The Brief

Congress is about to let a key spy tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, lapse.

Each year, the provision is used by American intelligence agencies to collect the electronic communications of hundreds of thousands of foreigners located outside of the United States.

The government says that more than 60% of the president's daily intelligence briefing relies on information collected under the authority.

What happens when it expires?

Intelligence collection will continue

Intelligence collection under FISA's Section 702 is authorized annually by a federal court — and the law allows for that collection to continue for the duration of the court's authorization, even if the law lapses before the court's next approval. That means companies — electronic communications service providers, in this context — will still be legally required to turn over material to intelligence agencies.

Still, some lawmakers worry that the companies compelled to turnover communications may attempt to challenge the law in court, possibly leading to an indeterminately long window during which they stop providing intel.

Advocates on all sides of the surveillance fight believe those challenges are ultimately likely to fail — but those closely linked to the intelligence community emphasize that even a small pause comes with risks ahead of major events like America's 250th celebration and the World Cup.

Glenn Gerstell, who served as general counsel at the National Security Agency during the second Obama and first Trump administration, says he doesn't believe Section 702's lapse to be a sky-is-falling moment — but that Congress could have chosen to avoid any issues by passing an extension.

"I don't want to overhype this and say that the statute's lapse is a horrific risk. It clearly is not," Gerstell said. "But by the same token, I just want to emphasize that it is irresponsible to accept any risk in this area under circumstances where we can control the risk. We can make it zero."

Elizabeth Goitein, a privacy rights advocate and senior director of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program, says the FISA law is clear that companies must continue to comply with the government's collection requests even after lapse — and that existing case law means any challenges will be sorted quickly. Companies risk a fine of $250,000 per day by not complying.

"The FISA court, under the law, has 30 days to resolve this type of challenge," Goitein said, and because the court has previously reviewed the statute, "I do not think it would take very long for the FISA court to compel compliance."

Goitein said she feels the security risks of a lapse are limited — and wants to see the law updated with key privacy and civil liberties reforms.

Why is Congress letting the law expire?

Section 702 has never been short on controversy. Each time the provision has come up for renewal over its nearly two decade history, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has pushed for reforms to the program to better protect Americans' privacy rights.

In collecting the communications of foreign nationals targeted by the intelligence community, Americans' information — including calls, texts and emails — can also be swept up in the dragnet.

And federal law enforcement regularly queries the FISA database for Americans' information and reviews their content. Those reviews are subject to certain procedural and executive branch oversight measures but do not require intelligence agencies and agents to demonstrate probable cause of wrongdoing to a court.

Reform-minded members of Congress — pointing to a history of abuses — want to see additional changes to the program, including a warrant requirement before law enforcement can review Americans' information.

The fight over those reforms led to a series of short-term extensions to the law this year as lawmakers struggled to reach agreement.

In the weeks leading up to the June 12 expiration, it appeared there was movement toward a three-year extension with moderate reforms, though stopping short of a warrant requirement. While any deal was far from certain, there were signs of progress.

Then, things fell apart when, last week, President Donald Trump nominated Bill Pulte. As director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Pulte is known for leveraging his post and large social media audience to attack the president's perceived foes, to serve as acting director of national intelligence.

The fallout

Democrats — even those most closely aligned with the intelligence community — immediately decried the appointment and said that they would not reauthorize Section 702 while Pulte was Trump's pick over concerns that Pulte would weaponize FISA information as well as the rest of the U.S. intelligence apparatus.

In an interview with NPR's Morning Edition, Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the chamber's intel committee, said "he's extraordinarily unqualified, but the timing could also not be more of a mistake." Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, described Pulte as a "political hack" and "malignant clown."

Even Republican leaders expressed worries. "We don't need a weaponized DNI," Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters last week. "We need professionals there." Sen. Tom Cotton, the top intel Republican, refused to weigh in on Pulte's qualifications.

