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The United States men’s national team plays its first game after the firing of Gregg Berhalter on Saturday against Canada.
Interim head coach Mikey Varas will be in charge of the USMNT in Kansas City. Numerous reports have the USMNT linked to Mauricio Pochettino as its new manager, but an official announcement has not been made yet.
Christian Pulisic and Co. could use a positive result against Canada to create some momentum going forward toward the 2026 FIFA World Cup on home soil.
The USMNT may not play a ton of top opponents in preparation for the World Cup because World Cup qualifying and other competitions will take up the international schedules of teams in Europe and South America.
Canada appears to be in great shape under its new manager Jesse Marsch and it will use Saturday’s game as a chance to prove it can challenge the top team in North America.
Date: Saturday, September 7
The USMNT is playing under its second interim head coach since the 2024 FIFA World Cup concluded.
This time around Mikey Varas, who has experience with U.S. Soccer as the Under-20 men’s coach, is the interim manager. Varas is not expected to be at the helm for long with Pochettino’s appointment likely happening soon.
The goal for Saturday’s game against Canada and Tuesday’s match versus New Zealand is to win and get back on track after a disastrous Copa America in which the Americans dropped out at the quarterfinal stage.
Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Tim Ream, Chris Richards and Joe Scally are among the first-team regulars in the squad for the September international window.
The whole collection of strikers, Haji Wright, Folarin Balogun, Josh Sargent and Ricardo Pepi, are also on the roster.
The USMNT is still looking for the clear-cut No. 1 at the forward position. Balogun scored twice at the Copa America and could have a slight edge over the rest of the field for now.
All of the squad questions will be answered when Pochettino takes over, but for now, the goal is to put the best 11 players on the field to win a soccer game.
As always, a ton of pressure will be heaped on Pulisic to create chances and put the USMNT on the scoreboard.
Canada boasts the more consistent striker unit, led by Cyle Larin and Jonathan David, who have 57 international goals between them.
Alphonso Davies is always the danger man on the wing, and the Americans must contain him to have a strong defensive game.
Canada has all the momentum right now after its run to the Copa America semifinal, and it would not be a surprise to see the two rivals on level terms throughout the 90 minutes.
Prediction: United States 1, Canada 1