Gio Reyna, Ricardo Pepi headline returners as Christian Pulisic is left out of Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT squad for November friendlies vs Paraguay, Uruguay

Pochettino's 25-man squad for the November matches features 11 players that were not in the October camp, headlined by the returns of Reyna, Scally and Pepi. Reyna and Scally are back in the team for the first time since the Nations League collapse in March, while Pepi and Auston Trusty return to the USMNT squad for the first time since last November - Pochettino's second camp after taking over the team.

Reyna's return comes on the heels of a move to Borussia Monchengladbach, where he reunited with longtime friend and former NYCFC youth team teammate Scally in the Bundesliga. Pepi, meanwhile, is back from injury and scoring again for PSV, having recently netted in three of his last four games, including Champions League matches against Napoli and Olympiacos.

Trusty rejoins a central defense pool that includes Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream and Miles Robinson following the team's recent switch to a three-centerback system.

There are 11 MLS players, overall, on the roster, and nine are still active in the playoffs.

Sebastian Berhalter and the Vancouver Whitecaps have already advanced to the Western Conference semifinals, while Ream (Charlotte FC), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Max Arfsten, Patrick Schulte and Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew), Roman Celentano and Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati) and Matt Freese (New York City FC) will all play decisive Game 3 matches this weekend.

New England Revolution goalkeeper and former USMNT starter Matt Turner was not called-in for this camp.

The team has been hit by something of an injury crisis in recent weeks, leading to several notable absences. Pulisic is chief among them, as a hamstring injury sustained in last month's friendly against Australia kept him out of action for AC Milan and, ultimately now, the USMNT. Interestingly, Pulisic has reportedly resumed training and is expected to return to Milan’s squad for Saturday’s Serie A trip to Parma.

Star attacker Tim Weah is also out, having recently sustained an injury with Marseille, while Cameron Carter-Vickers will be on the shelf for a several months due to an Achilles issue.

Pochettino opted to leave out several players who have either recently returned or are nearing a return. Those players include Malik Tillman and Johnny Cardoso, while Antonee Robinson, who has battled injury issues for most of 2025, is also out.

Also missing are regulars Chris Richards and Weston McKennie, who were not named to the squad.

GOALKEEPERS: Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew) 

DEFENDERS: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse FC), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), John Tolkin (Holstein Kiel), Auston Trusty (Celtic) 

MIDFIELDERS: Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Gio Reyna (Borussia Monchengladbach), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew) 

FORWARDS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Haji Wright (Coventry City) 

"As we continue to develop our squad and build on the culture we have created, this is another great opportunity for the players selected for this roster to prove they deserve to be on the final list for the World Cup,” Pochettino said. “It's important that they come into this camp prepared to show their qualities on the field and their commitment to being a good teammate. We will keep working on the competitive details in training and have the opportunity to challenge ourselves against two high-quality opponents from South America.”

Ahead of next year's home World Cup, Pochettino is tasked with helping drive the growth of the sport in the U.S., telling BBC Sport this week that "the motivation is massive. Sometimes you feel that people don't understand too much.

"You find some coaches that say, 'Oh you know, you need to know the culture of the American player.' I say 'No, I know the most important thing is the culture of football and soccer. We need to translate the culture of football to the American player.' I think after one year we are making great progress.

"We are building with people that the language of football is only one, and it doesn't care if you are American, Brazilian or English. Our football is to compete in the way that you need to compete, if you want to win."

The USMNT will gather after this weekend's club games as they look ahead to two massive friendlies. Up first is a clash with Paraguay at Subaru Park, home of the Philadelphia Union, on Nov. 15. After that, the team will head south to Tampa Bay to play host to Uruguay on Nov. 18 in a rematch of their group stage game at the 2024 Copa America.

The USMNT are 16th in the FIFA world rankings. Uruguay are No. 15, and Paraguay are ranked No. 39.