Alexi Lalas
Soccer Analyst
Another European club season is right around the corner, and it is the last one leading up to the 2026 World Cup. So which U.S. men’s national team players have the most to prove in Europe?
Here are five players to keep an eye on. And just like a power ranking, if you don’t like it or if you disagree with it, that’s fine. Get your own rankings!
Who has the most to prove among USMNT players in Europe? | SOTU
5. Sergiño Dest | Defender | PSV Eindhoven
Dest is back on the field from his ACL injury and, so far, signs are good. I think beyond him proving that he can stay healthy this upcoming season, there are some interesting tactical questions when it comes to whether he is good enough to play defensively under USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino. But you take the good with the bad, and there’s so much more good in terms of Dest going forward.
Whether it’s Pochettino or anybody else, I think most of his coaches have come to the realization that you can’t hold him back. When Dest wants to defend, I think he can do it. It’s just a question of whether he wants to defend.
I think it’s hard to keep him off of the pitch. Whether it’s four or three in the back, I think he’s going to be somewhere on that right side and I think he is going to be potent. If Dest is healthy and ready to go next summer in the World Cup, that right side looks very, very different. And I’m a lot more bullish about this team in general.
4. Tim Weah | Winger | Marseille
I’ve also been bullish about Weah needing to start in that right wing spot and the ability to stretch the field. But you need to factor in the emergence of Diego Luna and Malik Tillman, and Christian Pulisic’s ability to play on the right. So Weah is going to have a fight on his hands to hold on to a starting spot for 2026.
But Weah has played six different positions. He’s versatile and I still argue that over the last cycle he was the most consistent on the right-hand side. And that’s where I want to see him now, playing on that side and doing good things. I think it’s going to be hard for Luna or anybody else to come in and take that spot.
It seems Weah feels very comfortable with the decision to go to Marseille after his time at Juventus. We want him playing, and I ideally would have him starting consistently over on that right-hand side.
3. Yunus Musah, | Midfielder | AC Milan
Musah has a tremendous amount to prove. Obviously, he wasn’t involved again this summer with the USMNT at the Gold Cup. And we can surmise that, whatever the situation was, it wasn’t ideal for Pochettino nor for this team.
I go back to when Musah first burst on the scene and was penciled into the USMNT midfield at a very young age. There were those moments where he would get the ball, playing alongside Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie, and he would push the ball and have an incredible burst of speed. He could get out of situations that would then send the U.S. team into a much more attacking type of mode.
What remains to be seen is whether we were already looking at Musah’s ceiling and if that’s as good as it gets. If that’s the case, that’s not good enough, especially when you’re not playing. I still think there’s something in the tank, maybe not a starter, but maybe he can start to ask some questions.
2. Folarin Balogun | Striker | Monaco
The reason why I put Balogun here is that this No. 9 position, the striker position, still has not been. And there are just over 300 days until the World Cup.
We have seen Balogun do great things. He was the anointed one when he burst on the scene. But obviously it’s been a long time since we saw him. He’s endured injuries in his two years at Monaco, but luckily for him nobody has come along and taken that spot, even with Ricardo Pepi proving his worth.
So if Balogun is playing, if he’s scoring goals, he’s right back in there when it comes to being the striker for the national team.
1. Gio Reyna | Midfielder | Borussia Dortmund
I know that there are people out there that roll their eyes because we talked about Reyna so much. But again, it’s relative to the fact that this player is undeniably talented.
We don’t know if he’s even going to get called in going forward, and he’s certainly not going to get called in if he can’t change his playing situation. We still don’t even know where he’s going to end up after being linked with a move to Parma. But if he moves, or stays at Dortmund and things drastically change, then it would take very little for people to get right back on the Reyna train.
If he gets a run of games where he is productive, and obviously he is healthy, I think people are going to say Reyna is back, and he is absolutely in the mix for the USMNT. From where he is right now, the gap can close dramatically.
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Alexi Lalas is a soccer analyst for FOX Sports and host of “Alexi Lalas’ State of the Union Podcast.” He represented the USMNT at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and had a nine-year professional career. In 2006, he became the president of the LA Galaxy and helped bring David Beckham to Major League Soccer.
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