At the end of this week, both the House and Senate made a series of failed bids to extend Section 702, then — on Thursday — left town. The Senate is back next week, while the House is not scheduled to return until the week of June 22.

On Thursday afternoon, President Trump announced a permanent nominee to serve as director of national intelligence, federal prosecutor Jay Clayton. When asked by reporters in the Oval Office if Pulte would still take the job on an acting basis, Trump said he would "for a short while." He didn't say how long.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly.

Families of transgender youth in California learned this week that their private medical records will not be sent to the Trump administration, for now. That's after a federal judge temporarily blocked hospitals in California from producing any documents responding to criminal subpoenas from the Department of Justice.

For nearly a year, the DOJ has served hospitals with subpoenas, seeking detailed patient files of transgender youth, personnel files for clinicians, and other documents related to transgender healthcare. Attorneys for the government haven't articulated exactly what's being investigated, but they have pointed to the stated goal of President Donald Trump to end gender-affirming care for youth.

Criminal subpoenas to hospitals

At first, the DOJ issued administrative subpoenas, and many of those were quashed in court. Now they've moved to criminal subpoenas using a grand jury in a federal court in Texas.

One was posted publicly by NYU Langone Medical Center last month. It is not known how many hospitals across the country have received the criminal subpoenas, but the notice from NYU says that it was "one of several institutions" to receive them. The Trump administration refers to transgender healthcare as "sex-rejecting procedures" in the subpoena.

The administrative and criminal subpoenas are practically identical, says Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, which has brought many of the lawsuits fighting these subpoenas. "Nothing has changed — they haven't uncovered some new reason or basis to be seeking these records," he says.

"It is pure harassment. It's just an effort to frighten people, to intimidate doctors out of providing the care and to frighten parents and make them afraid that the federal government is going to seek them out, identify them and harm their families in some way," he adds.

Stanford case brought by families

The win in California this week is significant, Minter says. A group of six families who received care at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford sued to block the hospital from sending any of their medical files to the Justice Department.

Right before a deadline for the hospital to send those files, a federal judge in the Northern District of California granted a request for a temporary restraining order that applies to the whole state.

A Justice Department spokesperson in a statement said "it will use every legal and law enforcement tool available to ‌protect innocent ⁠children from being mutilated under the guise of 'care.'"

'Long journey to survive'

Arne Johnson is the parent of a trans teen in the Bay Area and a volunteer with the group Rainbow Families Action. He says even if the win is temporary, it's still a relief for parents like him. "This is like being in a stormy ocean right now — like you're floating on a raft and each individual wave is terrifying, but we also know we have a really long journey to survive," says Johnson, who is not a plaintiff in the case.

He says he's grateful to the families who brought the case and the attorneys representing them. "It's impressive and very noble in a time when people are compromising and turning their backs on our families," he says, fighting tears. "It just really means a lot to folks to see how hard people are working to fight for our kids."

So far, the many legal challenges to the Trump administration's attempt to get the medical files of transgender youth have been quite effective, Minter says. "We don't have any reason to believe that any hospitals have turned over records yet, but there would be no way to know that for certain," he adds.

At the same time, many hospitals and clinics that had been providing gender affirming care for young people all over the country have ended their programs, citing legal and financial pressure from the Trump administration. And this week, a federal judge in Maryland rejected a bid to certify a class of families of transgender youth nationwide to fight the administrative subpoenas.

Craig Konnoth is a professor specializing in health law and LGBTQ rights at the University of Virginia School of Law. He notes that the federal government's moves to get private medical records are unprecedented and could have effects far beyond transgender youth.

"It's not just search and seizure of medical records," he says. "It's the ability of the government to come after you, hoping that they'll be able to catch you out in something, that they will attach a label to afterwards, because they don't like the group that you belong to or the group that you're trying to assist."

