Hoping to put the damaging friendly defeats over the past week behind them, the U.S. men’s national team begin their 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup quest with a group stage game against Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday in San Jose.
The USMNT has lost four straight matches under Mauricio Pochettino. The vibes around the national team are borderline toxic, as fans become increasingly worried about their prospects at next summer’s World Cup on home soil after being outmatched by Switzerland in an embarrassing 4-0 drubbing last week.
Pochettino will hope that a return to form against inferior CONCACAF opposition will help the team get back on its feet, but with many first-team regulars absent from the squad this summer, it will be a tougher task than usual, even against nations with far lower rankings.
Trinidad & Tobago, 100th in the world according to FIFA, are hoping to bolster their World Cup qualification journey with a strong Gold Cup performance. They have only qualified for one World Cup in the nation’s history, back in 2006, but will never have a better chance than this cycle with the expanded field and three CONCACAF teams qualifying automatically as hosts.
The Soca Warriors have only reached the Gold Cup semifinals once in history, 25 years ago, and have only reached the quarterfinals once in the years since that result.
MORE: Christian Pulisic speaks following criticism of his USMNT absence this summer
USA vs. Trinidad and Tobago predicted starting 11, team news
Ahead of their final competitive matches before next summer’s World Cup on home soil, the United States are without a significant number of first-team regulars for myriad reasons.
The likes of Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah were left off the roster at the players’ behest, having asked to rest for the summer. Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, and Gio Reyna are all participating in the Club World Cup and have stayed with their clubs, while Josh Sargent, Joe Scally, and Tanner Tessmann were all passed over for “football reasons” as Pochettino described it.
Meanwhile, Antonee Robinson had knee surgery to solve a chronic issue that has plagued him for months, Folarin Balogun sustained an ankle injury, Ricardo Pepi continues to rehab from a long-term knee injury, Sergino Dest withdrew from the squad to protect his recent recovery from a torn ACL. Zack Steffen suffered a knee injury in pre-tournament camp.
Tyler Adams told The Sporting News he’s dealing with turf toe. After missing the Switzerland friendly, it’s unclear if he’ll be back for competitive matches or if a longer absence is on the horizon.
After making nine changes to his lineup from the first pre-Gold Cup friendly to the second, it’s likely Pochettino will go back to something close to his XI from the Turkey game.
MORE: How USMNT players fared in embarrassing defeat to Switzerland | Player ratings from 2-1 defeat to Turkey
USA starting lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): 25. Freese (GK) — 16. Freeman, 3. Richards, 13. Ream, 18. Arfsten — 8. Berhalter, 14. de la Torre — 6. McGlynn, 17. Tillman, 10. Luna— 24. Agyemang.
Full USA squad
Goalkeepers: Chris Brady, Matt Freese, Matt Turner.
Defenders: Max Arfsten, Alex Freeman, Nathan Harriel, Mark McKenzie, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Miles Robinson, John Tolkin, Walker Zimmerman.
Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson, Paxten Aaronson, Tyler Adams, Sebastian Berhalter, Johnny Cardoso, Luca de la Torre, Diego Luna, Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, Malik Tillman.
Forwards: Patrick Agyemang, Damion Downs, Brian White, Haji Wright.
MORE: A full breakdown of the USMNT roster for the 2025 Gold Cup
Head coach Dwight Yorke has his full squad fit and ready to compete, but he was forced to make a few cuts heading into the Gold Cup.
Veterans left off the roster include ageing goalkeeper Adrian Foncette and 34-year-old defender Aubrey David, who were both not included in this summer’s squad. Forward Reon Moore who has 32 international appearances and 10 goals was part of the Unity Cup squad earlier in the month but was left off as he continues to look for a new club. Another double-digit goal scorer not involved is Ryan Telfer, who plays for Canadian club Halifax Wanderers.
Attacking duo Levi Garcia and Dante Sealy combined for three goals and two assists in their 6-2 win over St. Kitts & Nevis in World Cup qualifying last weekend, and both should see the field against the United States.
Trinidad & Tobago starting lineup (5-4-1, right to left): 1. Phillip (GK) — 23. Powder, 5. I. Garcia, 16. A. Jones, 4. Bateau, 24. J. Garcia — 10. Molino, 8. D. Phillips, 19. Fortune, 13. Spicer — Lee.
Full Trinidad and Tobago squad
Goalkeepers: Marvin Phillip, Jabari St. Hillaire, Denzil Smith.
Defenders: Sheldon Bateau, Rio Cardines, Darnell Hospedales, Alvin Jones, Joevin Jones, Noah Powder, Andre Raymond, Josiah Trimmingham.
Midfielders: Ajani Fortune, Wayne Frederick, Real Gill, Nathaniel James, Daniel Phillips, Andre Rampersad, Steffen Yeates.
Forwards: Levi Garcia, Isaiah Leacock, Isaiah Lee, Kevin Molino, Dante Sealy, Tyrese Spicer, Kaihim Thomas.
USA vs. Trinidad and Tobago score prediction
The United States looked outmatched and outgunned against Switzerland, but the lineup deployed against Turkey competed hard and deserved to get a result from that game.
If Mauricio Pochettino goes back to the players who put in shifts through that first friendly, the USMNT should manage to handle Trinidad & Tobago, even if the Soca Warriors make it difficult by bunkering into a low block and hoping to hit with long-ball counters.
While the USMNT has been surprised by Trinidad & Tobago in the past, including the infamous World Cup qualifying disaster in Couva in 2018, this team lacks the international experience of that veteran squad, and should provide the U.S. with a pathway to a winning Gold Cup start.
Prediction: USA 1-0 Trinidad & Tobago
USA vs. Trinidad and Tobago live stream, TV channel
- Date: Sunday, June 15, 2025
- Time (ET): 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT
- TV channel (English): FOX
- Streaming (English): Fubo, Fox Sports app, ViX
- TV channel (Spanish): TUDN, Univision
- Streaming (Spanish): Fubo, TUDN.com, Universo NOW
The entirety of the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup will be broadcast by FOX, with this USMNT opener televised on the network’s flagship channel.
Many other matches will be televised on FS1 or FS2.
All games on Fox family of channels will be available to stream on Fubo, who are offering a free trial for new users.
