Five U.S. World Cup candidates playing across Europe’s top five leagues will fall well short of winning a domestic championship this season.
But as those campaigns hit the homestretch, culminating in May before attention turns to this summer’s World Cup, the group remains in the chase for continental trophies.
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Only one current USMNT player has appeared in — let alone won — a Champions League final. Christian Pulisic was a sub in Chelsea’s 2021 triumph over Manchester City. His AC Milan team didn’t qualify for European competition this season.
With the knockout playoffs complete this week, highlighted by an extraordinary night in northwest Italy involving Weston McKennie and his ousted Juventus side, Friday’s draws will determine the Round-of-16 pairings in the UEFA Champions League, second-tier Europa League and third-level Conference League.
The remaining USMNT contenders
Champions League
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Atalanta midfielder Yunus Musah
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Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Malik Tillman
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Atlético Madrid midfielder Johnny Cardoso
Europa League
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Olympique Lyonnais midfielder Tanner Tessmann
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Conference League
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Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards
Regardless of how the Champions League draw plays out, Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen will face a massive challenge: One will play Barcelona, the other Bayern Munich. Atlético Madrid will await Tottenham Hotspur or Liverpool.
Johnny Cardoso’s golazo helped Atletico Madrid eliminate Club Brugge from the Champions League on Wednesday.
(DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
In addition to the national team regulars, Diego Kochen, a U.S. under-21 national team goalkeeper, is a backup for Barcelona, which will take on Paris Saint-Germain or Newcastle. He has attended a senior national team camp but, without U.S. or Barcelona first-team appearances, is not in the World Cup mix.
The two legs will take place March 10-11 and 17-18.
Olympique Lyonnais, the Europa League’s top seed after the initial stage, received a playoff bye and will face French rival Lille or Spain’s Celta Vigo on March 12 and 19.
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Crystal Palace, which knocked out Zrinjski Mostar on Thursday on a 3-1 aggregate, will clash with Mainz (Germany) or Larnaca (Cyprus) on March 12 and 19. Richards played every minute of the two legs against the Bosnian opponent.
Aside from McKennie, U.S. regulars with clubs that failed to advance in either of the previous two Champions League stages included Tim Weah (Olympique Marseille), Folarin Balogun (Monaco) and Sergiño Dest and Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven).
On Thursday, despite a 1-0 victory at Stuttgart, Auston Trusty and Celtic were ousted from the Europa League on a 4-2 aggregate.
The elimination of Juventus and Monaco this week ended terrific campaigns by McKennie and Balogun, respectively.
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McKennie started all 10 matches, scoring four goals, including a three-game streak between November and January. On Wednesday, his 82nd-minute header while his team was down to 10 men capped a three-goal aggregate comeback that forced extra time before Türkiye’s Galatasaray prevailed.
Balogun, the U.S. team’s first-choice striker, also had a three-game scoring streak this winter, then recorded two goals against Paris Saint-Germain last week in the first leg of their two-game playoff. PSG advanced Wednesday on a 5-4 aggregate.
Atlético Madrid reached the Round of 16 by routing Club Brugge 4-1 on Tuesday for a 7-4 advantage. Cardoso snapped a 1-1 draw early in the second half with his first goal in all competitions for the Spanish club.
Should Atlético go the distance, Cardoso would return to a continental final; last year, he started for Real Betis in the Conference League championship loss to Chelsea.
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Tillman missed Leverkusen’s 0-0 draw with Olympiacos on Tuesday with an ankle injury — his team advanced on the strength of a 2-0 away win last week — while Musah remained a bench warmer for Atalanta, which routed Borussia Dortmund 4-1 to overturn a 2-0 loss in the opener. In his first season with the Italian team, Musah has started two Champions League matches and subbed into four others.