Pulisic among the US starters to miss CONCACAF Gold Cup, last competitive matches before World Cup

NEW YORK (AP) — Christian Pulisic is among a slew of regular starters who will be missing when the United States plays in next month's CONCACAF Gold Cup, another blow for a team coming off dismal performances at the Copa America and CONCACAF Nations League.

Given the absences, coach Mauricio Pochettino wants players who will convince worried fans a turnaround is ahead.

“It's our responsibility to send some signal to them,” he said Thursday during a Zoom news conference after announcing his 27-man roster. “I think our fans need to see our team fighting and playing and performing and playing well, yes, but fighting for the flag and being always in every single game (to) match the aggressivity of the opponent."

Pulisic, the top American player, asked to be left off the roster for the last competitive matches before the 2026 World Cup in order to rest after playing about 120 games for club and country over two seasons.

Yunus Musah also asked out, Antonee Robinson was dropped because he has been playing with an injury, and Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna were blocked because FIFA gave the expanded Club World Cup priority over national teams.

Josh Sargent, Joe Scally, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Tanner Tessmann were omitted in what Pochettino called "football decisions."

U.S. Soccer Federation sporting director Matt Crocker said Pulisic and his advisers asked for the possibility to be left off because of the amount of games he has played in the last two years.

“Many people can say it’s really important for us to be all together for the last time before the World Cup,” Pochettino said. “We decided the best for him, the best of the team, the best for the national team is the decision that we made.”

Pochettino replaced Gregg Berhalter after the team's first-round elimination at the Copa America last summer. After the Gold Cup, he will have just four brief training windows on FIFA international dates before players report ahead of the World Cup.

In the team's first significant test under Pochettino, the Americans lost to Panama and Canada in the Nations League in March. Without saying players had been complacent, Pochettino said “we learned a lot in the last few camps, for sure in March, and it's about to be — maybe use a different way to approach these opportunities."

Sixteen of the players picked are from Major League Soccer, the most in a FIFA window since the U.S. sent a B team to the 2023 Gold Cup.

“If you arrive to the camp and you want to spend nice time, play golf, go for a dinner, visit my family, visit my friend, that is the culture that we want to create?" Pochettino asked out loud. "No, no, no, no, no. What we want do is to go to the national team, arrive and be focused and spend all my focus and energy in the national team. ... If we want be good in one year time, we need to think that today is the most important day."

Outside back Sergiño Dest returns to the national team for the first time since March 2024 after recovering from a torn ACL. Forward Folarin Balogun is with the team for the first time since last September following his recuperation from shoulder surgery.

Pochettino's roster included Alex Freeman, a son of former NFL All-Pro receiver Antonio Freeman. The 20-year-old right back made his Major League Soccer debut for Orlando in April 2023 — his only league match that season. He had two MLS appearances last year and has become a regular this season.

Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, a 24-year-old son of the former coach, also was picked for the first time along with 20-year-old forward Damion Downs and 21-year-old defender Quinn Sullivan.

Downs has played on youth teams of Germany and the U.S., and helped Cologne gain promotion to the Bundesliga for 2025-26 after a one-season absence.

Goalkeeper Matt Freese, who has attended national team camp previously but not played in a game, also was selected.

Players will start reporting June 1 for training in Chicago, and the 26-man Gold Cup roster is due June 4. The U.S. plays Turkey on June 7 at East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland three days later at Nashville, Tennessee, then meets Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the first round of the Gold Cup.

The roster:

Goalkeepers: Matt Freese (New York City), Patrick Schulte (Columbus), Zack Steffen (Colorado), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace)

Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando), DeJuan Jones (San Jose), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati)

Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego), Diego Luna (Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus)

Forwards: Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte), Folarin Balogun (Monaco). Damion Downs (Cologne), Brian White (Vancouver), Haji Wright (Coventry)

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Vancouver Whitecaps' Sebastian Berhalter, right, and Los Angeles FC's Ryan Hollingshead, left, vie for the ball during the second half of an MLS soccer match in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Orlando City defender Alex Freeman, left, clears the ball to stop a scoring attempt by Inter Miami defender Jordi Alba (18) during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Sunday, May 18, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

AC Milan's Christian Pulisic celebrates after scoring their second goal of the game during the Serie A soccer match between Milan and Bologna at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, Friday May 9, 2025. (Spada/LaPresse via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)