Laken Litman
Soccer and Soccer Analyst
Doug McIntyre
Soccer journalist
It is an interesting time to be a fan of American football.
Although the national male team is under immense pressure with the 2026 World Cup just around the corner, the national women’s team is in a period of transition and experimentation under Emma Hayes.
Let’s see the greatest stories in American football with Fox Sports football reporters, Doug McIntyre and Laken Litman:
1. The tie for the Gold Cup Concacaf 2025 took place on Thursday and the USA The male national team was attracted to group D with HaitiTrinidad and Tobago and Saudi Arabia. What team do you think will give the United States more problems and why?
Doug: The fast answer is Saudi Arabia. A six -time World Cup participant, the Saudi kept the US to a goalless draw at the point of Qatar 2022, then surprised Lionel Messi and Argentina in their first game in the main event, the only team to overcome the possible champions. In number 58, FIFA classifies the Saudi ahead of Haiti (83) and T&T (100). Green Falcones are also a less familiar opponent for the USMNT and, therefore, more complicated. But Haiti has given the Americans attacks on recent gold attacks, and defeating even a relatively weak side of Soca Warriors is never a safe thing, a fact that no follower of the United States needs to be remembered.
Power ranking of the Gold Cup: Where is USMNT? | SOUT
2. Reports outside Germany suggestion Gio Reyna’s time Borussia Dortmund Finally he could be coming to an end this summer. Where would you like to see the 22 -year -old midfielder playing before the 2026 World Cup? What is your level?
Doug: France or Spain. Reyna allegedly rejected Marseille to sign on loan for the Premier League Nottingham Forest last year. Incorrect decision if true. That is exactly the type of place that a player like him could prosper. At this time, I think Reyna is able to win an initial job with a team from the Medra Midia League. That is the key. At 22, he needs to do something he has never done in his career, play 90 minutes every week. Returning to the MLS would be better than Reyna’s current situation in Dortmund, for which she is a subtit not used in five consecutive games of the Bundesliga.
Reyna’s potential has been obvious since she became, at age 17, the young American to play in the UEFA Champions League. That was more than five years ago. I still believe that Reyna has time to solve things and become a two -way taxpayer for the club and the country before the 2026 World Cup. The clock is marking, thought.
3. Just out of being called by the USMNT for the Concacaf Nations League in March, Brian White scored a four-go club record for the Vancouver WhiteCaps in its 5-1 over its 5-1 Austin FC On Saturday. Do you expect it to be part of the Gold Cup list in June? Why or why not?
Doug: It is a game of numbers. Folarin Balogun is playing for Monaco after shoulder surgery, so he will be sure. The same for Ricardo Pepi if he is healthy. Patrick Agyemang began the USMNT game more recently over White and Josh Sargent, and scored the only goal of Americans in the 2-1 defeat against Canada. Then, the three teams of Mauricio Pochettino are probable in Striker if everyone is healthy.
Of course, everyone is not always healthy. The Gold Cup could arrive too soon for Pepi, who has been discarded during the rest of the PSV season after knee surgery. Could that open for White? It is possible that Pochettino now prefers the MLS Lifer, 29, to Sargent, who has not yet scored in three beginnings of the United States since the Argentine coach Tok Tok about October. But White will also have to beat Haji Wright, who has four goals in his last five games for Coventry City on the second level of England. I think that White is simply lost given the competition ahead of him.
[RELATED: Brian White’s USMNT opportunity is a career in the making: ‘I always kept dreaming’]
4. The Phallon Tullis-Joyce Fan Club won a handful of new members over the weekend after his incredible double rescue for Manchester United In the FA Cup on Sunday. Only a week earlier, she had a great performance in a victory in the bleached against Brazil. Is it too early to call the favorite to replace? Alyssa Naeher In the USSWNT?
Sheet: I think it is too soon because Emma Hayes is still in the period of experimentation of the list. Everything related to the USSWNT focuses on the 2027 World Cup, and the qualification for that tournament is not until November 2026. Therefore, Hayes has a lot of time, even thought it was likely to have Alyssa Naeher.
That said, there is no doubt that Phallon Tullis-Joyce raised his USWNT profile in the last camp. He had a clean blade and made six great salvages in his first cap for the United States in the first match against Brazil. He seemed safe from the goal, he was aggressive coming out of his line and caused an impression on the team in his first place.
But Hayes has not ruled out anyone from the competition. Jane Campbell, Mandy McMlynn and Tullis-Joyce have been called to the last two fields, but it would not be sensible to exclude Casey Murphy, Claudia Dickey or Angelina Anderson at this time. However, when it comes to Tullis-Joyce, Hayes needs to see more of her. It has only been involved in three camps and is still acclimatizing the environment. Hayes commented that the goalkeeper is quieter and introverted and has time to generate confidence and connections with new teammates. Tullis-Joyce presented a case for herself, but it is still too early to say that she is the favorite.
5. Who else in the Usswnt players group has helped his case to last this experimentation period for Emma Hayes and company?
Sheet: Alyssa Thompson. The 20 -year -old striker has taken another step, according to Hayes, after the last camp, which had two games against Brazil. Thompson has presented much more returning to the fold last fall, which included scoring his first goal against Iceland last October. More recently, Thompson began both games against Brazil and was involved in two impressive goals. She was a brilliant point in the attack and showed how much she has grown since she entered the senior team when she was only 17 years old.
Hayes commented on the duration of Thompson’s growth in the April camp, explaining that the staff has been working with it during the last six months in its decision -making, positioning and how to be a world -class 1V1 specialist. With only Trinity Rodman of the famous ‘triple espresso’ available for the national team, Thompson has a great opportunity to lock himself more in Hayes’s plans. In addition, he has been constantly acting for an undefeated Angel city where during the weekend, he scored a goal and had an assistance in a 3-1 victory over the Houston Dash, and became the second youngest player in NWSL’s history to reach 10 goals and 10 assists.
Laken Litman covers university football, university basketball and football for Fox Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like A Woman”, published in the Spring of 2022 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow it @Lakenlitman.
Doug McIntyre is Fox Sports football reporter who has covered USA National teams for men and women in the world cups of FIFA on five continents. Follow it @Bydougmcintyre.
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