USMNT

Forward Christian Pulisic headlines the 25-man roster announced Thursday for the United States Men's National Team's upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Players will begin reporting to camp in Cincinnati this Sunday. The USMNT will face Mexico at Cincinnati's TQL Stadium on Nov. 12 before traveling to face Jamaica in Kingston on Nov. 16.

The U.S. (3-1-2, 11 points) is currently in second place behind Mexico (4-0-2, 14 points) in the CONCACAF qualifying table for the Qatar World Cup. Canada (2-0-4, 10 points) is third.

I’ve been watching a lot of Juventus matches lately. With Weston McKennie in fine goal-scoring form, it’s hard not to watch my fellow Texan do things no American has done before while converting soaring headers and powerful strikes. But one facet of his game has made him totally unique at Juventus: the long Weston McKennie throw-in.

Chelsea midfielder Christian Pulisic is ready to return from a long-term injury for Tuesday's Champions League group game against Malmo but Mason Mount will miss out after failing to recover from illness, manager Thomas Tuchel said on Monday.

U.S. international Pulisic, 23, has not played since the Premier League opener in August due to an ankle problem, while Mount travelled with the squad for the 3-0 win at Newcastle United on Saturday but had to withdraw on the eve of the game.

A heavy workload for Chelsea's international players may have contributed to their lack of freshness on the pitch in recent games, manager Thomas Tuchel said on Tuesday, but the German backed them to rise to the challenge of competing on all fronts.

Pulisic Injury Update

Tuchel added Christian Pulisic remains unavailable through injury. The American forward has not featured for Chelsea since the opening day of the season against Crystal Palace after suffering an ankle injury during the international break.

Qualifying for the World Cup from Concacaf is hard, the narrative goes. Away trips are brutal experiences and every point is hard earned, we’re told. And yet, a quick glance at social media over the last month or two since the USMNT began World Cup qualifying paints a different picture, one that suggests U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter is a stinking pile of flaming diapers for failing to win every single game in qualifying. It had us thinking about USMNT World Cup qualifying history, and how past teams have fared compared to this one. 

The USMNT got its World Cup qualifying campaign back on the right track, baby, yeah, by defeating Costa Rica 2-1 in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday night. Block every voice that tells you this isn’t something worth celebrating because after going down 1-0 to a strange goal early, the U.S. produced the sort of performance that makes this grind of qualifying more than worth your time.