After celebrating a long-awaited knockout round win at the World Cup 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 the upcoming round of 16 matchup on Monday against Belgium after being shown a red card in the 64th minute against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Balogun has been excellent in this World Cup, scoring two goals against Paraguay, forcing an own goal in the United States’ win over Australia, and scoring again on Wednesday before being sent off.
The U.S. team will now be without its best scoring option against Belgium. Pochettino has several different ways to approach the teams attack, but here are the options he is most likely to consider:
Pochettino has used the same starting lineup and formation in the games against Paraguay and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In those two games, the U.S. has won each time while outscoring opponents 6-1.Â
The most likely approach against Belgium is to swap Ricardo Pepi in for Balogun and keep the other 10 players in the same position with the same responsibilities. That option requires fewer changes and keeps players moving forward with the same assignments which have been working.Â
The good news for the U.S. team is that Pepi is still a highly accomplished forward who scored 19 goals for PSV Eindhoven this season. This included a highly efficient run in the UEFA Champions League where he scored three goals and picked up an assist in just 149 minutes in the sports premier club competition.Â
There are two concerns over this approach. First, Pepi has not played all that well for the national team under Pochettino and there are questions over his fit into the Argentines system. Second, Pepi has a very different profile than Balogun.Â
Baloguns style is that he is world-class at making runs behind opposing defenses. For Balogun to be effective, he needs a lot of positive chemistry with his teammates who know when he is making runs and how to get him the ball. This takes time to develop, and it is likely the primary reason why it took until this last 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 U.S. team.Â
Pepi does not need that type of chemistry. He is more of a classic striker who reads the game in the box, knows how to get into dangerous spots, and is far more of an aerial threat than Balogun.Â
But the reason why Pepi might get the nod was that his best performance for the U.S. team came just before the tournament in a 3-2 win over Senegal. In that game, Pepi did not score, but he combined very well with Pulisic in counter-attacks after turnovers.
The U.S. team wont be able to play the same exact way with Pepi in place of Balogun. But they get someone who can combine better in the build-up and will be a good finisher in the box.Â
The Senegal game just before the tournament gives 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).
Putting Haji Wright into Baloguns role is another option that Pochettino might consider. Wright is more similar to 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.Â
But Wright also has not been much of an option for the U.S. team this past month, and he seems like a very distant backup. Even with rotated squads in the pre-tournament friendly and the game against
