Morning everyone,

We’re 8 days away! 8 freaking days folks!!

• 🇺🇸 USMNT vs Senegal Takeaways

• 📰 World Cup Rosters Take Form

• 🌎️ More World Cup News

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Tweet of the Week

USMNT vs Senegal

The US had its first of two pre-tournament tune-ups, this one being a 3-2 win over Senegal, the #14-ranked country in FIFA’s world rankings. Under Pochettino, we’ve now beaten two of the four top 15 teams we’ve played (Senegal & Uruguay) with losses to Belgium and Portugal. Before that we were winless in the last 17 games against top 15 teams.

The starting XI for this game averaged 43.8 caps, making it the most experienced starting XI for the US since the infamous 2017 loss to Trinidad and Tobago.

The US started hot. Sergino Dest opened the scoring in the 7th minute after Ricardo Pepi and Christian Pulisic combined down the left flank before Pulisic laid the perfect cross for Dest. In all, it was a 20-pass sequence, one of the best we’ve seen from this team under Pochettino. Then Pulisic added his first goal (watch below) for club or country since December 28th. It started with a brilliant through ball from Alex Freeman to Ricardo Pepi, who perfectly weighted the assist to Christian. Through 25 minutes, the US looked incredible.

I continue to be more bullish on Alex Freeman having a breakout tournament, very similar to DeAndre Yedlin at the 2014 World Cup. However, it’s hard to call him a breakout still after his meteoric rise over the past 365 days. But I think the rest of the world will know his name after this summer.

Minutes before half, Sadio Mane scored in transition to cut the lead in half. This is the third time in our last four matches that we’ve allowed a goal in the final three minutes of the first half.

Pochettino took advantage of the 11 possible substitutes and replaced 10 players to start the second half. The second half started with Malik Tillman picking the pocket of the Senegalese defender and playing the ball to Folarin Balogun, who scored, but the goal was disallowed after VAR found he was offside. Minutes later, a clumsy defensive play from Miles Robinson and Chris Brady in goal led to Sadio Mane’s second goal. Finally, Folarin Balogun found his goal after good build-up play from McKennie and Weah. He’s our starting number 9, there’s no doubt about that.

Overall, this was a great game for the USMNT. We have to clean up the defensive errors, but the team showed plenty of promise against a good team. It seems Pochettino has settled into the 3-4-2-1 formation, and it looked like the right decision against Senegal.

Next up is Germany on Saturday in Chicago.

World Cup Rosters Take Form

All 48 World Cup Rosters are finalized. Here are some interesting roster notes on a few of the best teams in the tournament.

Spain (Full Roster) - For the first time in history, Spain’s World Cup roster doesn’t have a Real Madrid player. Dani Carvajal and Dean Huijsen missed the call, with Dean Huijsen being the most surprising after his recent form with Real Madrid. Spain is still loaded and is currently tied with France as the favorites to win it on DraftKings.

Uruguay (Full Roster) - Luiz Suarez did not make Marcelo Bielsa’s 26-man roster, but he hasn’t received a call-up since 2024, so this isn’t surprising. Juan Manuel Sanabria of Real Salt Lake got the call-up for his first World Cup.

England (Full Roster) - The England squad got a lot of attention for players who were not included. Those include Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Maguire, John Stones, and Adam Wharton, among others.

Thomas Tuchel has said his goal from the start was to assemble the best team, not the 26 most talented players. England will try to win their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

Mexico (Full Roster) - Guillermo Ochoa joins Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only three players to be in 6 World Cups. Mexico’s young talents, Gilberto Mora and Obed Vargas, are both on the roster and expected to have big roles on the team, despite being 17 and 20 years old.

Canada (Full Roster)- Head Coach Jesse Marsch announced Canada’s roster, which includes 8 MLS players and another 10 that previously played or were developed in MLS. In all, 69% of Canada’s team has spent time in MLS. Alphonso Davies was included in the roster despite being injured, and it’s not clear whether he will be fit for any of the games.

More World Cup News

Here are some more World Cup tidbits to get you prepared.

The South Africa national team had to delay their trip to the US over visa issues. South Africa is set to play Mexico in the opening game of the tournament on June 11th. The Country's sports minister said, “We are being made to look like fools.” They eventually made it to their home base in Mexico, where they were welcomed by a mariachi band.

Here’s a fun story… Argentine influencer, El Scarso, set out to find the least well-known footballer at the World Cup and blow him up on social media. He found New Zealand defender Tim Payne, who had 4,715 followers on Instagram. El Scarso rallied his followers to follow Payne, and the request went viral. The World Cup’s least well-known player now has over 4M followers on IG and has since thanked El Scarso and everyone who’s supported him. Argentina fans even created a song about him. Tim Payne, you’re our new World Cup heartthrob🤣.

Three Argentine cyclists biked over 10,000 miles in 10 months from Argentina to Kansas City to support their country at the World Cup.

This World Cup has plenty of new rules. Here are a few you need to know:

• Throw in countdown (5 seconds) - If a player delays play for too long, the ball can be given to the opponent.

• Any player covering their mouth in a confrontational situation may be given a red card.

• Corners can be checked by VAR to make sure they are correctly awarded. This doesn’t apply to goal kicks, though.

• Players sent off for two yellow cards can have the second booking reviewed.

• Time-limited substitutions (10 seconds) - If the player fails to leave the field in 10 seconds, the substitute cannot enter the field for 1 minute, and they have to play down a man. Japan made Iceland pay for this in their World Cup tune-up.

Goal of the Week

An absolute BANGER for the Minnesota United man.

Tweet of the Week

There will be a water break in the middle of each half during the World Cup and coaches are allowed to use laptops to provide tactical instructions during it.

Quick Hits

• Inside Argentina’s World Cup fortress in Kansas City (Link)

• 44 MLS players will play in the World Cup, a record for the league and the 7th most of all leagues in the World (Link)

• Folarin Balogun wins Monaco’s Player of the Season (Link)

• Guillermo Hoyos will remain Inter Miami’s head coach for the rest of the season (Link)

• MLS viewership up 62% through the first three months of the season (Link)

Give us some feedback on what you want to see most from us during the tournament. Almost there, folks, almost there 😊 

Max & Mason