Key events
Belgium’s starting XI
The visitors come out with a strong lineup, with Kevin De Bruyne starting underneath Charles De Ketelaere, Man City’s Jérémy Doku and Alexis Saelemaekers on the wings.
Alexander Abnos
The US lists its lineups in numerical order, so the big question given the personnel is what sort of look we’ll see from the US on the field.
The match notes says that Mark McKenzie and Tim Ream are “partnered together in central defense,” which indicates it’ll be a four-man backline with Antonee Robinson at left back.
Who will be at right back? The most likely option would seem to be Tim Weah, who plays something resembling that role often at Marseille (though not usually in a four-man backline).
The rest of the lineup is a bit more easy to parse. Johnny Cardoso and Tanner Tessmann form a likely double-pivot. Attacking midfield will be some arrangement of Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, and Malik Tillman. And then Folarin Balogun gets the start up top.
How will this look in practice? In possession? Out of possession? We’ll just have to wait to find out.
The USMNT starters
Jeff Rueter
The biggest eye-brow raiser of Pochettino’s lineup is the return of Matt Turner, making his first start since 11 June in a pre-Gold Cup friendly. The pick breaks Matt Freese’s 12-match streak of starting in goal. Is this just trying to give the 2022 World Cup starter a chance to shake the international rust, or is it evidence that the competition in goal isn’t as settled as 2025 suggested?
Pregame reading
Alexander Abnos
The Guardian has plenty for you to read to get up to speed ahead of the match.
Pablo Iglesias Maurer takes a look at the pressure faced by Mauricio Pochettino and Christian Pulisic, and how they’re dealing with it.
Jeff Rueter on the midfield battle, where the most painful World Cup roster cuts will be:
Alexander Abnos (hey, that’s me!) on the suddenly shorthanded center back pool
What Gio Reyna said about his self-confessed “controversial” selection to the team despite a lack of playing time:
And last, three things to watch for the USMNT throughout this game, and Tuesday’s friendly v Portugal:
Preamble
Alexander Abnos
Hello friends, Alexander Abnos here at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the second-to-last friendly for the US men’s national team before Mauricio Pochettino names his World Cup roster.
I’ll be back with you a bit more regularly once lineups are out. In the meantime, feel free to get in touch using the links up there in the header.
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