World Cup Watch: USA’s MLS-Based Players Know There’s ‘No Time To Sit Around’

There are three things Sebastian Berhalter does in order to perform at his best. Getting a good night’s sleep, of course. Reading – he’s currently digging his way through ‘The Light We Give.’ And thirdly, being diligent in his routine. This part Berthalter maps out carefully. The Vancouver Whitecaps and U.S. men’s national team midfielder keeps a data diary of his training and stays on top of his recovery. At home he uses a hyperbaric chamber, Normatec boots and a red light mat to make sure his body is right where he wants it to be. “I’m not saying those things make a difference, but for me, if there’s anything I can be doing to keep my mind and my body feeling as good as it possibly can, then I’m going to do it,” Berhalter told me ahead of the Whitecap’s preseason training. “Even just spending time with friends, going for walks and just being myself.” Berhalter, 24, is among the pool of MLS players hoping to make the 2026 World Cup roster. USA coach Mauricio Pochettino can only take 26 players to the tournament, which begins June 11. Somewhere around 17-20 of those guys play overseas, including the likes of forward Christian Pulisic and midfielders Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams. That doesn’t leave many spots for MLS-based players. But Berhalter, along with his MLS comrades, is doing everything possible to stay sharp and ready to get called up. The next international window in March – which also happens to be the last camp before Pochettino makes his final World Cup roster decisions – is crucial. It will include matches against European powers Belgium (March 28) and Portugal (March 31) in Atlanta. And for all intents and purposes, if you’re going to make the final World Cup roster, it’s best you get called up in March. Pochettino said as much in a January conference call with reporters. “The idea is that the World Cup will start in March,” Pochettino said. The manager also delivered a message to his players in November after the squad’s last training camp when he said they “need to do everything to be in the best form to be selected for March.” Easier said for European players, who are in the thick of their respective club seasons. But as it pertains to MLS hopefuls like Berhalter, it’s a little more challenging being that most of them have been in the offseason since early November and preseason recently started. The MLS season begins Feb. 21, meaning they will only have a handful of matches under their belts before the March window. So what can guys do to stay in Pochettino’s World Cup plans? The USA’s staff doesn’t give players specific direction or instruction, though they’re always around as a resource. “They trust us and know we got to the national team for a reason,” Berhalter told me. “There’s nothing regimented. People have different ways of doing things. Some people like more recovery, some people do less, and they feel just as good. Everyone has their own things and different things they like.” Making the World Cup? ‘North Star Goal’ Berhalter took a week and a half off after starting for the Whitecaps in their MLS Cup final loss to Inter Miami on Dec. 6. He focused on eating clean and not pushing his body much physically aside from yoga just to stay active. After his self-allotted downtime, he was back to individual training sessions and getting touches on the ball. He ramped up the intensity over the next few weeks, writing down a list of what he wanted to accomplish each day in a notebook. He created a plan that included gym sessions, meetings, and meditation, and every time he’d complete something on the schedule, he’d check off the box he drew beside it. “It’s a system I’ve been using for awhile now and I feel like it’s something that keeps me accountable because I want to go back to the box and I want to check them off,” Berhalter said. “It’s satisfying to see at the end of the week that they’re all checked off. It’s about prioritizing things that I want to improve on or off the field and that keeps me organized.” Columbus Crew wing back Max Arfsten, who last played a competitive match in the USA’s 5-1 win over Uruguay on Nov. 18, spent part of his offseason in his hometown of Fresno, Calif. In the mornings, he’d train with a group of friends who also happened to be local professional players – mostly from the United Soccer League. They’d do technical work and play small-sided games. Then in the afternoons, Arfsten would go to the gym and lift before more conditioning. He’d also use the time as an opportunity to work on parts of his game that he can’t always get to during the season. For example, he’d take 30-40 shots in a row on goal or work on defending, crossing or building out of high-pressure situations that will help him as a left back in Pochettino’s system. “Having that North Star goal of trying to make the World Cup, there’s no time to just sit around, you know?” the 24-year-old Arfsten told me about his summer ambitions. “If you take too much time off, then it just takes longer to get back into it and I don’t think anybody wants to be in that situation.” Tim Ream, who will be 38 at this summer’s World Cup, agrees. When his season with Charlotte FC ended in early November, he took the necessary amount of time to rest and recover, and quickly jumped back into his program. “I’m one of those [guys] that I struggle with too much time off,” Ream told reporters during the USA’s November camp. “I’ll take 10 days off, completely shut the body down, and then get back on the bike and get back to running and get back to doing the things that I know work for me in the offseason. “As you get older, you actually need — or should be taking — less time off. I’ve found for me personally that’s really the approach. I’ll treat this preseason and this offseason the same way I treat every single one that I have in my career and come back ready to go in January knowing that 2026 is a huge, huge year, and that I have goals that I want to reach. It’s what you do when no one’s looking that allows you to reach those goals. And that’s what I’ll be doing.” ‘We’ll Have That Mental Freshness’ There are still a few weeks before the MLS season begins and soon after that, Pochettino will call in his March roster. Because of the layoff, are MLS players at a disadvantage in making the squad because they haven’t been playing regular matches like their European counterparts? Pochettino says no. “They’re going to [have] a very good level of energy,” the manager said in January. “Maybe [there’s a] lack of games, but I think you compensate with energy because they came from a period of rest and recovery and now they are charging their batteries to be full, to start competing in the end of or the middle of February. “And that is very good because I think in March they are going to be with all the power and it’s going to be good for them to show their quality. And of course for us, it’s good because they are going to be with all the energy and motivation to be part of the roster.” MLS players shrug their shoulders at the notion that the different schedules might play a part in who’s most deserving of a roster spot. There’s nothing they can do about it. “It just is what it is,” Berhalter said. “I think guys in MLS are just going to get right back at it.” “We can’t control the schedule,” added Arfsten. “One way to look at it is like, we’ll be more fresh. The European players by that time will be toward the end of the season. So they’re going to be more fit and in shape and in form, but I mean, after a long season you’re mentally drained so I think maybe we’ll have that mental freshness.” World Cup Watch: Could This Teenage Defender Make USA’s Squad? Thinking about that, though, is not productive for these MLS players. They’ve spent months trying not to get overwhelmed by how massive a year 2026 could be for them. Many are striving to play in their first World Cup. “I’m confident that everything I’ve done to get here is for a reason, and it’s worth it. It makes sense,” Berhalter said. “Anytime I step into the team – regardless if I am or not – I bet I’m the most prepared, the most hardworking, and it gives me a little edge, like, ‘I should be here. I deserve to be here. And now why not go ball out and do my thing?’ “If I get to the World Cup, that’s amazing. But if not, it doesn’t mean I’m not a good soccer player. I feel like you need to have perspective that even if it doesn’t happen, I’m going to be OK. I’ll be all right, and I’m gonna keep working. I don’t like to look at it as this is something hanging over my head like, ‘S—, I need to make the team.’ I take it day by day, and it would be the biggest honor of my life if I’m there.”