That's why, he says, if the government succeeds in these efforts, the implications are vast.
Copyright 2026 NPR

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

Under growing pressure from a restive public during the summer of 2020, the Legislature passed a bill that put police shootings of unarmed people under the jurisdiction of the California Department of Justice.

The belief, at the time, was that pulling investigations from local prosecutors — the same prosecutors who relied on police officers to testify in criminal cases — would reduce conflicts of interest and restore faith in a judicial system that was the subject of nationwide protests after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

In its five years since then, the police shooting program has closed 41 cases. It has never recommended charges against an officer who shot and killed an unarmed person. CalMatters originally looked at this program after its first year, and returned to investigate the program in its fifth.

Here’s what we found:

Investigations take longer

Attorney General Rob Bonta originally pledged to close shooting investigations within one year. That still hasn’t happened.

The average investigation takes nearly two years and five months. Eight investigations, including a cluster of cases in rural Northern California, stretched past three years.

The Department of Justice has argued that it is underfunded. The police shooting program got just $13 million annually, despite asking for $26 million. On its first investigation, program investigators were already complaining that they were undermanned.

Some exceed statutes of limitations

When anyone is accused of a crime, police officer or not, the state has a set limit of time to file charges. For 92% of crimes in California, that time limit is three years. For certain crimes, like murder, there is no statute of limitations.

When the Department of Justice investigations stretch past three years, that means that an officer can’t be charged with certain crimes potentially involved in the case — crimes that have previously been leveled at officers who shot and killed people. Some of the crimes that the Justice Department can’t charge after three years include involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault.

Blowing past decertification deadline

One year after Califoirnia established its police shooting investigation program, the Legislature passed a law that would allow police departments to decertify officers for serious misconduct, stripping their license to work in law enforcement.

But decertification has a time limit, too: three years.

So when investigations stretch past three years, the Department of Justice can no longer recommend any officer lose their certification.

The certification program is run by a state agency, the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST. POST told us that it can start investigations on its own if an officer is accused of serious misconduct.

Was local accountability better?

Before the police shooting investigation program went into effect, many law enforcement leaders and district attorneys predictably opposed it.

But some liberal, reform-minded prosecutors also had their doubts about its potential. Specifically, they worried that taking the investigations out of the hands of locals would dilute the pressure that people could put on their district attorney.

Now, the cases go to Sacramento. A county district attorney never has to answer for the decision to charge or not charge a police officer.

“Local concern, local protests, local interest is felt by local prosecutors,” said Cristine Soto DeBerry, who created a unit investigating police officers at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, where she was chief of staff.

Local investigators back off

Local police and sheriff’s departments are still supposed to do their own investigations into police shootings. After all, someone was killed in their jurisdiction. Bonta’s office says nothing in the law prevents local authorities from conducting their own parallel investigations.

But we found that, as a practical matter, local authorities take a hands-off approach once Bonta’s office steps in.

“If the case meets the criteria under (the police shooting law) and DOJ confirms they are taking over the investigation, we do not do a parallel criminal investigation of our own or do a criminal investigation of our own after DOJ concludes their investigation,” said Capt. Brian Cole, who oversees the detective division at the Redding Police Department. “They have complete criminal jurisdiction of the matter.”

Although the Justice Department maintains that it’s only looking at the potential criminal culpability of an officer, in practice, that means that theirs is the only shooting investigation once they take over.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

The FIFA World Cup has finally arrived once again on American soil.

On Friday night in Southern California, the world's largest sporting event returns to the U.S. for the first time in more than three decades when the U.S. men's national soccer team kicks off its first group-stage match against Paraguay.

This 2026 World Cup has been circled on the calendar of U.S. Soccer for nearly a decade — the long-awaited chance to finally rewrite a legacy of inferiority in international soccer.

The heavyweight talent and strong soccer tradition of European and South American teams have long proven elusive for the U.S. to match, despite decades of investment in the sport. The furthest the U.S. team has finished in a modern World Cup was a run to the quarterfinals in 2002; since then, the U.S. has managed just three total wins across all the World Cups.

