Pelatih Kepala Tim Nasional Amerika Serikat Mauricio Pochettino resmi mengumumkan daftar 26 pemain yang akan berlaga di Piala Dunia 2026 dalam sebuah acara peluncuran di New York City pada Selasa, 26 Mei 2026. Pengumuman skuad resmi ini dipublikasikan lewat media sosial X guna menghadapi kompetisi yang dimulai pada Juni mendatang.
Langkah pemilihan pemain oleh Pochettino memicu diskusi hangat di kalangan suporter dan mantan penggawa tim nasional. Kontroversi muncul akibat keputusan mantan pelatih Tottenham Hotspur tersebut yang menggunakan pesan email, alih-alih telepon langsung, untuk mengabarkan pencoretan pemain dari skuad sementara.
Pochettino menegaskan bahwa dirinya harus konsisten dalam metode komunikasi dan menolak anggapan harus menghubungi semua pemain yang tidak lolos seleksi. Skuad final ini diisi oleh sejumlah nama besar seperti Christian Pulisic dari AC Milan dan Weston McKennie dari Juventus.
"What am I going to tell a player?" kata Pochettino, Pelatih Kepala Timnas AS. "Am I supposed to lie? I am going to say that another player is on the roster because today, in this period, he is a better option. I am not going to say that he is a better player or that you cannot make the roster in the future. There are 55 players on the provisional roster – and now I need to call [all of the players who didn’t make it?] Do I need to do that in March? In January camp? That is not the way."
Mantan penyerang legendaris Amerika Serikat Landon Donovan yang pernah dicoret secara langsung oleh Jürgen Klinsmann pada Piala Dunia 2014, memberikan pandangan yang lebih berimbang mengenai polemik metode komunikasi email ini.
"I can understand where he’s coming from," ujar Landon Donovan, Mantan Pemain Timnas AS. "To some extent, I was thinking about it this morning – not hearing from him directly might actually be a good thing. It’s a shitty situation, it’s not gonna change anything. Yes, if I was a part of the team for a long time, I would’ve wanted a phone call. If I’d not been part of the team for a long time, I wouldn’t have cared. Every player is different, though."
Kritik tajam justru datang dari veteran Piala Dunia 2010 Herculez Gomez yang menyebut tindakan tersebut sangat kejam bagi para pemain yang telah berkorban demi tim nasional. Gomez mencontohkan nama gelandang muda Diego Luna yang tidak mendapatkan telepon pembatalan meski menjadi andalan pemasaran tim.
"This is a harsh, harsh way to treat players that have for better or worse given their blood and sweat," kata Herculez Gomez, Mantan Penyerang Timnas AS. "Diego Luna was the second-most capped player on this team. And you mean to tell me you didn’t even pick up the phone and speak to him? … You look and there’s World Cup commercials of him playing the World Cup final versus Brazil. You had no problem milking him for the marketing dollars and the least he deserved was an explanation."
Pochettino menyamakan situasi pemecatan pemain ini dengan pengalaman pribadinya saat didepak dari kursi kepelatihan Tottenham Hotspur oleh sang pemilik klub, Daniel Levy, di mana pembicaraan setelah keputusan diambil dinilai sudah tidak berguna lagi.
"When I was sacked in different clubs – one was in Tottenham," kenang Mauricio Pochettino, Pelatih Kepala Timnas AS. "And [former owner] Daniel [Levy] says ‘I want to talk to you.’ What do you want to talk about with me? After you sacked me? You [should’ve talked to me] before you sacked me. Not after, when you make the decision. I have nothing to say then."
Selain polemik komunikasi, sorotan juga tertuju pada pemanggilan gelandang serang Borussia Monchengladbach Gio Reyna yang tetap masuk skuad utama meskipun jarang menit bermain di level klub sepanjang musim ini.
"He has the quality... I really trust him, and to give him the confidence," ucap Mauricio Pochettino, Pelatih Kepala Timnas AS. "I don't say that he's going to play every game, but he can help, because he's a different kind of player, different talent. And I think, in all the roster, you need to have a player like him."
Reyna sebelumnya sempat terlibat perselisihan hebat dengan mantan pelatih Gregg Berhalter saat Piala Dunia 2022 di Qatar akibat masalah kedisiplinan dalam sesi latihan tim.
"I think we need to trust the players that have experience, and I think that is really important. During our process, we challenged experienced players. Why? Because we wanted to get the best, we wanted to be competitive, we want to change this mindset. [Gio] can add different things to the team," tambah Mauricio Pochettino, Pelatih Kepala Timnas AS.
Tim Nasional Amerika Serikat tergabung dalam Grup D Piala Dunia 2026 bersama Australia, Paraguay, dan Turki. Berdasarkan rilis jadwal resmi, skuad asuhan Mauricio Pochettino akan melakoni laga pembuka grup melawan Paraguay pada 13 Juni 2026.
