Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun headline USMNT starters vs. Uzbekistan: Why the lineup isnt su

Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun and Timothy Weah will headline the U.S. men’s national team’s attack for the country’s international friendly against Uzbekistan on Saturday, coach Gregg Berhalter said Friday. Here’s what you need to know:

• Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah and Luca De la Torre (or Tanner Tessmann) will make up the midfield. De la Torre will start if healthy but is dealing with a calf issue.
• Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Chris Richards and Sergiño Dest will make up the USMNT’s back four. Matt Turner will be the USMNT’s goalkeeper.
• Kickoff for the USMNT’s match against Uzbekistan is 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Is this lineup surprising?

There is no real shock in this lineup from Berhalter. With Tyler Adams out due to injury, the U.S. will likely rely on De la Torre to fill in as the No. 6, if his calf issue allows. Outside of that one change, this is essentially a first-choice lineup for the U.S., with eight different World Cup starters and two other players who were not available in Qatar: Richards, who missed the tournament with injury, and Balogun, who had not yet committed to play for the U.S.

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De la Torre was on the World Cup roster, but did not play. With Berhalter back as coach, this is about now building upon where the U.S. finished in Qatar.

“The games at the World Cup, at the highest level, are very difficult games,” Berhalter said Friday. “The group stage was like three finals, and then you have a knockout stage and that’s like a final final. Those are tough games. And you have to be resilient. You have to have a deep squad to be able to battle through those games. And you have to have a clear identity. So for us, it’s continuing to build on the foundation of what we’ve had in the last four years. Keep improving, and really target 2026 as an opportunity to change soccer in America forever.” — Tenorio

Backstory

The USMNT enters this international window after reaching the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinal. The Americans lost in penalty kicks to Panama in July.

The U.S. defeated Canada 2-0 in the CONCACAF Nations League final on June 18, capturing their second consecutive title. Balogun scored his first USMNT goal while Richards added another.

Following Uzbekistan, the U.S. plays Oman (Sept. 12), Germany (Oct. 14) and Ghana (Oct. 17) in this international window.

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(Photo: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)

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