Ah, the March international break. Isn't it great? MLS is kicking into gear, the UEFA Champions League is getting good, and large swathes of Europe's best players are starting to feel their bodies rebel against the ever-expanding match calendar. So, FIFA decided it's the right moment for everyone to scatter across the globe and play some semi-competitive games in new environments.
For the U.S. men's national team, that means the Nations League semifinals Thursday and possibly final Sunday. The U.S. has dominated the competition -- winning all three editions -- and this one also represents some of the final competitive matches for coach Mauricio Pochettino before the World Cup. If the USMNT wins, then congrats on winning it again. If it doesn't, then we've got 15 months -- or at least three more months until the Gold Cup -- for people to worry about what might go wrong next summer.
These games, then, mean everything and nothing at the same time. What matters more than the match against Panama and a potential final is the health and development of the players. To check in on that, we're breaking out the first edition of the USMNT Player Performance Index for 2025.
We've ranked all USMNT-eligible players based on their performance at the club level, and then trimmed that list to a top 50.
How the USMNT Player Performance Index works
Before we dive into the top 50, here's a quick explanation of this ranking methodology. Simple is better, so the three main inputs for this formula are:
1. Playing time: What percentage of a team's available domestic minutes has a USMNT player participated in?
2. Team quality: What is his team's rating in Opta's global power ranking system?