Tanner Tessmann’s snubbing from the U.S. men’s national team’s World Cup roster amounted to the biggest shock for the squad tasked with representing the red, white and blue next month, but head coach Mauricio Pochettino had no interest in addressing the decision Tuesday.
The USMNT boss declined to explain why Tessmann, or any other player who didn’t make the cut, would be watching next month’s tournament from home, saying to do so would be “disrespectful” to the 26 players who did make the team.
“We cannot talk about the players that are not on the roster. I think it’s very disrespectful to the players that made the roster,” Pochettino said after a roster reveal event at Pier 17 in lower Manhattan. “Because if we’re going to talk about the players that are not on the roster, which player [should] not be on the roster, and that for me is very disrespectful. That was my decision to pick that 26 and now we need to respect [that]. … I think if you listen to what I say from the beginning, we were working really hard for one year and a half or more to try to arrive at this moment in the best condition with all the information, to try and make the best decision.”
Pochettino has had a shortened window to figure out his World Cup squad, since he only took over the U.S. men’s national team in September 2024.
He called up 61 different players during his limited time at the helm in the lead-up to next month’s World Cup.
Tessmann had seemed to be a shoo-in going into the roster decision, appearing in six matches for the senior team in 2025, even recording his first senior goal in a 5-1 win over Uruguay in November, and he was part of the USMNT’s March camp.
The 24-year-old midfielder had his club season with Ligue 1 side Lyon end early due to a muscle strain, but it was not expected to impact his availability for the World Cup.
Tessmann wasn’t the only player whose exclusion from the roster surprised some — Diego Luna joins those ranks — and the USMNT’s handling of how those players were informed came under some scrutiny recently.
The Athletic had reported that players were notified by email that they didn’t make the World Cup squad.
Pochettino defended that decision Tuesday, hearkening back to his own days playing for Argentina in the 1990s, saying that “when I didn’t make the roster I didn’t want my coach to call me.”
“If I call, it’s about myself,” he said. “If I call, I’m very human and I give an explanation. Come on, that is bulls–t.”
