Mauricio Pochettino defended using email to tell his United States squad if they had been selected for the World Cup, calling the decision "painful".

Pochettino named his 26-man party for the upcoming tournament, with the hosts not naming too many surprises as Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie headlined the group.

There was, however, no space for Real Salt Lake's Diego Luna, who was a surprise omission after impressing in last year's Gold Cup.

But as Pochettino cut his 55-man provisional squad down to 26, he chose to send out the decision via email instead of calling his players, with the ones selected for the World Cup also receiving a video message from the Argentinian.

"It wasn't the moment to inspire, it was the moment to communicate the roster," Pochettino told reporters.

"The most difficult thing [is that] it is painful. It is painful because I really know what it means to be out of the roster.

"I was a player. When I didn't make the roster, I didn't want the coach to call me. If I ask why am I not in the roster, what are they going to say? They are going to lie.

"If I call, it's about myself. Come on, that is b*******.

"If the players didn't make the roster, they don't want to hear from me. I care. For two weeks, I didn't sleep."

Overall, 13 players who helped the USMNT reach the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have been included, with all of the others set to make their debut at the tournament.

One of those returning to FIFA's flagship tournament is Gio Reyna, who is included despite playing just 137 minutes of football in eight appearances for Borussia Monchengladbach since the start of 2026.

"The last day, we decided," Pochettino said. "We had an idea.

"It's not like we changed 20 players, but we were analyzing the situations and then decided the 26 players."

The USA begin their Group D campaign against Paraguay on June 12, before also facing Australia and Turkiye.