Football General Manager
The U.S. men’s national team’s striker battle will likely center around Eindhoven and Monaco. In those cities, the two top contenders will race to be No. 1. PSV’s Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun will look to go goal-for-goal this season after battling injuries last season.
When the dust settles, one of those two will be the front-runner to start for the USMNT at the World Cup.
But a player pool needs more than two strikers, and the competition to join them isn’t nearly as scattered. In fact, it’s almost exclusively centered in England and, more specifically, English soccer’s second division. The Championship has quickly turned into a battleground for American soccer’s top forwards, one that will ultimately determine who is on Mauricio Pochettino’s roster – and who isn’t.
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It’s convenient, in truth. Several top contenders will now face off in the exact same league, providing equal opportunity and measuring points. That makes debate and discussion even easier and it could, perhaps, make Pochettino’s choice easier, too.
For American soccer fans, all eyes are on the Championship this season and, more specifically, on the strikers looking to turn the league into their playground. Several have done so, and are looking to do it again. Others will seek to take down this league for the first time. Despite their differences, though, these strikers all have the same goal in mind: 2026.
BALLGM takes a closer look at the American strikers to watch in English soccer’s second division.
The U.S. men’s national team’s striker battle will likely center around Eindhoven and Monaco. In those cities, the two top contenders will race to be No. 1. PSV’s Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun will look to go goal-for-goal this season after battling injuries last season.
When the dust settles, one of those two will be the front-runner to start for the USMNT at the World Cup.
But a player pool needs more than two strikers, and the competition to join them isn’t nearly as scattered. In fact, it’s almost exclusively centered in England and, more specifically, English soccer’s second division. The Championship has quickly turned into a battleground for American soccer’s top forwards, one that will ultimately determine who is on Mauricio Pochettino’s roster – and who isn’t.
It’s convenient, in truth. Several top contenders will now face off in the exact same league, providing equal opportunity and measuring points. That makes debate and discussion even easier and it could, perhaps, make Pochettino’s choice easier, too.u0026nbsp;
For American soccer fans, all eyes are on the Championship this season and, more specifically, on the strikers looking to turn the league into their playground. Several have done so, and are looking to do it again. Others will seek to take down this league for the first time. Despite their differences, though, these strikers all have the same goal in mind: 2026.u0026nbsp;
BALLGM takes a closer look at the American strikers to watch in English soccer’s second division.
He may not be in the Championship for long, having already reportedly turned down a Bundesliga return with Wolfsburg. Premier League clubs are reportedly swirling, too. There’s a reason why.
When healthy, Josh Sargent is a Golden Boot contender, one that can go goal-for-goal with the best the Championship has to offer. The thing is, though, that Championship Golden Boot guys generally don’t hang around the Championship for long. After scoring 31 goals in just 55 games over the last two seasons, why is Sargent still here?
Well, injury issues, which have knocked him out for large stretches of seasons. Wolfsburg were ready to look past them, though. It seems as if Sargent’s stay at this level is, rightly, coming to an end soon.
That said, Sargent is in a odd place when it comes to the international level. In some ways, his club form matters the least of any player on this list. We know he can score goals in the Championship. The problem is that we don’t know if he can score goals with the USMNT.
Nursing a scoring drought that – somewhat shockingly – dates back to 2019, Sargent is in desperate need of a USMNT goal and, with Pepi and Balogun back healthy, it remains to be seen when he’ll get that next chance. For a player so proven in this league, there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding Sargent right now as he figures out his next steps for club and country.
It would have been easy for Patrick Agyemang to stay in MLS, bang in goals for Charlotte FC and continue to try and prove himself when international breaks rolled around. He has clearly impressed Mauricio Pochettino throughout this year, featuring in every game of 2025.
As long as he did well in MLS, he’d be involved. There was a pathway to a World Cup there. Agyemang, instead, chose another path. He took a big leap to Derby County, betting everything he could on himself. Now, we’ll find out how that risk pays off.
The 24-year-old striker has thrown himself into the Championship ring, one which will allow him to be compared directly with his competitors. Now, Pochettino, and the rest of the world, will be able to directly measure Agyemang against his competitors. And while goal tally doesn’t define everything, it is a pretty damn good starting point at this position.
