'Things are going to go my way again' - How adversity shaped Yunus Musah in his fight for a USMNT World Cup spot

March 23 will officially mark one year since the world last saw Musah in a USMNT shirt. So much has changed in that year. Under Mauricio Pochettino, the USMNT was torn down and rebuilt through the summer, seemingly turning the corner in the fall. Musah wasn't a part of that corner turning. After opting to rest rather than play in the Gold Cup, the midfielder was not called up in the fall at all.

On the club level, Musah's life has shifted, too. Unable to find a place for him in the team, AC Milan loaned the midfielder to Atalanta in the final days of the summer transfer window. It wasn't a demotion, though - Atalanta finished five spots ahead of Milan in Serie A last season and are playing in the Champions League this season. The season, though, has been rocky. Manager Ivan Juric was dismissed just a few months in, and despite holding an option to buy Musah at the end of the season, Atalanta haven't really been determined to play him.

As a result, Musah has featured in just 16 Serie A matches with only four starts, totalling 515 minutes. He started the club's first Champions League game, a lopsided loss to Paris Saint-Germain, but has been used sparingly since, featuring in six of their 10 matches in the competition with only two starts. It's all been something of a new experience for Musah, who has played at least 35 games for his club every season since breaking through with Valencia in 2020.

"It's a season of lots of growth, lots of learning," he says. "It's all a new experience for me, this first time on loan, and I've just been learning. It's going to teach me how to handle these situations, how to handle not being the main person in a team for a while, not playing so much. It teaches you how to handle that and how to bounce back as well. 

"I'm just thankful that, when I did get this chance, I took it as well."

The chance he's referring to came recently, when Musah created two big moments that were a long time coming.

Entering the month of March, it had been years since Musah had scored on the club level. 

He'd found the back of the net once with the national team, netting against Panama in October 2024 in one of the first games of the Pochettino era. He had never scored for Atalanta, though, and he hadn't even scored for Milan in his two full seasons with the club. The last time Musah had seen the ball hit the back of the net on the club level was with Valencia during the 2021-22 season. In total, he started this month with just five career senior goals in five-and-a-half years as a professional.

That fact bothered him. He spoke to GOAL about it in 2025, saying he knew that it was a mental thing. He scored plenty in training, he said, which meant it was just a matter of translating it to games. He did that last week, scoring twice in a matter of days to seemingly capture the momentum he so desperately needed.

The first goal came against Sassuolo, with Musah smashing a shot into the back of the net late to give Atalanta a chance in what ended up as a 2-1 loss. The next, scored just three days later, came against Lazio, with Musah again netting in the dying minutes, but this time making the difference. The first leg of the Coppa Italia semifinal clash ended 2-2 with Musah emerging as Atalanta's hero for the day.

"It just showed that all of that hard work and everything that I've been going through this season," he says. "The timing of those goals was amazing, really. For them to come at this time was great. 

"Funny enough, when I shoot the ball, it goes very slowly. It took such a long time, and you're looking at the ball going and going. Then it goes in, and you don't know what to do. It's just an amazing feeling. I want to keep getting those goals now because, once you get that feeling, it's fresh and you just want to keep getting them."

Musah says he recently spoke to manager Raffaele Palladino about the sudden uptick in goals, and he gives credit to the coach for helping to rebuild his confidence. In training, Atalanta have had an increased focus on small-sided games, particularly around the box. It's given Musah the confidence to shoot in those moments, having seen them go in so often in training.

The big question now is if Musah can use this as a springboard for more. He started this past weekend's draw with Udinese, his first time in the XI since January. Could that be a sign of things to come? Might the goals be, too?

"It makes me feel like I can help the team and that I can impact the game even more now," Musah says. "I really think I can. I feel that I can impact a game in the final third, and my teammates now feel that, the fans feel that, the manager feels that. It feels like everyone's got more confidence around me, and this feeling that I can deliver for the team. I feel the same as well."

As confidence builds in Bergamo, there is a World Cup on the horizon, too, and Musah hopes that the confidence can carry him across the Atlantic and back into the USMNT's plans.

