USMNT XI to face Bolivia: Will Tyler Adams start?

By Paul Tenorio, Jeff Rueter and Greg O’Keeffe

The United States men’s national team begins its 2024 Copa América on Sunday. The tournament offers the team its final competitive challenge before hosting the 2026 World Cup, which comes with automatic qualification for all three hosts common.

Since Gregg Berhalter took over as head coach of the USMNT in 2018, he has ushered in a new era for the program, giving debuts to promising young players and building his team around a youth movement with few remains of veterans. Although the team has become the dominant force in CONCACAF over the past six years, this success has rarely translated against opposition beyond the confederation.

Before facing CONCACAF rival Panama and a Uruguay team among the favorites to win this summer, the United States opens against Bolivia in a match where three points are crucial for the home team.

The warm-up friendlies were mixed for the United States: a 5-1 loss to Colombia that left no glimmer of hope and a 1-1 draw against Brazil that showed the team could compete with the best in the world.

Here, Athleticism USMNT editors answer crucial questions and predict Sunday’s starting lineup.

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When will Tyler Adams start competitive play?

Jeff Rueter: I was as high as anyone on midfielder Johnny Cardoso and he quickly earned himself a starting role with Real Betis without any prior experience in Europe. That said, I don’t think you can build a “Best USMNT XI” without Adams at the base of the midfield. The only questions are how many minutes his legs can handle in this tournament after so much time off due to hamstring and back injuries and how soon he will be able to start and play at least 60 high-intensity minutes.

Ultimately, the United States looked better with Musah in midfield than Cardoso. Since this game is essential to set the tone for a strong tournament, I think Berhalter will opt for the more reliable option.

Paul Tenorio: Before the friendly against Brazil, Berhalter noted that Adams could play up to 30 minutes. Given that he will have had about a week of training, one would think that this limit would have increased. Still, I’m not sure it’s worth the risk of giving Adams a start and playing him 60 minutes if you don’t have to.

The value of giving a fresh start to Johnny, who was a little shaky against Colombia, or to Yunus Musah, who played well against Brazil, seems like the smarter play. I think the goal is to get Adams back in shape to play without too many limitations in the match against Uruguay. Thirty minutes in this match, maybe an hour against Panama, then let it go wild against Uruguay and advance to the round of 16.

Greg O’Keeffe: The question for Berhalter is whether Adams should start getting that crucial playing time in the tournament from the first whistle and build momentum against tougher prospects such as final group opponents Uruguay. The USMNT will undoubtedly need their main midfield cog for the clash with Marcelo Bielsa’s side in Kansas City next month – and they will need him as 100% fit as possible. Overall, then, it might make sense to keep his substitute role in the opening match against Bolivia and look to start him against Panama.

Rueter’s projection: Yunus Musah, with Adams coming on between the 60th and 65th minutes.

O’Keeffe’s projection: Johnny Cardoso.

Tenorio screening: Yunus Moussa.

Who will Berhalter start as a striker?

Tenorio: Berhalter stressed after the Brazil match that it was important for Ricardo Pepi to get a start after a difficult season with PSV Eindhoven. He primarily came off the bench at club level and was also very productive coming off the bench for the United States. Things just haven’t clicked yet between Folarin Balogun and USA, but I think there’s value in trying to create more chemistry there while Josh Sargent gets back into shape.

However, playing Pepi at home in front of his friends and family in Dallas is tempting. Ultimately, I think Berhalter takes advantage of Balogun’s ability to run behind the lines to start and brings Pepi off the bench to close out the game.

Rueter: In an ideal world, the fact that Sargent is on this list would be proof enough that he could start this game. His interaction with Christian Pulisic is the smoothest of all the forwards in the pool and he does a lot of difficult things that help wingers and advanced midfielders flourish as a backup. Unfortunately, he has been unable to play in recent weeks due to a lingering foot injury. If we see him on Sunday, it will definitely be a few minutes late in the game.

O’Keeffe: In terms of selection and availability for the team’s most recent games, this is the hardest spot to predict. On form, if he’s ready, Sargent makes the most sense. If Berhalter wanted to be bold, he could reward Pepi for his morale-boosting performance in Brazil’s draw. (“El Tren” was decent with the ball and his size always makes him a good target.)

Balogun, however, still feels Berhalter would ideally want to start, despite his patchy club form at Monaco last season. The 22-year-old was lively when he replaced Pepi against Brazil and despite fewer caps than his team-mate, he certainly played more minutes in France than Pepi with Dutch champions PSV where he was excellent but played second fiddle to club legend Luuk de. Jong.

Rueter’s projection: Folarin Balogun.

O’Keeffe’s projection: Folarin Balogun.

Tenorio screening: Folarin Balogun.

Projected starting lineup

Berhalter didn’t rotate much between the first friendly against Colombia and the second against Brazil, so there is less suspense around the other nine places on the pitch.

Here’s what we think Berhalter will do to open the USMNT’s Copa America against Bolivia on Sunday:

Rueter’s projected programming: Matt Turner; Antonée Robinson, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Joe Scally; Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna; Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Tim Weah

O’Keeffe’s projected lineup: Matt Turner; Antonée Robinson, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Joe Scally; Johnny Cardoso, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna; Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Tim Weah

Tenorio’s projected line-up: Matt Turner; Antonée Robinson, Tim Ream, Chris Richards, Joe Scally; Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna; Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Tim Weah

Who needs long minutes off the bench?

O’Keeffe: Adams, of course. This must be a priority for Berhalter and perhaps more playing time for the central defender who he sees as second choice after Tim Ream. The 36-year-old Fulham defender could tire in the final minutes of the second half. For this reason, Cameron Carter-Vickers is an option and could get some competitive minutes under his belt, especially if the USMNT is comfortably in the lead.

Rueter: Carter-Vickers didn’t really admire that against Colombia but, in all honesty, he was coming into a game already broken. Ream started both tune-up friendlies, but was visibly exhausted around the 75th minute against Brazil, swaying on his back like a tired turtle. Ultimately, I think there is a successful partnership to be built between Carter-Vickers and Richards and the work needs to be done as soon as possible, before 2026. It simply won’t start until Ream is at a starting caliber.

Whoever Adams or Cardoso doesn’t start needs a good half hour to acclimatize to the midfield and any minutes Sargent can log will be invaluable before the tournament resumes. This can also be a good game to try the “Weah at right back” bet for at least one game. I would love to see Haji Wright on the left wing for a good period while Pulisic operates on the right as he does so well with AC Milan.

Tenorio: It stands to reason that Berhalter will build Adams. Whether he can play 30 or 60 minutes in the first match, the idea is that Adams will be ready to play in time for the group final and, pending results, the knockout stage. It will probably be a bit of a slower process with Sargent, but you have to try to give him some minutes given that he was the USMNT’s best striker in Qatar and has been in very good form this season in the championship English with Norwich City.

(Top photos: Getty Images)