Why Christian Pulisic is the USMNT’s Neymar & why Gio Reyna isn’t as Stuart Holden discusses 2026 World Cup selection posers

That is the opinion of former United States international Stuart Holden, who has been discussing selection posers heading down a long road to the 2026 World Cup finals that will be co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Pulisic – who swapped life at Chelsea for that at AC Milan over the summer – will be integral to future plans as arguably the finest talent available to national coach Gregg Berhalter. The USMNT need much more than just him, though, with Holden telling the State of the Union with Alexi Lalas podcast: “I think one of the best things you can have now in today’s game, you’re going to go into a World Cup, let’s say you’re the US in 26, you’re not expecting to play three games. In fact, you want to play at least five when you’re thinking about that tournament. So you’re never going to play the exact same lineup for 11 games. If you say that’s my best 11. Ideally for the biggest game you want to have this what I feel is my strongest team. But you’re going to rotate players, you’re going to rotate lineups. You’re going to need depth. And I think to be successful at a World Cup you don’t just need 13-14 good players, you need 16, 17, 18.”

When it was put to Holden that Brazil would never consider rotating out their talismanic all-time leading goal scorer, Holden added on why Pulisic occupies the same talent bracket and why Borussia Dortmund playmaker Reyna does not: “No not Neymar. Pulisic is going to play. We’re not talking about getting Pulisic. Reyna hasn’t shown that he could even stay healthy.”

Reyna is back in the USMNT squad for friendly dates with Germany and Ghana, with his infamous feud with Berhalter being swept under the carpet for now. Getting him into a team that boasts competition for places throughout will not be easy, with Holden adding on the system that he would favour: “If it’s a World Cup game, I play [Reyna] right wing. I’d play [Tim] Weah potentially as a right-back. And, yeah, I think [Sergino] Dest is potentially more of a liability.”