Yet the chance to host the tournament at home has coincided with the development of perhaps the most talented generation of players that American soccer has ever produced.

For the first time in the national team's history, its major players all have key roles on teams in Europe's top-flight professional leagues. Midfielder Tyler Adams and defenders Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson are regular contributors to their English Premier League teams, while Weston McKennie is a favorite at Italian club Juventus, and Christian Pulisic, the one-time boy wonder of Team USA, is now, at 27, a bona fide star for AC Milan.

"This is for me the biggest opportunity to grow the game, to inspire people, to show that American players are at the level of the rest of the world," Adams said Thursday.

Paraguay is already struggling

The team's first challenge is Friday's game against Paraguay, currently No. 40 in FIFA's international rankings. The two teams faced off in an international friendly last November, which the U.S. won 2-1 after a scuffle between players broke out during stoppage time.

"We know that they're gonna be super, super aggressive, so we're going to have to match that. We saw that the last time we played them," said U.S. forward Tim Weah.

Paraguay may have to play without its biggest talent, the 22-year-old midfielder Julio Enciso, who was stretchered off the field in the first half of his team's final warm-up match last week.

After Friday's match, the U.S. will play Australia next week, then wrap up the group stage with a June 25 game against Turkey.

The expansion of the tournament to 48 teams means it will be easier than ever to emerge from the group stage. A win in Friday's game, plus either a second win against Australia or Turkey or a draw against both teams, would likely be enough for the U.S. to advance to the knockout round — though the U.S. could earn a more advantageous path if it finishes the group stage in first place.
Copyright 2026 NPR

Four years in the making. The U.S. Men's National Team is finally ready to play its first game of the 2026 World Cup with a match on Friday against Paraguay in Los Angeles. For the 26 Americans on the squad, just making it to soccer's most prestigious tournament and the world's biggest sporting event is a culmination (or continuation) of a lifetime of soccer highs and lows.

Here's what to know about each of the players on the team.

⭐⭐⭐ = main star

⭐⭐ = starter or featured substitute

⭐ = contributor off the bench

Forwards

Name: Christian Pulisic ⭐⭐⭐

Age: 27

Hometown: Hershey, Pa.

Club team: AC Milan (Serie A)

The hot spotlight of American soccer has followed Christian Pulisic for years now, and, to his credit, he's largely lived up to the hype. He's a key starter on one of Europe's top clubs. He's the top active goalscorer for the USMNT, with 33 goals in 86 career appearances with the senior team. And though a goal-scoring drought had haunted him in the first half of this year, he broke through with a goal against Senegal late last month and is heading into this World Cup free and aggressive as ever.

U.S. forward Christian Pulisic (r) runs with the ball as Nico Schlotterbeck of Germany chases during the international friendly match between at Soldier Field on June 06, 2026 in Chicago, Ill.

(

Jamie Squire

/

Getty Images

)

Name: Folarin Balogun ⭐⭐

Age: 24

Hometown: London, England

Club team: AS Monaco (Ligue 1)

Born in Brooklyn to Nigerian parents and raised in London, Balogun was eligible for all three national teams. He made the switch to represent the U.S. in 2023, when the Americans were in dire need of a striker. Since then, Balogun has been heralded as the long-term solution up front. He scored at least two goals in each of his first three games with the national team and added his first of 2026 against Senegal. And he's headed into the World Cup in top form: At Monaco this season, he bagged 19 goals in 43 total appearances.

Name: Ricardo Pepi ⭐⭐

Age: 23

Hometown: El Paso, Texas

Club team: PSV Eindhoven (Eredivisie)

One of two Mexican-American dual-national players on the USMNT, Pepi was devastated when he was left off the 2022 World Cup squad. But the El Paso native played the best soccer of his career with PSV this season, with 19 goals in 34 appearances — and in the May match against Senegal, he showed a dangerous chemistry with Pulisic in helping to set up the first two goals of the game. "He's grown a lot. He probably deserved to be on that last roster," Pulisic said in May. "His time is now. He absolutely deserves to be here."

