'Priority is to win the tournament' - Sergino Dest out as Mauricio Pochettino confirms final USMNT roster for 2025 Gold Cup, says he's 'confident' reduced squad can succeed

Sergino Dest has been left off the U.S. men's national team's final Gold Cup roster, U.S. Soccer announced on Thursday, after it was determined that the fullback would be better served continuing his recovery from an ACL injury

Dest has been replaced in the squad by John Tolkin, who joins the USMNT after a standout debut half-season in the Bundesliga for Holstein Kiel.

The rest of the roster remains unchanged. After naming a 27-player squad with four goalkeepers ahead of the 26-player cutdown, the USMNT saw Zack Steffen depart camp with an injury, leaving the team with the required three of Matt Turner, Matt Freese and Chris Brady for the Gold Cup.

Among those players not on the squad because of injury, recovery or Club World Cup commitments are Christian Pulisic, Antonee Robinson, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Yunus Musah, Folarin Balogun, and, now, Dest. Josh Sargent, another recent USMNT regular, was left off the squad entirely.

Pochettino said the priority is still to win the Gold Cup, despite the numerous absences.

“We are extremely excited to work with this group of players and compete for the championship," he said. "Of course our priority is to win the tournament and to show the right mentality and approach, and we are confident these players will take advantage of the opportunity.” 

Regarding Dest, he said the decision was made to focus on recovery for next season.

“The technical, medical and high performance staffs have done a series of evaluations this week on all the players in camp," he said, "and in the case of Sergino we determined the best decision is for the player to have an individualized training program for the summer so he can focus on being fully recovered and ready to perform next season."

GOALKEEPERS: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace)  

DEFENDERS: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Union), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC) 

MIDFIELDERS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United); Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia Union); Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven) 

FORWARDS: Paxten Aaronson (FC Utrecht), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC), Damion Downs (FC Koln), Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps), Haji Wright (Coventry City) 

Dest becomes the latest notable USMNT star to be left out this summer, joining Pulisic, Weston, Weah, Musah and Robinson among the regular starters absent. The striker position is also missing both Balogun and Ricardo Pepi due to injury, while Sargent was left off the squad altogether.

That turns the focus towards a different group of players, those vying for roles at the World Cup. Position battles will also be on full display in goal and at center-back. While the Gold Cup may have a different feel without the star names, others will now be looking to take advantage to boost their claim ahead of next summer's tournament.

In the Gold Cup, the U.S. will face Trinidad & Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the group stage. Prior to that, the USMNT will face take on Turkey on Saturday and Switzerland next Tuesday in a pair of pre-tournament friendlies.