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After celebrating a long-awaited World Cup knockout-round win on Wednesday night, U.S. men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino now has a big decision staring at him: what to do at center forward.
Folarin Balogun is suspended for Monday’s upcoming Round of 16 match against Belgium after receiving a red card in the 64th minute against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balogun has been outstanding this World Cup, scoring twice against Paraguay, forcing an own goal in the USA’s win over Australia and scoring again on Wednesday before being sent off.
The American team is now without its best scoring opportunity against Belgium. Pochettino has several different ways to approach his team’s attack, but here are the options he is likely to consider:
Option 1: All aboard ‘El Tren’
(Photo by Sarah Stier – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
Pochettino has used the same starting line-up and formation in the matches against Paraguay and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In those two games, the USA has won each time while outscoring the opposition 6-1.
The most likely approach against Belgium is to swap Ricardo Pepi for Balogun and keep the other 10 players in the same position with the same responsibilities. That option requires fewer changes and keeps players on the same tasks that have worked.
The good news for the American team is that Pepi is still a very capable striker who scored 19 goals for PSV Eindhoven this season. This included a highly effective run in the UEFA Champions League where he scored three goals and picked up an assist in just 149 minutes in the sport’s premier club competition.
There are two concerns about this approach. Firstly, Pepi has not played that well for the national team under Pochettino and there are questions about his adaptation to the Argentine’s system. Second, Pepi has a very different profile to Balogun.
Balogun’s style is that he is world class at running in behind opposing defences. For Balogun to be effective, he needs a lot of positive chemistry with his teammates who know when to run and how to get the ball. This takes time to develop and is probably the primary reason why it took until this past season for Balogun to be at his best with Monaco. Similarly, it took a lot of time for Balogun to play this comfortably with the American team.
Pepi doesn’t need that type of chemistry. He is more of a classic forward who reads the game in the box, knows how to get into dangerous areas and is far more of an aerial threat than Balogun.
But the reason Pepi might have gotten the nod was because his best performance for the American team came just before the tournament in a 3-2 win over Senegal. In that match, Pepi did not score, but he combined very well with Pulisic in counter-attacks after turnovers.
The American team will not be able to play in exactly the same way with Pepi instead of Balogun. But they get someone who can combine better in the build-up and will be a good finisher in the box.
The Senegal game just before the tournament provides the best insight into how the team will play without Balogun. Expect Pochettino to mimic the Senegal game plan, but with key players like Tillman and McKennie available (neither started in that game).
Option 2: Price is ‘Wright’
(Photo by Jane Gershovich/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Inserting Haji Wright into Balogun’s role is another option that Pochettino could consider. Wright is more like Balogun than Pepi is. His goals for Coventry, as well as with the U.S. national team in the friendly win over Australia in October 2025, show that Wright wants to run and get behind the defense.
But Wright also hasn’t been much of an option for the American team in the past month, and he seems like a very distant backup. Even with rotated squads in the pre-tournament friendly and the match against Turkiye, Wright has made just one appearance (a late cameo against Australia).
Now going back to giving Wright a big role in a World Cup knockout seems like a stretch, unless there are injuries to players like Pepi and Pulisic.
Option 3: Pulisic as a ‘false 9’
(Photo by John Todd/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images).
Exploring other approaches Pochettino has used, there was also the 2-0 friendly loss to Portugal when Pulisic played as a false front nine without a true center forward in the mix.
That game didn’t go very well, but Pulisic is in much better shape now than he was in March.
The obvious problem with this formation is that it removes the team’s best one-on-one attacker from the edge. It’s where so many of the American team’s best chances originate that it seems unwise to take the team’s best player and put him in an uncomfortable role.
If Pulisic went into a false nine position, it would require another winger like Gio Reyna, Alex Zendejas or Tim Weah (who seems to have lost confidence). There is also the possibility that Tillman or McKennie can switch wide, and then Sebastian Berhalter comes into the midfield.
Pochettino has used it so it cannot be lowered completely. But it requires the team to deviate from what has so far achieved three victories at the World Cup.
Option 4: Setting up two strikers
(Photo by Lyndsay Radnedge/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images).
Pochettino is not afraid to mix things up. When Pulisic was injured for the group stage against Australia, Pochettino shuffled the formation and went with a two-striker setup, with both Pepi and Balogun starting together.
Apart from Pulisic in a false nine role, is there another formation Pochettino can use as a surprise against Belgium?
It is possible, but unlikely. Pepi and Wright could replicate the two-forward set-up used against Australia, but only with Pulisic back in the line-up. A big problem, of course, is that someone, probably a midfielder, would have to leave the lineup. Tillman, McKennie and Adams are far too critical of the way they have played.