Name: Timothy Weah ⭐

Age: 26

Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.

Club team: Olympique de Marseille (Ligue 1)

Soccer runs in Tim Weah's family; he is the son of George Weah, the star footballer-turned politician who won the prestigious Ballon d'Or award in 1995, then got involved in politics in his home country of Liberia after his retirement from soccer. The younger Weah was mostly raised in New York, his mother's home. Weah has had some high highs and low lows with the USMNT — from scoring a World Cup goal vs. Wales in 2022 to tanking the USMNT's chances in the '24 Copa America with a red card — and in this World Cup, he may not be a starter but is expected to play an active role, most likely off the bench on the right side.

Name: Alejandro Zendejas ⭐

Age: 28

Hometown: El Paso, Texas

Club team: Club América (Liga MX)

Zendejas is the second Mexican-American player on this squad. He was born in Ciudad Juarez and raised in El Paso. He was a regular in USMNT youth camps when he was young but moved to Mexico for a club career with Chivas de Guadalajara followed by Club America, two of Liga MX's biggest clubs. He had his choice of national teams but committed to the U.S. in 2023. His role on the World Cup team is a bit of a wild card; he's a talented attacker but likely won't start a match.

Name: Haji Wright

Age: 28

Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.

Club team: Coventry City (Premier League* just promoted)

Haji Wright scored one of the only three USMNT goals in the 2022 World Cup when he came off the bench against the Netherlands in the Round of 16. This past season, he was instrumental in getting Coventry City promoted to the top tier of English football. Able to play on the wings or as a striker, Wright could be a useful substitute for the U.S., but the USMNT has more quality at the position than it did in 2022, and he may struggle to see the field behind Balogun and Pepi.

Name: Brenden Aaronson

Age: 25

Hometown: Medford, N.J.

Club team: Leeds United (Premier League)

The "Medford Messi" hero of suburban New Jersey youth soccer is having a big summer: He's on the U.S. World Cup roster and got married barely two weeks ago (dipping out of training camp for a single night before rejoining the team in time for its two tune-up friendlies). He had a career year in the 2024-25 season with Leeds before taking a modest step back this year; it's likely he'll be in a spark plug bench role at the World Cup.

Midfielders

Name: Tyler Adams ⭐⭐⭐

Age: 27

Hometown: Wappingers Falls, N.Y.

Club team: AFC Bournemouth (Premier League)

Alongside Pulisic and fellow midfielder Weston McKennie, Adams is a main character of this generation of the USMNT. Raised by a single mom in upstate New York, Adams had to rely on sheer determination to overcome plenty of obstacles — like his small stature and lack of goalscoring touch — on his path to professional soccer. At 23, the midfielder was named the captain of the 2022 World Cup team, and his toughness sets the tone for the whole team. "I see guys get kicked, I want to kick anyone," he said after last weekend's (less than) friendly match against Germany.

Weston McKennie is the heart and soul of the U.S. Men's National Team. He's a lock to be a starter on the World Cup squad. The only question is which position.

(

Russell Lewis

/

NPR

)

Name: Weston McKennie ⭐⭐⭐

Age: 27

Hometown: Little Elm, Texas

Club team: Juventus (Serie A)

McKennie might be the beating heart of this team. An all-American: Born on an Army base in Washington, raised in Texas, and spent some formative years at an air base in Germany where he caught the soccer bug before moving back to the U.S. He dyed a streak of hair red, white and blue for the '22 World Cup, and he's a lock to start — the only question is, where? Coach Mauricio Pochettino has played him in a variety of outfield positions over the past year and a half. He scored the opening goal in a March friendly against Belgium

Name: Malik Tillman ⭐⭐

Age: 24

Hometown: Furth, Germany

Club team: Bayer Leverkusen (Bundesliga)

Off the field, the soft-spoken Tillman (whose dad is American and mom is German) may be the quietest member of this team. But on the pitch, it's a different story altogether. Tillman is an attacking midfielder whose game has matured and improved so much that former U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart recently called him "one of the most amazing players I've ever seen." As he grows more comfortable, his reserved nature disappears, Stewart added: "He's a character that once he feels part of a group, he can show amazing special things. And he can actually control things as no one other that I know."

