Some players moved closer to Mauricio Pochettino’s World Cup squad in September friendlies, but others now challenged

Mauricio Pochettino said it several times throughout the course of this international break: the focus is on the World Cup. From the start, the U.S. men’s national team head coach said that this would be the last meaningful opportunity to experiment before narrowing down the players he wants to bring with him on this road to next summer.

A mixed bag of results followed. There was the 2-0 loss to South Korea, a game in which the USMNT were underwhelming. There was the 2-0 win over Japan, a game in which the USMNT played up to their level. By Pochettino’s own logic, though, that matters little – per the plan, what matters is how the individuals fared.

Some players clearly boosted their World Cup stock, putting in performances that show why they can contribute to this team next summer. Others have some work to do, although the chances will seemingly be harder to come by going forward as Pochettino welcomes back key regulars and settles on a more structured roster for October friendlies.

“We need to call the players that can perform,” Pochettino said. “If the players, for different reasons, are not performing, why are we going to call them? We aren’t going to just call players who performed four years ago unless they perform better than another player. That is, for me, the most important thing. I was telling the players that the door is always open. It’s not closed. You all have the possibility to stay on, and then it’s going to be our decision.”

The USMNT will play both Ecuador and Australia in October, and then close the year against Paraguay and Uruguay in November, with the World Cup on the horizon.

Some players moved closer to being a part of that squad with their performances in these games. Others will be left wondering if they did enough. Who stood out? Whose stock rose, and whose fell? GOAL takes a look.