Musah's eyes light up when asked about the USMNT. He's missed it dearly. He's missed the moments in the hotel and on the training pitch. He's missed meals with his friends, many of whom he hasn't seen in a year now. More than anything, he's missed the feeling that comes from representing his country in the biggest games soccer can provide.

After his decision to rest during the summer, Musah's commitment was questioned by plenty from outside the USMNT sphere. It was a decision he didn't make lightly, he said in the months since. He'd been going non-stop since he was a teenager at Valencia. After becoming a father early in 2025, he just needed that chance to reset. Many on the outside saw that decision as a lack of commitment to the USMNT cause. Musah says it couldn't be further from the truth; there are few things he cares more about than the national team.

"For me, the national team means so much because, when I go, it's like we have to prove everything to everyone always, all the time," he says. "From when I started playing, we've always had to prove that this group is talented. You have so many players in Europe and doing well, but how far can we take this? How can we make people respect the U.S. for soccer? We're seeing that, and we have a big summer where everyone is going to be watching us. 

"We want to make this big. We want kids to see us in a World Cup and think, 'We want to be like them when we grow up'. That really pushes you because we can make it really big and inspire people."

His place isn't guaranteed. In the year he's been out, Pochettino has rebuilt the player pool, bringing along multiple new options in his midfield. One of the coach's big goals throughout 2025 was to empower competition. Now, heading towards the March camp, Pochettino says that he believes there are at least 75 players who believe they can contribute at a World Cup.

Musah is one and, in his heart, he believes he'll be there. Time is running out to get back into Pochettino's plans, of course, but Musah is embracing the competition. With those goals for Atalanta, in particular, on his mind, he has this belief that he can thrive in that competition.

"I've definitely missed it, but I've been seeing the players play and they're doing really well, which is nice," he says. "A lot of different players are doing well. It shows that the team is a big player pool and there are a lot of players to choose from this summer, and that's exciting for American soccer. 

"Since not going last summer, I've been trying really hard to get back there. I've been working really hard. You can see it in the games as well that I've been trying to show why I deserve to be there. I just hope this summer is going to be big."

For Musah, the key is perspective, as it always has been. If he does ultimately make the USMNT squad, he would still be one of the USMNT's youngest players. Of the players on the USMNT's most recent roster, only four were younger than Musah. Young players go through peaks and valleys. Despite his experience on the international level, the midfielder is still a young player, one who has always been somewhat ahead of schedule.

Now, though, he's lived through one of those valleys, always holding out hope that a peak was just around the corner.

There's a word Musah uses several times during the course of the interview: grateful. 

Despite whatever challenges have been thrown his way, he's found it easy to keep his perspective. He's healthy, his family's healthy, and he gets to play soccer in one of the best leagues in the world. Even on his hard days, life isn't so bad.

On the days that it is, Musah quickly gets reminded of that when he spends time around his daughter, who truly has changed his perspective on life.

"Sometimes I just look at her or hold her and think about what life would be like without her," he says. "I can't imagine living without her. It's unbelievable. The love you have for your child is different. I can finally understand what my parents have been saying!"

It's been part of the growing-up process for him. He broke through in American soccer as a kid, just days ahead of his 18th birthday. He's now a 23-year-old man who, at this point in his career, knows he has a point to prove. 

Proving that point won't be easy. Nothing has been for him this year. There are brighter days ahead, he says. There will be darker ones, too. That's life, though. What defines a person is how they respond, and Musah plans to do exactly that with a smile on his face.

"It's an amazing journey. It's a beautiful journey," he says. "Again, on and off the field, there are going to be moments when you learn new things. What people see is on the field, but like anyone in life, you're going to go through moments where things are going better or worse for you. It's completely natural and normal. It's important for us players to understand that and for me to understand that there are going to be times when you're going to have to dig a little deeper.

"There are ups and downs and different journeys, but the journey is not easy. At the end of the day, we're human. We're doing our best. Sometimes it goes right, sometimes it won't, and it's fine. Just keep going."