World Cup 2026: FC Dallas Round (Up) of 32
The somewhat controversial round of 32 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has come and gone, and it ultimately delivered some of the tournament’s most exciting games.
Unfortunately for most of our remaining FC Dallas contingent, it also marked the end of the tournament.
For the last time in this World Cup, we’ll round up all the FC Dallas past-and-present-related action.
Chris Richards, Weston McKennie, Ricardo Pepi, and Alex Zendejas // USA
Chris Richards and Weston McKennie continue to be among the most important and top-performing players for the US at the World Cup, and their talents were on full display against Bosnia. Richards was instrumental in maintaining the US’s clean sheet, especially after going down a man in the second half following Folarin Balogun’s red card (no, sorry, I’m not going down that rabbit hole in this article). McKennie continued his excellent run in midfield and is the only American to have started all four games. Both players will certainly be back in the lineup against Belgium and will need to maintain their excellent standard for the US to advance to the quarterfinals.
Pepi was a late second-half substitute, brought on following Balogun’s red card to provide some hold-up play and help kill the game off. He was solid in his limited time and helped the US see off the Bosnian pressure at the end of the game. He looked set for a huge role against Belgium with Balogun’s suspension looming, but it now looks like Balogun will be available. What will be interesting is what Pochettino elects to do. The US would have found out about Balogun’s availability only the day before the game and would have spent the week after the Bosnia game preparing to play with, more than likely, Pepi starting up top.
Will Pochettino stick with what they worked on, or revert to Balogun?
Alex Zendejas seems pretty unlikely to make another World Cup appearance at this point. Pochettino’s trusted group seems to be pretty locked in, and Zendejas is on the outside looking in.
Herman Johansson // Sweden
Speaking of being on the outside looking in, Herman Johansson’s World Cup journey came to an end as France soundly saw off Sweden in New Jersey.
FCD’s big wingback didn’t see a single minute of game action, and he’ll return to Dallas after some time off
Petar Musa // Croatia
This one just stumps me. Musa started Croatia’s opening game, got a well-taken goal against England, and had an overall quite solid game. He then got the start against Panama in Croatia’s second game and didn’t contribute much in the first half, but Croatia struggled even to advance the ball into the final third. For whatever reason, it was decided he needed to be replaced at halftime, and that was it; FCD’s talisman didn’t see another minute in the World Cup. Ante Budimir scoring a goal against Panama kept him in the team for Ghana, but Igor Matanovic got the substitute appearance for him against both Ghana in the final group-stage game and Portugal in the round of 32.
But most baffling was that, at the end of the Portugal game, with Croatia desperate for a game-tying goal, Zlatko Dalic elected not even to use his fifth substitution to bring Musa on and throw everything forward. Somehow, over a few weeks, Musa went from starting and scoring against England to not even being trusted as a desperation attacking sub in a knockout game.
Ultimately, it is still a wonderful overall experience for Musa, who probably didn’t even imagine himself being close to the squad just a year ago, but I have so many questions as to what on Earth happened between games 1 and 4 for Croatia.
With Croatia’s loss, the last current FCD player was knocked out of the World Cup. Like Deedson and Johansson, Musa should get some time off before rejoining the Burn. I’m sure we’ll start hearing about some transfer interest sooner rather than later.
What are your thoughts on how the World Cup went for the FC Dallas contingent?
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