Name: Sebastian Berhalter ⭐⭐

Age: 25

Hometown: Columbus, Ohio

Club team: Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS)

The compact, confident Berhalter has a big last name in U.S. Soccer: His dad, Gregg, featured prominently as a player in the U.S. quarterfinal run at the 2002 World Cup, then became USMNT coach in 2018. He never called up his son to the senior national team — the younger Berhalter's debut came in 2025, after new coach Pochettino had taken over. "I know if I got a call from my dad, I would have to earn it double as any other player," he said recently. "He would never call me in just to call me in. I had to earn it." He's known for his quality set-piece deliveries, like corner kicks, so look for him on the field in those moments.

Name: Gio Reyna ⭐⭐

Age: 23

Hometown: Bedford, N.Y.

Club team: Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga)

To say Reyna is mercurial is putting it mildly: As a 17-year-old, he broke Pulisic's record as the youngest American to play in the Bundesliga and quickly made a name for himself as a gifted attacking creator — but then he dramatically fell off in form after a series of injuries. Reyna was also a breakout figure for the USMNT in 2022, but not for his performance in the World Cup; Instead, the long story involves complaints over his lack of playing time and criticism by then-coach Gregg Berhalter, whose long relationship with Reyna's parents (former teammates and college friends) became fodder for a leaked story that prompted a swirl of drama and Berhalter's eventual firing after the World Cup. Still only 23, Reyna has tried to move past all that, but his inconsistency on the field makes it hard to know what to expect from him this summer.

Name: Cristian Roldan

Age: 31

Hometown: Pico Rivera, Calif.

Club team: Seattle Sounders (MLS)

Roldan is another modern American story, born in California to a Guatemalan dad and Salvadoran mother who immigrated after their home countries were gripped by violence in the 1980s. Roldan grew up with two brothers in an eastside Los Angeles suburb, kicking the ball into a goal their dad had made of PVC pipe. Now, Roldan and his brother Alex are teammates on the Seattle Sounders. Roldan is a mature, calming locker-room presence and will likely play only a small role on the field, if he plays at all.

Defenders

American defender Chris Richards talks to the media during a training session ahead of the 2026 World Cup on Wednesday in Irvine, Calif.

(

Jamie Squire

/

Getty Images

)

Name: Chris Richards ⭐⭐⭐

Age: 26

Hometown: Birmingham, Ala.

Club team: Crystal Palace (Premier League)

As an athletic kid growing up in Alabama, Chris Richards could easily have ended up with a career in a different sport altogether — at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, he shares a frame with plenty of point guards and wide receivers. But the young Richards caught the soccer bug early on and pushed through culture shock as a teenager on a professional contract in Germany to blossom into a talented defender. He's the best defender on the USMNT, but he hurt his ankle in a game with his club Crystal Palace in May and hasn't played since. The U.S. defense has looked porous without him, but on Wednesday he said he was "ready." (He may also have the best game-day fits)

Name: Antonee "Jedi" Robinson ⭐⭐⭐

Age: 28

Hometown: Liverpool, England

Club team: Fulham FC (Premier League)

Robinson grew up in England and developed as a player through the youth system at Everton. But the English national team never called him up — so when the U.S. offered him an opportunity, because his dad had grown up in the U.S. (and played soccer at Duke), Robinson seized the opportunity. Since then, the left-back has developed into one of the USMNT's most talented players. But a major injury set him back for more than a year, and he only just returned to the field for the U.S. in March. "There was no certainty on my end that I was going to be fit and available and make it, because it just seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel," he said earlier this year. A few weeks ago, he bleached his hair for the World Cup, then scored an absolute rocket of a goal in the friendly against Germany. Auspicious!

