Gio Reyna was arguably a surprise inclusion in the United States men’s national team’s penultimate roster ahead of the 2026 World Cup. This national team camp could be his last chance to make one last good impression on head coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Gio Reyna 2026 World Cup roster
The 23-year-old has hardly played for his club, Borussia Monchengladach, at all this season.
Reyna finally departed Borussia Dortmund last summer after multiple seasons of being stuck in bench purgatory, including when he went on loan to Nottingham Forest for a brief spell. The young American rarely started games for Dortmund and needed to find greener pastures with a new club.
Unfortunately for Reyna, the grass hasn’t proven greener with Gladbach. In the 2025-26 campaign he’s started just five games for the club sitting 13th in the German top flight. Reyna has yet to score this season and has one assist.
Injuries have also been a persistent issue. His last appearance in the Bundesliga prior to the March international window was a 20-minute cameo vs. Hamburg on January 17. A muscle strain kept him out of the team’s roster for five games.
So, why on Earth has Pochettino called up a player that hasn’t played in two months? Gio just has an undeniable spark that the national team desperately needs, and he showed that against Paraguay and Uruguay in November.
Reyna scored just minutes into the 2-1 victory vs. Paraguay. He also supplied the game-winning assist in that fixture before supplying another assist in the game against Uruguay.
IT ONLY TOOK GIO REYNA 3 MINUTES TO MAKE HIS MARK 💪@USMNT takes a 1-0 lead over Paraguay on TNT & HBO Max! pic.twitter.com/c0GrctfR3x
— TNT Sports U.S. (@TNTSportsUS) November 15, 2025
His club performance might be, well, non-existent, but there’s no doubt that he becomes a different player when he has a USMNT kit on. Pochettino sees it.
“We really know he’s a very talented and very special player,” Pochettino said. “To give the possibility, even if he’s not playing too much in his club, it can be very useful for us.”
Reyna will now have the opportunity to show off his talents against two of Europe’s most elite squads in Belgium and France. If he can replicate his success from the previous international break then he could have a solid argument for being included in the 2026 World Cup roster.
His competition for the attacking midfielder role includes the likes of Malik Tillman, Brenden Aaronson and Diego Luna (Luna missed the March camp due to injury).
