The USMNT enters the September 2025 international window sharing a similar set of pressures as their fellow World Cup cohosts. For the USA, Mexico, and Canada, the goal is roster and tactical adjustments rather than the pressures of qualifying. That is the major motivation for the fan and pundit response to the USMNT’s roster choices for this camp, with several players offered an opportunity in what would be late in a regular World Cup qualifying cycle.
Considering this very specific situation, the United States technical staff does have time. Whether or not it’s the best use of that time right now is a side discussion without an obvious answer. This is a new version of the World Cup, with three cohosts, more nations, and extra games. What happens this month may have no bearing whatsoever on next summer. It’s a part that, by default, doesn’t necessarily have much to do with the whole.
The USMNT plays Korea (Sept 6 – 5pm ET – TNT) and Japan (Sept 9 – 7:30pm ET – TNT), with Mexico facing those same two teams in the United States. Canada made a different choice, traveling to Europe to play Romania and Wales.
September is never the most straightforward international window. The opening of the European club seasons and the closing of the transfer window not long after creates an annual pressure that can alter the decision-making for national team coaches. Is it worth bringing in a player about to make a club move? How much weight should be put on performance across only a handful of early-season club games? What’s the balance between need and letting players have time to adjust to club situations?
Korea called in Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae and wingers Lee Kang-in from PSG and LAFC’s new signing Heung-min Son. Those three are Korea’s headline players, suggesting the USMNT will see a recognizable version of one of the Asian Football Confederation’s stronger teams. Korea’s first-choice goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu recently moved from Saudi Arabian club Al-Shabab to the J1 League’s FC Tokyo.
Japan’s squad has Parma goalkeeper Zion Suzuki, Ajax defender Ko Itakura, and fellow Eredivisie player Tsuyoshi Watanabe from Feyenoord, along with Liverpool defensive midfielder Wataru Endo. In the attack, they have plenty of options among Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma, Celtic winger Daizen Maeda, Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo, and Eintracht’s Ritsu Doan. Japan is the top team in the AFC according to the current FIFA rankings.
While it’s always worth the reminder that friendly decisions normally differ from what might happen in a competitive game, both of these rosters are quite strong. Korea coach Hong Myung-bo and Japan’s Hajime Moriyasu have steered their teams to the 2026 World Cup, with both finishing top of their third round groups to qualify.
USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino has made it clear in his media comments that this camp is one of the last opportunities for players to push themselves into World Cup roster consideration. Fair enough, considering where his squad is in advance of the World Cup. There are six games left in the fall and the March window to work with a fully available group of players. With the decision already made, there’s not much point in over-stressing the situation in September.
Still, winning games in the United States is important in the run-up to the World Cup. It’s not just about creating momentum or drawing a line under a first-choice lineup. It’s also about building confidence in the program as a whole, creating the kind of buy-in that builds support for the team in advance of those games that count. It also has the potential to move the USMNT past what happened in games that counted in the summer of 2025. That time doesn’t have to be right now, but there’s no downplaying the importance of reenergizing what’s happening with the US National Team.
Results first, followed by interesting stories of players seizing an opportunity to earn another chance in the next set of friendlies. That’s the story for the USMNT in the September 2025 international window.
