All signs point to Diego Luna having to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup from home. talkSPORT understands the United States international has not been included in Mauricio Pochettino‘s 26-man squad for the summer tournament.Diego Luna has been omitted from Pochettino’s 26-man USMNT World Cup rosterGettyFurthermore, 19-year-old forward Zavier Gozo has also missed the cut, while Gio Reyna, Seb Berhalter, Mark McKenzie, Matt Turner and Leeds United‘s Brenden Aaronson are in. Pochettino will officially announce his full 26-man squad on May 26 in a nationally televised event live from New York City.And it is Luna’s – who plies his trade at Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake – expected absence which has caused the most uproar.USMNT 26-Man SquadHere is Mauricio Pochettino's 26-man squad for the World Cup, per talkSPORT's Ben Jacobs:Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago Fire), Matt Freese (New York City), Matt Turner (New England Revolution)Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Sergiño Dest (PSV), Alex Freeman (Villarreal), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)Midfielders: Tyler Adams (Bournemouth) Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps) Weston McKennie (Juventus), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders)Attacking midfielders/wingers: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Christian Pulisic (Milan), Gio Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Malik Tillman (Bayer Leverkusen) Tim Weah (Marseille), Alejandro Zendejas (Club América)Strikers: Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Ricardo Pepi (PSV), Haji Wright (Coventry City)In the build-up to the World Cup on home turf, with the USA co-hosting the expanded 48-team tournament along with Canada and Mexico, the 22-year-old midfielder was used as one of the USMNT’s main poster boys to advertise the beautiful game. From a myriad of commercials for Bank of America and Fox Sports, as well as extended interviews for B/R Football and a lengthy appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Luna is one of the most coveted USMNT stars behind that of Christian Pulisic.This is why the reports surfacing out of the USMNT camp are so alarming to some fans, who simply cannot get their heads around Luna’s potential omission. “Diego Luna being plastered all over the media promoting the USMNT just for him not to be going to the World Cup is kind of wild tbh,” one disgruntled fan wrote on social media. “Diego Luna being left off the #USMNT roster is insane because he has been on basically every U.S. Soccer promotional art for the World Cup,” a second added. “Diego Luna was a major part of getting the U23s to the Olympics. part of a squad that worked their as**** off. Then he was one of the biggest snubs. Now he was the face of USA last summer, used in marketing EVERYWHERE for the World Cup. Only to be left home once again,” a third chimed in. “Luna has that a bit of X-Factor that can make the difference at a World Cup in crucial moments. I’d have had him as a bench option. He makes things happen and the USMNT doesn’t have many players like that,” a fourth user added. Luna had emerged as a breakout star under PochettinoGettyAside from Pulisic, Luna has been one of the USMNT’s main poster boys to promote the tournamentGettyWhat makes the decision from the former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspur head coach is that Luna has been somewhat of a breakout star under the Argentine. Having featured in 17 of the USA’s last 18 matches, and 18 appearances in total, he has recorded eight goal contributions (four goals, four assists). In nine appearances for Real Salt Lake in 2026, Luna has shown himself to be in good form, registering four goals and one assist as the team sit third in the MLS Western Conference with 25 points. “Bringing Gio Reyna over an in-form Diego Luna could become a defining decision of the World Cup for Pochettino’s USMNT. Good or bad. Both ways possible,” Sports Illustrated’s Ben Steiner wrote on X. That is a fair point to make, with Reyna – who was once a rising star climbing the ranks at Borussia Dortmund – making just 19 appearances totalling 509 minutes in the 2025-26 Bundesliga season for Borussia Monchengladbach, in which he scored one goal and tallied one assist. Luna could have represented MexicoWith Luna’s World Cup hopes of representing the United States all but dashed, it adds extra heartbreak given he could have also played for Mexico.Luna, who was born in Sunnyvale, California, had the opportunity to pledge allegiance to El Tri instead due to his parents being Mexican.Luna turned down the opportunity to represent Mexico in pursuit of a place on the USMNT rosterGettyAlejandro Zendejas, who has represented Mexico in the past, is understood to have made Pochettino’s 26-man squadGettyThe young midfielder had even been approached by Mexico in the past.According to a report from ESPN back in 2024, Luna was open to making the switch to representing the Mexico national team after his omission from the United States men’s Olympic roster – where they didn’t even medal.“I’ve never closed down any doors,” Luna told ESPN at the time. “For me, it’s continuing to perform and who’s going to give me the best opportunity. “I know there’s some changes going on at the Mexican Football Federation, U.S. Soccer. too, but there are some big changes going on so we’ll see what happens there.”Ultimately, Luna rejected the opportunity to represent them in pursuit of earning his place under Pochettino, which has now fallen short once again. To add further insult to injury, dual-national Alejandro Zendejas, who was born in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and competes for Liga MX outfit Club America, was named in USMNT’s World Cup squad. This comes despite having represented El Tri at both U21, U23 and senior level. Stay up to date with the World Cup across all our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET.All 104 games at the 2026 World Cup this summer will be live on talkSPORT, talkSPORT 2 and the talkSPORT app.