Balogun and Pepi: Rising Stars of USMNT Ahead of World Cup

Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi are walking into the biggest summer of their careers with goals in their boots and questions hanging over their futures.

Both are fresh off 19-goal seasons in Europe. Both are heading into a home World Cup as the faces of a new USMNT attack. And both, if Brad Friedel is reading the room correctly, are edging closer to the Premier League.

Balogun, the seasoned newcomer

Balogun’s journey has already taken him through the glare of a superclub. Born in New York but raised in Arsenal’s academy, he never quite cracked the first team at the Emirates – just 10 competitive appearances, two goals in the Europa League, and a sense that his real story would be written elsewhere.

That story exploded during his loan at Reims. Twenty-two goals in Ligue 1 turned him from promising prospect into a €40 million forward, earning a move to Monaco in 2023. This past season was his most complete yet: 19 goals across all competitions, a striker growing into his frame and his reputation.

Friedel sees a player now built for the sharp end of the sport.

“With Balogun, I think Balogun could play at one of the big boys and deal with the perception and reality situation, because I think he would be deemed more of a seasoned player,” the former USMNT goalkeeper said, speaking to GOAL in association with MrQ. The key, in his eyes, is Balogun’s European résumé – a body of work that suggests he can walk into a heavyweight dressing room and not blink.

Pepi, the climber

Pepi’s path has been different. Less noise, more graft.

He landed in Europe at Augsburg in January 2022, a raw finisher dropped into the unforgiving world of the Bundesliga. The numbers didn’t flatter him there, but the move to PSV did. In Eindhoven, he has sharpened his movement, his finishing, his understanding of space. He matched Balogun’s 19-goal haul while helping PSV to yet another Eredivisie title, even without being a guaranteed starter.

Friedel believes Pepi is ready for England – with a caveat.

“Both of them could play in England for sure, depending on the size of the club,” he said. “I think someone like Pepi would need to be one of the mid to lower teams. Something like Brentford, Bournemouth, Fulham.”

That’s not a slight. It’s a reality check on pressure and expectation.

“I don’t mean that they have to finish mid-table, but they’re more mid-tier in terms of expectation and pressure. The teams I’ve mentioned, they’re fantastic clubs, but I think if he moved to a Manchester United or Arsenal, it would be too much for him, too quick.”

The fit matters. The role matters even more.

Fulham, Jiménez… and echoes of McBride and Dempsey

Pepi has already been linked with Fulham, and Friedel can see exactly why.

“If you look at that, you see Raul Jiménez and his style and Pepi’s, they’re very similar. I think that would actually be a seamless transition,” he said.

Then came the comparison that will prick up the ears of any US fan who remembers the early Premier League trailblazers.

“It’s almost like how Fulham had [Brian] McBride going and [Clint] Dempsey coming in. I know McBride was a little better in the air and Dempsey more on the ground, but Dempsey was still very good in the air and McBride still was too with his feet, so it’s very similar like that, the comparison of Pepi and Jimenez.”

Different era, different Fulham, same idea: an American forward who can live in the box, scrap with centre-backs, and turn half-chances into points.

So where does Friedel see them next?

“I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Balogun or Pepi in England next season,” he said. “And I think they could both be successful in the Premier League.”

Pochettino’s call: Balogun first, Pepi as the hammer off the bench

Before any of that unfolds, there is the small matter of a World Cup on home soil. Balogun and Pepi are not just transfer targets; they are rivals for the No. 9 shirt.

Asked to step into Mauricio Pochettino’s shoes and pick a starter, Friedel didn’t hesitate.

“Balogun would be my pick,” he said. The reasoning goes straight to the heart of Pochettino’s football.

“If you look historically at Pochettino’s teams, he usually likes to have players who play very vertically and who are really dynamic, and that’s more of what Balogun is.”

Balogun stretches the pitch. He runs channels, presses aggressively, drives at back lines. He fits the template of a Pochettino spearhead.

Pepi, in this vision, becomes the change-up.

“And then to have the option of Pepi, who again will work really hard, but is very good in the box, good in the air, to come off the bench.”

Different tools for different problems. A vertical, dynamic starter; a penalty-box predator waiting to punish tired legs.

The conditions could force rotation anyway.

“I could also see a little bit of a rotation in the group phase, because it’s also going to be very hot over here. And the players have just come off, those two especially a long season,” Friedel noted. The calendar will be brutal, the demands relentless. Pochettino, he suggests, may tailor his approach to each opponent.

“So you could see Mauricio maybe wanting to take a different tactical approach against Paraguay and Australia.”

The Turkiye warning

Lurking at the end of the group is Turkiye, and Friedel’s tone hardens when that fixture comes up.

“Hopefully, they have points in the bag by the time they play Turkiye,” he said. “Because if they’re not careful by the time they get to Turkiye, and they have to win that match, Turkiye is a very talented possession-based team.”

That’s the scenario the US will want to avoid: chasing a must-win against a side that can keep the ball and dictate tempo, with the weight of a home World Cup pressing on every touch.

By then, the questions about Balogun and Pepi may have sharper edges. Who starts? Who finishes games? Who handles the moment when the tournament tightens and one chance might define a generation?

For now, they are twin stories running in parallel – two American strikers scoring freely in Europe, drawing Premier League glances, and heading into a World Cup that could decide not only their international pecking order, but the size and colour of the shirts they pull on in 2026-27.