Meanwhile, the move to Derby itself is a risk. This is a club that, just a few years ago, was on the precipice of financial ruin. He’s their biggest signing in years and he’ll be expected to deliver. Their survival may just depend on it. The good news is that the Championship seems like a great place for Agyemang to showcase his strengths while also adding a little nuance to his game that could make him better.
If not for his injury early on in the Gold Cup, there’s a chance that Haji Wright would have been a difference-maker for the USMNT this summer. He showed signs of it with his goal in the opening game, but was gone shortly after due to an Achilles injury. It’s a shame, too, because a big tournament could have done wonders for the Coventry City star.
At 27, Wright isn’t a prospect anymore. He already has a World Cup – and a World Cup goal – under his belt. In the years since that World Cup, he’s only gotten better, netting 28 goals in 70 Championship games over the last two years despite spending large chunks of time on the wing. The big question with Wright is if we’ve seen his ceiling and, ultimately, if he can stay in the mix for a World Cup spot.
Ultimately, Wright’s versatility is in asset. So, too, is his style of play. The flip side of that is that, despite all of that, he’s still fighting to make up ground on the depth chart as several new faces enter it.u0026nbsp;
Last season, Wright fired Coventry to a playoff spot, where they ultimately lost to Sunderland. The benchmark, then, has been set for a player that still needs to make some noise ahead of the World Cup.
By smashing home a penalty in the shootout win over Costa Rica for the USMNT in the Gold Cup, Damion Downs proved that he had something to him. He’d played so little leading up to that moment, and, in truth, featured little after it. But by besting Keylor Navas in the quarterfinals, the young striker showed he had the nerve to compete at a high level.
That nerve, of course, was backed up by a bunch of goals with Koln – 10, to be exact, enough to fire the 2. Bundesliga side into the top flight. He didn’t go with them, though. Instead, he opted for Southampton and the English Championship. The Saints are, of course, one of the best talent-developing clubs in the world, but what can they do with Downs?
In theory, it’s a blank canvas. Just 21 and with fewer than 50 first-team appearances, Downs is still a work in progress, even if you can already see signs of potential. A good finisher and intelligent runner when he doesn’t have the ball, Downs has the makings of a good striker, but needs some care and experience.u0026nbsp;
Southampton has been that for many players, although it must be said that the Championship isn’t kind as a league – particularly for young players. In that sense, this is an intriguing move for Downs. He’s featuring for a club that’s so good at helping players grow in a league that is so good at beating players down.u0026nbsp;
What wins out in the end? That’s the big question.
This season is off to a bad start. So often the object of misfortune, Daryl Dike is already on the shelf with an injury. The West Brom striker can’t catch a break.
Fortunately, the injury isn’t long-term – always a concern given how much his career has been derailed over the last few years. Those injuries have limited him to just 39 games in the last three-plus years. Could this be the year that luck is finally on Dike’s side?
Everyone will be hoping so. Dike has gone through unimaginable battles, physically and mentally, just to get back onto the field. Now, all that he’ll ask is for his body to hold up for a little while. When that has happened, he’s proven to be a dangerous and capable striker at this level.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened nearly often enough for him.
In terms of the USMNT, that’s all secondary. It’s almost certainly too late for Dike to really rise and claim a World Cup spot, particularly with those currently on the depth chart. It’s not too late for him to save his career, though, and, if he can, it will be one of the best stories in soccer, no doubt.
It’s been six years since Charlie Kelman wore a U.S. shirt at any level. In the years since, he’s bounced all over England’s lower leagues. Now, after torching League One, he’s in the Championship, putting him toe-to-toe with the very players he wants to leapfrog in the striker rankings.
Kelman is far from a household name, but he was American soccer’s most prolific striker last season. Across 61 games in all competitions while on loan at Leyton Orient, Kelman scored 27 goals, including 21 in the league. That move earned him a move back to the Championship, where he’s had cups of coffee with QPR in between a series of loans.
Still just 23, Kelman was born in England but spent much of his childhood in Dallas and, as he prepares for a u0026nbsp;leap on the club level, he has his sights set on international play, too.
“I want to prove I can play at that level,” he told BALLGM in the spring. “Obviously, Josh Sargent and Haji Wright are top players at that level and have gotten themselves into that U.S. setup and are doing well. Hopefully, I can be the next one.”