Name: Tim Ream ⭐⭐

Age: 38

Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.

Club team: Charlotte FC (MLS)

Ream is the oldest player on this squad, and his steady leadership has earned him the team captain armband. At 38 years old, he's no longer the fastest guy on the pitch, but those decades of experience — one of them spent in England at the Premier League club Fulham — mean he rarely finds himself out of position, and his passes are still well-placed. He wasn't chosen for the World Cup squad in 2014 and then the U.S. failed to qualify in 2018. But he played every minute of the U.S. run in 2022. "Tim is an amazing American story of perseverance," '22 USMNT coach Berhalter said last week. Expect to see Ream start at least some of these games, if not all of them.

Name: Sergiño Dest ⭐⭐

Age: 25

Hometown: Almere, Netherlands

Club team: PSV Eindhoven (Eredivisie)

Dest grew up in the Netherlands, but his father immigrated to the U.S. from Suriname, then a Dutch colony, when he was a child. Eventually, the elder Dest played college soccer in New York, served in the Vietnam War and became a U.S. citizen, retiring from the Army just a few years before having a son, Sergiño. The youngest Dest came up through the Ajax academy system in the Netherlands, and the U.S. began recruiting him a decade ago. He started all four games at the 2022 World Cup and is likely to be a starter once again.

U.S. defender Alex Freeman dribbles the ball against Senegal during an international friendly match last month in Charlotte, N.C. Freeman has quickly established himself as one of the USMNT's more versatile players.

(

Scott Kinser

/

AP

)

Name: Alex Freeman ⭐⭐

Age: 21

Hometown: Plantation, Fla.

Club team: Villarreal CF (La Liga)

The Baltimore-born son of the Green Bay Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman, Alex has quickly established himself as one of the USMNT's more versatile players. His ability to attack and defend as a wingback shone while playing for MLS side Orlando City SC, for whom he scored six goals while playing as a defender last year. That performance earned him a move to the Spanish club Villarreal and call-ups to the USMNT earlier this year. His athleticism and rapidly growing understanding of the game have allowed him to quickly earn a starting spot on the back line, most likely on the right side next to Richards.

Name: Mark McKenzie ⭐

Age: 27

Hometown: New York, N.Y.

Club team: Toulouse FC (Ligue 1)

McKenzie has been around the USMNT for years now but he's finally found his footing with Pochettino at the helm, making 15 of his 29 career appearances since Pochettino took over. There's been a battle for playing time at center back since Richards has been out with his ankle injury, and McKenzie may be Pochettino's favored backup option. Expect to see him as a substitute, especially as Pochettino manages Richards' playing time coming out of his injury.

Name: Miles Robinson ⭐

Age: 29

Hometown: Arlington, Mass.

Club team: FC Cincinnati (MLS)

Robinson is savoring this World Cup. He'd scored the game-winning goal in extra time against Mexico in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2021. He was a lock to make the 2022 squad as a top defender prospect, but he ruptured his Achilles tendon and had to watch the tournament on television at home. Robinson was drafted #2 into the MLS by Atlanta United in 2017. He starred collegiately at Syracuse and found a passion for soccer watching his older sister play the game. Robinson, who has 40 appearances with the senior national team, is sure to make an impact in this World Cup, even if he comes off the bench.

Name: Auston Trusty

Age: 27

Hometown: Media, Penn.

