal reveal.
For Zendejas, the inclusion is both a vote of confidence and a conditional appointment. He was omitted from the March camp precisely because of the knee injury he suffered in the fall, and the U.S. staff will now have to monitor his recovery in the weeks before the first match. With the roster deadline of June 1 and the ability to make injury replacements up to 24 hours before kickoff, Pochettino has a narrow window to reassess if any medical setbacks occur.
The choices Pochettino made in New York — bringing back figures who missed March, keeping Richards on the list after his May 17 ligamental injuries, and leaving out players such as Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann — show a coach willing to accept short-term health questions in pursuit of a preferred group. If any of those questions turn into confirmed absences, the rules allow swaps; if they do not, the roster announced Tuesday will be the team that steps onto the field in 2026.
Zendejas’s place on the 26-player roster is no guarantee beyond the immediate NCAA of the list; it is, however, a clear signal that he remains in Pochettino’s plans. Unless he suffers a fresh setback, the federation’s filing to FIFA before June 1 should formalize his status — but the single practical truth left hanging after Tuesday’s announcement is this: Zendejas will have to prove his fitness in the final days before the U.S. opens its World Cup campaign, or risk being replaced under the tournament’s injury rules.
