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Pulisic, Balogun, McKennie back on US roster for CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals vs. Haiti

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Cite

Blum, R. (2026, November 4). Pulisic, Balogun, McKennie back on US roster for CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals vs. Haiti. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/soccer/pulisic-balogun-mckennie-back-on-us-roster-for-concacaf-nations-league-quarterfinals-vs-haiti/article_b1c5ca2c-72ce-5cc1-b8bf-551165187ee8.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-11-04 · by Ronald Blum

Quick Summary

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino has announced a 25-man roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti, including returning stars Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, and Weston McKennie along with young prospects like Cavan Sullivan. The match will be played on November 14 in Miami and November 17 in Cincinnati. Pochettino emphasizes the importance of both experienced players and youth development, highlighting a roster that balances current talent with promising new faces under age 20.
Written by AI on 2026-11-04, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Mauricio Pochettino recalled Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, and Weston McKennie to the U.S. national team for the upcoming CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti. The 26-man roster, announced on November 4, includes players who participated in friendlies last month and half of those selected for this year's World Cup. Notably, Pulisic missed recent exhibitions while recovering from a microfracture injury sustained during the World Cup. Balogun, whose suspension was controversially reduced after U.S. President Donald Trump intervened with FIFA, is also back in the lineup. The first leg of the series will be played on November 14 in Miami, and the return match is set for November 17 in Cincinnati.

Written for “Pulisic Back in USMNT Roster” on 2026-11-05, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 129418 · logged 2026-11-05

Story

📰 Pulisic Back in USMNT Roster
Sports · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
Hedges 1 of 34 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-04 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 11658 article(s) · 28 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 28 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Ronald Blum
30 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Some players not selected will be with the under-23 team preparing for the 2028 Olympics.
🔮 Players could start negotiating terms with all teams at 5 p.m. Eastern Monday.
🔮 Starting pitchers Sonny Gray and Nick Martinez also will become free agents after their teams declined mutual options.
🔮 When Jake Bauers gloved the final out of the Milwaukee Brewers’ first World Series triumph, it might have ended the last Major League Baseball game for a long time.
🔮 A month shy of his 68th birthday, Murphy could soon become the first person to win a Manager of the Year award in three straight seasons.
🔮 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jacob Misiorowski pitched with poise when he couldn’t overwhelm with punishing heat, overcoming Tampa Bay batters and the Tropicana Field mound to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to their first World Series title.
🔮 William Contreras became the eighth catcher voted the World Series MVP after lifting the Milwaukee Brewers to their first World Series championship.
🔮 A month shy of his 68th birthday, Murphy could soon become the first person to win a Manager of the Year award in three straight seasons.
🔮 Tampa Bay, which won the AL pennant by forcing opponents into mistakes, committed one error, made two other misplays that could have been charged as errors, and had a runner thrown out at the plate.
🔮 MILWAUKEE (AP) — A few inches here and some smarter baserunning by Victor Mesa Jr. there, and the Tampa Bay Rays might have won the World Series opener.
Also by Ronald Blum
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 30 articles by Ronald Blum →

Topics

Belgium Haiti Mexico U.S. the World Cup

Subjects

Pochettino PERSON · 5× Nashville ORG · 3× U.S. GPE · 3× Belgium GPE · 2× Haiti GPE · 2× Mathis Albert PERSON · 2× Mexico GPE · 2× Neil Pierre PERSON · 2× Reed Baker-Whiting PERSON · 2× Santiago Castañeda PERSON · 2×

Narrative

The roster also includes 17-year-old midfielders Mathis Albert and Adri Mehmeti, 18-year-old forward Julian Hall, 19-year-old forward Justin Ellis and 19-year-old defender Neil Pierre. Baker-Whiting, a Nashville right back, and Castañeda, a Paderborn midfielder, are both 21. Defender Bryan Reynolds, 25, returns to the team for the first time since the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-04
🔮 Some players not selected will be with the under-23 team preparing for the 2028 Olympics.

Claims (19 extracted, 1 hedged)

Looking to the present along with the future, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino recalled Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun and Weston McKennie to the national team for its CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinals against Haiti while bringing in Reed Baker-Whiting and Santiago Castañeda for possible debuts. asserted
Pochettino → look → debuts
Pochettino’s 25-man roster announced Wednesday included 19 of the players who were with the team for friendlies in September and October and half of the 26 players he took to this year’s World Cup — including 10 starters in the Americans’ final match against Belgium. asserted
he → announce → Belgium
“It’s very important for us to add more options, more players with the possibility to challenge the familiar faces,” Pochettino said during an online news conference from London. asserted
Pochettino → ’ → London
Pulisic missed the exhibition wins over Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada while the winger worked his way back from a microfracture of his right tibia and fibula sustained in the 4-1 loss to Belgium at the World Cup’s round of 16. asserted
winger → miss → 16
Balogun, a striker whose red card-suspension at the World Cup was controversially suspended after a phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump to FIFA head Gianni Infantino, was omitted for those friendlies when he didn’t play in Monaco’s first four Ligue 1 matches this season after a possible transfer to Everton fell through. asserted
transfer → suspend → Everton
He has appeared in five matches since, all as a second-half substitute. asserted
He → appear → substitute
“It’s a great opportunity to keep helping him to evolve after a tough summer, after the World Cup,” Pochettino said. asserted
Pochettino → ’ → Cup
Pochettino’s young players are headed by striker Cavan Sullivan, who made his national team debut in September two days before his 17th birthday and became the youngest American goal scorer a week later against Mexico. asserted
who → head → Mexico
The roster also includes 17-year-old midfielders Mathis Albert and Adri Mehmeti, 18-year-old forward Julian Hall, 19-year-old forward Justin Ellis and 19-year-old defender Neil Pierre. Baker-Whiting, a Nashville right back, and Castañeda, a Paderborn midfielder, are both 21. Defender Bryan Reynolds, 25, returns to the team for the first time since the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup. asserted
Reynolds → include → Cup
He debuted in 2021 at age 19. asserted
He → debut → age
“They deserve the possibility to be with us, for us to feel them and for them to to see how they can fit in our national team,” Pochettino said. asserted
Pochettino → deserve → team
Bypassed players include goalkeeper Matt Turner, defenders Max Arfsten, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Mark McKenzie and Joe Scally, midfielder Aidan Morris and winger Tim Weah. asserted
players → include → Turner
After training in Georgia, the No. 16 U.S. faces 84th-ranked Haiti on Nov. 14 in Miami and Nov. 17 in Cincinnati in a total-goals series for a berth in the Nations League semifinals to be played from March 22-30 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. asserted
U.S. → train → Inglewood
Dropped players who were on the September roster include goalkeeper Chris Brady, defenders Miles Robinson and Frankie Westfield, midfielders Zavier Gozo and Yunus Musah, and forwards Cole Campbell and Damion Downs. asserted
who → drop → Brady
Some players not selected will be with the under-23 team preparing for the 2028 Olympics. asserted
players → select → Olympics
Its training camp roster will be announced Thursday. asserted
roster → announce → ?
Defender Miles Robinson, midfielder Johnny Cardoso and forwards Haji Wright and Alejandro Zendejas were ruled out because of injuries. asserted
Robinson → rule → injuries
Striker Ricardo Pepi was left off following a leg muscle injury that sidelined him between Sept. 20 and last Saturday. asserted
that → leave → Sept.
Defender George Campbell was selected but left West Bromwich Albion’s match Tuesday because of an injury and could be replaced. uncertain
Campbell → select → injury
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