Miles Robinson Headlines USMNT Veterans as Pochettino Leaves Christian Pulisic Off First Post-World Cup Roster

Miles Robinson is once again one of the steadiest names on the U.S. Men’s National Team roster, and his veteran standing has only grown more valuable this week. The FC Cincinnati center back was named Thursday to Mauricio Pochettino’s first squad since the 2026 World Cup, headlining a group of just nine players entering camp with 30 or more senior caps in a roster otherwise dominated by teenagers and first-timers.

Robinson’s path back to the national team picture has been anything but conventional. The 29-year-old missed the 2022 World Cup in Qatar entirely after rupturing his Achilles tendon while playing for Atlanta United, a devastating blow that cost him a spot on a squad he’d worked years to reach. He clawed his way back into the picture, started every minute for the U.S. Olympic Team at the 2024 Paris Games, and finally made his first World Cup roster this past May before featuring in the group-stage loss to Turkiye this summer.

A Veteran Anchor in a Youth Movement

Pochettino’s 28-man squad for the upcoming friendlies against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada is stacked with fresh faces — 13 uncapped players, eight of them teenagers, headlined by 16-year-old Cavan Sullivan of the Philadelphia Union. That youth infusion makes Robinson’s presence, alongside fellow 30-plus-cap veterans like Antonee Robinson, Chris Richards, Sergino Dest, Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Malik Tillman, Gio Reyna and Ricardo Pepi, all the more important as a stabilizing force. Only 13 players in total return from the World Cup roster, and Robinson’s 41 caps and three international goals put him firmly among the most experienced defenders in camp.

The biggest headline out of Thursday’s announcement, though, was who wasn’t included. Christian Pulisic — the program’s all-time talisman, who turns 28 on Friday — was left off the roster entirely as he continues working his way back from the microfracture in his tibia and fibula suffered during the Round of 16 loss to Belgium. Pulisic has appeared just twice off the bench for AC Milan this season. Folarin Balogun was also omitted amid a stalled transfer situation at Monaco, and Weston McKennie sits out with injury. Longtime captain Tim Ream, at 38, was left off as well, a sign the program may be turning the page on some of its World Cup-era leadership even as it leans on players like Robinson to bridge the gap.

Building Momentum With FC Cincinnati

Robinson’s club form has backed up his inclusion. He anchored FC Cincinnati’s three-man back line through a strong Leagues Cup run this summer, starting with a 3-1 win over Pachuca and following it up with a standout 90-minute shutout performance against Pumas UNAM, where he logged 10 defensive contributions and seven clearances in a 2-0 victory. That kind of consistent, high-volume defensive output is exactly what’s kept him in Pochettino’s plans even as the manager begins retooling the player pool for the next World Cup cycle. Fans tracking odds and storylines around the USMNT’s fall friendlies can find the latest lines at live sports betting odds as the matches approach.

The Americans open this camp against Peru on September 26 in Orlando, before matches against Chile in St. Louis, Mexico in Glendale, Arizona, and Canada in St. Paul, Minnesota round out the October window. For Robinson, it’s another chance to prove that the veteran leadership he provides — forged through years of setbacks, rehab, and a long-delayed World Cup debut — still has a role to play even as Pochettino builds toward the program’s next generation.

With so many new names entering the picture and a legacy star like Pulisic on the outside looking in, Robinson’s continued presence is a reminder that experience and reliability still carry weight in this USMNT setup. How he performs across these four friendlies could go a long way toward determining just how much longer that holds true.