Former Wonderkid Yunus Musah Is Finally Back to His Best—So Why Was He Snubbed by USMNT?

U.S. men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino named his 25-man roster for the November international camp on Wednesday, and there was one especially glaring absence from the list: Yunus Musah.

At just 23 years old, the young midfielder already has 50 USMNT caps to his name, although that number is easy to comprehend upon realizing that Musah made his senior debut at just 17 years old back in 2020 and swiftly became a bona fide starter for the Stars and Stripes. The former wonderkid was an integral cog of the midfield engine throughout 2022 World Cup qualifying, before starting all four matches in the center of park in Qatar at just 19 years old.

In the aftermath of that global competition, he continued to be a prominent figure in red, white and blue, even during the changing of the guard when Mauricio Pochettino took over at the helm in 2024. Musah’s position on the international stage only began to slip away in 2025, when tensions with Pochettino regarding his Gold Cup absence were compounded by a woeful stint on loan to club side Atalanta. He started just four matches of the 2025–26 Serie A season, and it ultimately cost him a coveted spot on the 2026 World Cup roster. He was cast to the side while his old teammates awed the home crowd.

But Musah has only grown from that experience and has since cultivated his own career resurgence, returning to Italian powerhouse AC Milan this fall to claim a place in manager Ruben Amorim’s regular starting lineup.

“After the tough year last season, I’m just so hungry to establish my place again in this team and just to stay at this big club,” Musah tells Sports Illustrated last week, ahead of Pochettino’s November roster announcement.

“I’m really hungry to do well here. Literally every time I step on the field, I’m trying to give everything, not leave the field with regrets. I’m giving everything I can, trying to be as focused as I can outside the pitch as well, taking care of myself and putting myself in the best position to perform.”

His plan is working. Musah has started seven of Milan’s 10 league matches thus far and featured off the bench in the other three. He has also been a key contributor in Milan’s Europa League fixtures, starting three of the four league phase matches thus far—albeit all losses.

His newfound consistency on the European stage was something even Pochettino couldn’t ignore, calling him up last month for the first time in nearly a year and a half. Musah featured in three of the four victories during the September-October international window and started two of them. Although he didn’t particularly inspire, he did enough to prove that he had finally returned.

So what happened between then and now? Why was he snubbed from the November roster? He will miss out on the two-game series against Haiti in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals later this month, a competition he has actually helped the USMNT win twice (2023 and 2024).

Musah knows he’s at the top of his game.

“There’s moments as a midfielder where you can really slow down the game, and there’s moments where you can really put pace on it by making forward passes or sideways passes or driving to manage the tempo of the game,” Musah explains. “ ... Recognizing these moments in the game now is something that I’ve learned this season.”

He adds: “I’ve been playing the most consistent probably that I’ve played in years, and I’m trying to keep that consistency.”

Musah was a part of the squad that fell to Panama in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals in March 2025, marking a shock exit from a tournament that the USMNT often wins. He was eager to rewrite that disappointment this go-around and even confident that Pochettino would give him a call up.

“It’s another trophy that we won, but we didn’t win the last one, so we want to win it again,” Musah asserts. “So I hope I’m part of it, and I’d love to win another one.”

“I’m just trying to help the team and help the nation be the best it can be,” he adds. “I’m feeling confident [about the November roster]. Feeling good. Just need to stay healthy and give myself the best chance to go back. It’s nice to be back in the team now.”

Musah’s call never came though, a consequence not of any of his shortcomings, but rather, the sheer number of talented midfielders the USMNT has among its ranks. It is the deepest position in the federation’s player pool.

The Argentine boss’s go-to formation as of late has been a 4-2-3-1, employing three central midfielders; however, Pochettino has far more than three reliable players to plug into the center of the park.

While Musah was snubbed from the November roster, USMNT legend Weston McKennie was welcomed back and newcomer Santiago Castañeda earned his first call. The two rounded out a total of eight true midfielders, a whittled down number that also forced exclusions of long-time USMNT midfielders Brenden Aaronson and Aidan Morris as well as burgeoning talents Brooklyn Raines and Zavier Gozo.

The USMNT’s midfield has long been grounded by McKennie and newly named captain Tyler Adams; however, in the last year, Pochettino has also come to depend heavily on a few younger stars, all of whom continue to impress and grow in their midfield roles: 25-year-old Sebastian Berhalter, 23-year-old Gio Reyna and 24-year-old Malik Tillman. All three had important responsibilities at the 2026 World Cup. Berhalter featured in all five tournament matches, while Tillman and Reyna combined for three goals. They are all set to return to the USMNT this month.

Musah is rebuilding his career little by little every day and is certainly headed in the right direction. Nevertheless, it will take more than just consistent minutes, even at a club like AC Milan, to re-earn his place with the USMNT. He will have to beat out several hungry midfielders and prove he’s hungrier.