Christian Pulisic leads U.S. roster for October friendlies

AC Milan forward Christian Pulisic headlines the 26-player United States roster compiled for two October friendlies.

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino also selected 10 MLS players for the team announced on Thursday.

Gearing up for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the U.S. will play Ecuador on Oct. 10 in Austin, Texas, followed by a match against Australia on Oct. 14 in Commerce City, Colo. All three teams already have qualified for the World Cup being staged across North America next summer.

The players will begin reporting to training camp in Austin on Saturday.

A notable absence is AFC Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams, who captained the 2022 World Cup squad.

Injured players who are unavailable include PSV Eindhoven teammates defender Sergino Dest and forward Ricardo Pepi, Atletico Madrid midfielder Johnny Cardoso and Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Giovanni Reyna.

The full roster includes four goalkeepers, eight defenders, eight midfielders and six forwards.

GOALKEEPERS: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire FC), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew) and Matt Turner (New England Revolution).

DEFENDERS: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Mark McKenzie (FC Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham) and Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati).

MIDFIELDERS: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders), James Sands (FC St. Pauli), Tanner Tessmann (Olympique Lyon) and Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen).

FORWARDS: Patrick Agyemang (Derby County), Folarin Balogun (AS Monaco), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Tim Weah (Marseille), Haji Wright (Coventry City) and Alex Zendejas (Club America).

--Field Level Media