Laken Litman
College Football & Soccer Analyst
Doug McINTYRE
Football journalist
It is an interesting time to be an American football fan.
While the national team of men is under enormous pressure with the World Cup 2026 around the corner, the national team of women is in a period of transition and experiments under Emma Hayes.
Let us look at the biggest storylines in American football with FOX Sports’ football reporters Doug McINTYRE and Laken Litman:
1. The draw for the 2025 Concacaf Goud Cup took place on Thursday and the United States The national team of men was drawn in group D with HaitiTrinidad & Tobago and Saudi Arabia. Which team do you think that we will give the most problems and why?
Doug: The quick answer is Saudi Arabia. A six-time World Cup participant, the Saudis held the US to a scoreless draw in their adjustment for Qatar 2022, the bewildered Lionel Messi and Argentina in their opener at the main event-the only team that defeated the final champions. FIFA ranks the Saudis at no. 58 prior to Haiti (83) and T&T (100). The Green Falcons are also a family opponent for the USMNT and therefore more difficult. But Haiti has given the Americans in recent golden cups past, and even a relatively weak Soca Warriors side is never certain – a fact that there is no American supporter to be rolled.
Gold Cup Power Rankings: Where is USMNT? | Pound
2. Reports from Germany To suggest Gio Reyna’s Time with Borussia Dortmund Maybe this summer finally ends. Where will you like to see the 22-year-old midfielder play prior to the World Cup 2026? What is his level?
Doug: France or Spain. Reyna is said to have rejected Marseille last year for Premier League Nottingham Forest. Wrong decision if it is true. That is precisely the kind of place that a player like he could thrive. At the moment I think Reyna is able to win a runway with a middle -relatible the competition team. That’s the key. At 22 I have to immerse that he never did in his career, play 90 minutes every week. Returning to MLS was better than Reyna’s current Sitie in Dortmund, for which he has been an unused sub in five straight Bundesliga games.
The potential of Reyna that you have clear since I have scientists, at the age of 17, the youngest American ever plays in the UEFA Champions League. That was now for more than five years of Aug. I still think Reyna has time to find thinnen and to become a consistent, two -shops that is for Club and Land for the World Cup 2026. The clock ticks, thought.
3. Fresh from getting street on the USMNT for the Concacaf Nations League in March, Brian White scored four goals for the Vancouver WhiteCaps in their 5-1 over Austin FC On Saturday. Do you expect it to be part of the Gold Cup selection in June? Why or why not?
Doug: It is a figures. Folarin Balogun plays back for Monaco after shoulder surgery, so he will be sure. The same for Ricardo Pepi when he is healthy. Patrick Agyeng started the most recent match of the USMNT on both White and Josh Sargent, and he scored the only goal of America in the 2-1 loss for Canada. So those are Probabry Mauricio Pochettinos three choices at Striker if everyone is healthy.
Of course everyone is not always healthy. The Gold Cup could come too early for Pepi, who is excluded for the rest of the season of PSV after the knee operation. Can that open the door for white? It is possible that Pochettino now prefers the 29-year-old MLS Lifer above Sargent, who has yet to score in three US starts since the Argentinian coach took over last October. But White will also have to beat Haji Wright, who has four goals in Hist five games for Coventry City in the second level of England. I think Witte Probabry just misses the competition for him.
[RELATED: Brian White’s USMNT opportunity is a career in the making: ‘I always kept dreaming’]
4. The Phallon Tullis-Joyce Fanclub received a handful of new members in the weekend after her accurate Dobble-Save Manchester United In the FA Cup on Sunday. Only a week earlier she had a strong show in a shutout victory Brazil. Is it too early to call her the favorite to replace Alyssa Naeher On the USWNT?
Sheet: I think it is too early because Emma Hayes is still a lot in the schedule -experimentation audience. Everything that the USWNT soot is claimed around the 2027 World Cup and qualifies for that tournale is not until November 2026. So Hayes has enough time, Eve Dehouch, she would probably have the successor to Alysa Naherher in his place.
That said, there is no doubt that Phallon Tullis-Joyce has raised her USWNT profile in the last camp. She had a clean sheet and made six major saves in her first cap for the US in the first match against Brazil. She seemed confident in the goal, was agitably of her line and impressed the team in her first start ever.
Butes, you haven’t taken anyone out of the competition. Jane Campbell, Mandy McMlynn and Tullis-Joyce have been breached in the past two camps, but it would not be sensitive to exclude Casey Murphy, Claudia Dickey or Angelina Anderson at the moment. As far as Tullis-Joyce is concerned, Hayes should see more of her. She has only been involved in three camps and is still used to the environment. Hayes noted that the goalkeeper is stiller and introvert and that it takes time to build trust and connections with new teams. Tullis-Joyce argued for Herestof, but it is still too early to say that she is the leader.
5. Who else in the USWNT Player Pool has during this period of experiments for Emma Hayes and Co.?
Sheet: Alyssa Thompson. The 20-year-old attacker has taken a new step, according to Hayes, after the last camp with two games against Brazil. Thompson has held a lot of Bree since he returned to the Fold Last Fail, including scoring her first goal against Iceland last October. More recently, Thompson started both games versus Brazil and was involved in two impresive goals. She was a bright spot in the attack and showed how much she has grown since she came to the senior team when she was only 17 years old.
Hayes commented on Thompson’s growth during the Aprilkamp and stated that the staff has worked with her in the last six months on her decision-making, positioning and how to be a 1v1 specialist in a world-class. With only Trinity Rodman of the famous’ Triple Espresso ‘that is available for recent selection, Thompson must have the opportunity to make Resto go further in Hayes’ plans. Moreover, she held consistency for an undefeated Angel City where she scored on Doel and had an assist in a 3-1 victory over the Houston Dash, and the second youngest player in the history of NWSL became 10 goals and 10 assists.
Laken Litman treats University Football, College Basketball and Football for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and the Indianapolis Star. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman”, published in the spring of 2022 on the occasion of the 50th birthday of Title IX. Follow her with @Lakenlitman.
Doug McINTYRE is a football reporter for FOX Sports who has covered United States National teams for men and women on FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him @Bydougmcintyre.
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