Mauricio Pochettino has just three days to prepare his United States team to face Paraguay in Los Angeles.
The USA have already played their two warm-up games against Senegal and Germany ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Pochettino’s side performed well in both matches, defeating Senegal 3-2 before losing 2-1 to Germany.
The only concern for the USA will be the fitness of three key players: Chris Richards, Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson.
Three USMNT stars receive fitness update before Paraguay clash
With 26-man squads, every manager must be planning to rotate their starting XI throughout the World Cup.
However, Pochettino will be desperate to pick a handful of the USA’s most important players in every game.
These players include Chris Richards, Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson, who all have slight fitness concerns.
Richards has not played at all since Crystal Palace’s Premier League game against Brentford three weeks ago.
The defender missed Palace’s Conference League final victory and the USA’s two friendly games with an ankle injury.
The good news is that Richards finally returned to full team practice with the USA squad on Monday, according to journalist Tom Bogert.
Tyler Adams is not dealing with an injury, but he had a busy end to the 2025/26 season with Bournemouth.
The midfielder reportedly did not participate in USA training on Monday as a precautionary measure.
“Tyler Adams is not with the full USMNT group and is walking around in running shoes. Team says it’s ‘load management,” Bogert wrote.
Fortunately, there has been no suggestion that Adams could miss the USMNT’s World Cup opener against Paraguay.
Meanwhile, Robinson limped off the pitch in the Germany game last week, having scored a wondergoal in the first half.
The left-back is not thought to be dealing with any lasting issues that could keep him out of the Paraguay clash. Bogert added: “Full [training] with the group so far too.”
The ideal scenario for Pochettino would be to substitute his best players if the USA beat Paraguay comfortably.
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