Club team: Celtic FC (Scottish Premiership)

Trusty has gotten this far betting on himself, he says — his tryout for the Philadelphia Union Academy, his choice to forgo college for a professional career, his decision to make the jump to Europe after earning an extension with the Colorado Rapids. That's all paid off for Trusty. He attributes that belief in himself to being the youngest of six kids, the rest of whom all eventually played collegiate soccer. "If I wanted to have a relationship with them, if I wanted to help myself in the games I played with them, I had to be confident," he said. Trusty has shown some promise in his limited minutes in 2026, but it's unclear how big a role he'll play this summer.

Name: Joe Scally

Age: 23

Hometown: Lake Grove, N.Y.

Club team: Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga)

Despite only being 23, Scally's a veteran of the USMNT setup. He made his debut for the national team in 2022 and went to that year's World Cup in Qatar. He's an attack-minded fullback who's been a mainstay for Gladbach since moving there in 2021, and he'll look to be an outlet for build-up play. Scally never appeared in a game in the '22 Cup, and this year could be the same.

Name: Max Arfsten

Age: 25

Hometown: Fresno, Calif.

Club team: Columbus Crew (MLS)

The 6-foot-1 winger made his USMNT debut in January 2025, playing in 16 of 18 matches that year. He was drafted by the Columbus Crew in 2023 after playing collegiately at UC Davis and Cal State Fullerton. At UC Davis, he attended as a walk-on, earning a scholarship and being named to the Big West All-Freshman team. The Fresno native returns home to train, saying, "his Fresno upbringing fuels his motor and competitiveness on the pitch." Equally comfortable playing with his right and left foot, he's been featured in many USMNT matches in the lead-up to the 2026 World Cup and is expected to see playing time.

Goaltenders

Matthew Freese knows he has big shoes to fill. The USMNT has had a number of strong goalkeepers in the past. Freese will be the likely starter in goal for the U.S.

(

Koji Watanabe

/

Getty Images

)

Name: Matt Freese ⭐⭐

Age: 27

Hometown: Wayne, Pa.

Club team: New York City FC (MLS)

There are big shoes for any USMNT goaltender to fill. The position has long been a strength for the U.S., from Kasey Keller to Brad Friedel to Tim Howard. Now, it's a question mark — a choice that's come down to two guys, Matt Freese and Matt Turner, both MLS starters who haven't been able to find a regular job in Europe. Last year, Freese, who played college ball at Harvard before finding a spot with the Philadelphia Union, surpassed Turner as the most frequent starter in goal for the national team. In last year's Gold Cup, he recorded two clean sheets and three penalty saves over six games. But that doesn't mean his spot is a lock.

Name: Matt Turner ⭐

Age: 31

Hometown: Park Ridge, N.J.

Club team: New England Revolution (MLS)

Turner's story is another scrappy prove-yourself saga. He came to goaltending relatively late in life, donning the gloves for the first time as a teenager to stay in shape for other sports. No colleges offered him a scholarship at first, so he walked on at Fairfield University in Connecticut, where he eventually earned conference honors. But even that couldn't find him a foothold in the pros, and it took some serious luck to eventually find regular playing time with the New England Revolution. His skills continued to grow, and eventually he earned a call-up to the USMNT and became the regular starter in 2021 through the 2022 World Cup, where he recorded a pair of clean sheets. "There's a healthy mutual respect between us," Turner said in May about Freese. "We both want to play, we both have played, we both will respect whatever the final decision is from the coaches. And then from there, our roles will change to be supportive of each other."

Name: Chris Brady

Age: 22

Hometown: Naperville, Ill.

Club team: Chicago Fire FC (MLS)

Brady, the Chicagoland native who plays now for his hometown club, has arguably been the best MLS goalkeeper over the past couple years, but he's still a firm No. 3 behind Freese and Turner when it comes to the national team. Brady earned his first senior team call-up last year, then made his debut in May in the second half against Senegal. "Whenever you get included in a camp or any type of squad, you got to be ready to play," he said. "If you're not playing, your goal then is to push the other guys who are."
Copyright 2026 NPR