FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Antonee Robinson got the news on the 13th hole of a golf course in the English countryside, Gio Reyna in a Connecticut parking lot while enjoying a smoothie alongside his wife and dog.
Cristian Roldan tucked a phone into his pocket during a Seattle Sounders team meeting.
“I just wanted it to feel and vibrate,” he said.
American players dispersed across North America and Europe were told notification of coach Mauricio Pochettino’s World Cup picks would arrive via WhatsApp at 1 p.m. EDT on May 22.
Chris Brady, hoping to earn the No. 3 goalkeeper spot, was in the Central time zone and waited nervously with Chicago Fire teammates.
“When 12 struck, nothing came. … What does that mean?” he remembered thinking. “But, yeah, eventually got the message.”
Gathered now at the new U.S. National Soccer Training Center and a nearby hotel in Trilith ahead of their June 12 World Cup opener against Paraguay, players relaxed after making the cut for their sport’s pinnacle event.
“It was just sheer elation,” 27-year-old defender Mark McKenzie said. “Four years of hard work, sacrifice. It was obviously heartbreaking not making ’22 but turned it directly into just motivation to make sure the next time around my name would hopefully be on that roster.”
In the rush to get to the U.S., McKenzie left his film camera back in France, where he plays for Toulouse.
Robinson, still the first-choice left back at age 28 after starting four years ago, hadn’t allowed himself to think too far ahead during a season in which a difficult recovery from May 2025 knee surgery delayed his first Premier League start this season for Fulham until mid-December.
He was on the 13th hole of Pyford Lakes in Woking when his phone buzzed.
“I was playing bad, played bad after but I was a lot happier,” he said. “It was a massive relief just because the year I’ve had and the ups and downs personally.”
Reyna, a son of former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, was notoriously almost sent home from the 2022 tournament by then-coach Gregg Berhalter for lack of hustle during training. His status was uncertain because of an impressive club season with German club Borussia Moenchengladbach, which didn’t start him after Dec. 19.
He was outside Barvida in Norwalk, Connecticut, alongside wife Chloe and Melo, his 1-year-old Cavapoo, when Pochettino’s video message flashed.
“I was sitting in the car,” the 23-year-old midfielder recalled. “We didn’t want to go home because we were both a little bit nervous.”
Roldan, a member of the 2022 roster who didn’t get into a match in Qatar, received an emotional hug from his brother Alex, a Sounders teammate. Cristian didn’t play for the U.S. between July 2023 and his first call-up under Pochettino last September.
“There was a lot of doubt in my mind, but there was a glimmer of hope,” he said. “When your name isn’t called each and every camp and you get further into the cycle, you feel like your chances are dwindling down. So, absolutely, I started to doubt myself a little bit. And then it made me play a little more free.”
Midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, a son of the former coach, didn’t make his national team debut until last June. After getting the WhatsApp video, Sebastian called his dad — now coaching the Chicago Fire — and then his mom and his sisters.
“It was barely a conversation. My mom started crying right away, and then my sister started crying, and I started crying,” Sebastian said. “I was just telling them I love them, and thank you so much for all the sacrifices over the years, especially my mom. Yeah, I was crying for probably 45 seconds.”
Auston Trusty was in a Glasgow hotel with Celtic teammates ahead of the next day’s Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline and fellow defender Alex Freeman was in an apartment in Spain with his father, Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman.
“I was definitely checking my phone like every minute,” Alex Freeman said. “We were kind of just waiting on the couch. When we got the call, it was kind of a good moment with family bonding.”
Alejandro Zendejas, a 28-year-old forward, was picked after not playing for the U.S. since September. He learned of his selection while in San Antonio with his family and girlfriend. His father, Alfredo, burst into tears.
“When he hugged me and stuff, I could feel shaking in his voice,” Zendejas said. “He started tearing up and that makes me tear up.”
Zendejas was among the players on the roster bubble.
“We joked around about his number being number 26,” Roldan said of Zendejas. “Him and myself, we were probably one of the later guys on the roster and we kind of share that kind of sentiment together.”
Defender Chris Richards arrived after going to Leipzig, Germany, with Crystal Palace for the UEFA Conference League final Wednesday, won by the Eagles over Rayo Vallecano.
He traveled from London to New York on Thursday, then to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Friday morning. Richards, who hasn’t played since tearing two ankle ligaments on May 17, went straight to the training center for medical evaluation and is to join practice on Saturday.
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