Christian Pulisic, Brenden Aaronson Headline 2022 USMNT World Cup Roster

The 26-man squad that will travel to Qatar for the upcoming World Cup is set. Manager Gregg Berhalter and U.S. Soccer announced the selections on Wednesday.

One of the biggest surprises was that goalkeeper Zack Steffen didn't make the cut, with Ethan Horvath (Luton Town), Matt Turner (Arsenal) and Sean Johnson (NYCFC) instead filling out the position for the USMNT. Turner is expected to be the starter.

Ricardo Pepi's fall from grace for this USMNT side has been significant after he once seemed like the future of the position. So it wasn't a surprise that his exclusion was one of the main storylines.

"In some of the cases it's more about what we have then what we don't have," Berhalter said on the ESPN broadcast announcing the selections regarding Steffen and Pepi. "With the three goalkeepers on the roster we feel great. We feel good about it. We saw a lot of progess with Turner in his last six months. We know Horvath has been competing at a good level in the Championship. And Johnson has been a mainstay in this group since Day 1. So we're comfortable with that pairing."

"In the case of [Pepi], that was a really difficult conversation to have with him," Berhalter continued. "And it's always difficult when a guy helps you get to the World Cup, scores three goals in qualifying and isn't going to be a part of the program. And again, it's more about who we did add that we felt good about."

Twitter had its take on Berhalter's roster choices, per usual:

Most of the roster was to be expected, however.

Players like Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Sergino Dest, Gio Reyna and Brenden Aaronson have been mainstays for the USMNT in its youth movement and will headline the 2022 World Cup Squad.

Others, like Yunus Musah and Timothy Weah, have continued to prove their value for the USMNT and should play a big role.

There were some question marks coming into Wednesday, however.

Had young midfielder Malik Tillman proven enough to earn his spot on the plane? (Apparently not.) Who was going to make the cut among the forwards, a huge position of concern for the Americans, between players like Paul Arriola, Pepi, Josh Sargent, Jordan Morris, Haji Wright and Jordan Pefok?

Another question was how injured players—most notably defenders Chris Richards and Miles Robinson—would be replaced on the roster. The answer on defense was Ream and Scally.

The absences of Steffen and Pepi in particular will cause debate. This wasn't a straightforward roster selection for Berhalter. But the USMNT will head into the World Cup with most of its best players healthy and hungry to prove they belong after missing the event four years ago.

Onward to Qatar.