The 2026 FIFA World Cup is less than a month away.
On June 11, Mexico and South Africa will open the tournament at Mexico City’s legendary Azteca Stadium. The next day, the U.S. Men’s National Team will start its own World Cup journey against Paraguay at Los Angeles’s SoFi Stadium.
The USMNT hasn’t named its official World Cup squad — that roster is expected to be announced May 26 — and that means everyone, from top players to fringe candidates, is battling to be part of the historic team.
Here are the players who did the most to help — or hurt — their cases over the past week of club soccer.
Antonee Robinson’s set-piece breakthroughs
Fulham’s Antonee “Jedi” Robinson is one of the Premier League’s finest fullbacks. He excels at playing the ball and breaking up opposition plays; he ranks in the 90th league-wide percentile for touches and the 94th for defensive contributions per game. Watch any Fulham game, and you’ll see Robinson at the heart of key transitional moments in both directions of play…but you probably won’t see him showing up on the scoresheet. He hasn’t scored a single Premier League goal in nearly six seasons with Fulham.
Until now.
Robinson finally broke his Premier League duck in Fulham’s 1-1 draw with Wolves on Sunday, May 17. He netted a high-pressure game-tying penalty on the stroke of halftime. It’s the second time Robinson has shocked the world on a set piece this season: he notched an assist in USMNT colors this March against Belgium while taking the first corner kick of his professional career.
