CHRIS RICHARDS

American men's soccer success on the world stage remains a dream.

Gio Reyna, Joe Scally and Yusuf Musah were 11 years old the last time the United States took the field in a World Cup match.

The U.S. World Cup roster had some surprises: Ricardo Pepi was left off along with Zack Steffen, Paul Arriola and Jordan Pefok.

Christian Pulisic and Ricardo Pepi will join the U.S. starting lineup for the Americans’ last World Cup warmup against Saudi Arabia after coach Gregg Berhalter admitted “we got our butts kicked” by Japan last week.

Gregg Berhalter’s U.S. roster as the World Cup approaches is as notable for its absences as for those set to play in Friday’s warmup against Japan at Düsseldorf, Germany.

Bayern Munich midfielder Malik Tillman is switching affiliation from Germany to the United States and is among 27 players invited to the Americans’ next-to-last training camp ahead of the World Cup.

Gio Reyna, Jordan Pefok and Ethan Horvath are back for the United States’ final World Cup qualifiers but Sergiño Dest appears likely to miss the three games.

Christian Pulisic was benched as U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter changed seven starters for a World Cup qualifier against Honduras in chilly St. Paul, where the temperature at kickoff was unofficially 2 degrees (minus-16 Celsius) with a minus-14 windchill.

The U.S. team has embraced the cold during this special winter session of World Cup qualifying play.

Antonee Robinson broke through the freeze in the air and the U.S. offense, scoring in the 52nd minute to lift the United States over El Salvador 1-0 and kept the Americans on track for a return to the World Cup.

Defender Chris Richards and midfielder Gianluca Busio entered the U.S. lineup for a match at Jamaica as the Americans started their second-youngest lineup ever in a World Cup qualifier.

United States center back Chris Richards is adapting well to life in Europe and has become a regular starter on loan at Hoffenheim.

Getting through the first six games of World Cup qualifying has taken a village for the United States.

Tim Weah scored on a shot that deflected off the goalkeeper in the 66th minute after Sergiño Dest started the comeback from a first-minute deficit, and the United States rallied to beat Costa Rica 2-1 to ease pressure as World Cup qualifying neared the halfway point.

(Laurence Griffiths/Pool via AP)CHICAGO – Defender Bryan Reynolds received his first call-up to the U.S. national team after the 19-year-old made his debut for Roma last weekend. Chituru Odunze, an 18-year-old goalkeeper with Leicester, also could debut in exhibitions against Jamaica on March 25 at Wiener Neustadt, Austria, or three days later at Northern Ireland. Forward Matthew Hoppe, who has scored five goals for Schalke this season, was not called in for a possible debut. Germany), Luca de la Torre (Heracles, Netherlands), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Yunus Musah (Valencia, Spain), Owen Otasowie (Wolverhampton, England). Forwards: Daryl Dike (Barnsley, England), Nicholas Gioacchini (Caen, France), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea, England), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen, Germany), Tim Weah (Lille, France).

Nicholas Gioacchini and Sebastian Soto each scored their first two international goals in a 6-2 exhibition rout of Panama on Monday night at Wiener Neustadt, Austria, the second of two matches for the Americans that followed a 10-month pandemic break. Gio Reyna got his first goal three days after his 18th birthday, the third-youngest player to score in modern era. Sebastian Lletget also got a goal in a physical, open match against a CONCACAF rival that reached the 2018 World Cup over the Americans. By the time qualifying comes we'll be ready to compete.”José Fajardo scored his first two goals for Panama. The U.S. has used 90 players since the October 2017 defeat at Trinidad and Tobago that eliminated the Americans from the 2018 World Cup, including 52 debuting.