Ricardo Pepi FIFA World Cup 2026: From Qatar Heartbreak to America’s Home World Cup

The Striker Who Turned Rejection Into Rocket Fuel

The phone call lasted seconds. The conversation lasted a lifetime.

When Gregg Berhalter rang Ricardo Pepi in November 2022 to tell him he hadn’t made the U.S. World Cup squad for Qatar, Pepi hung up. He scored in his very next game.

“It’s disappointing,” he said at the time, “but I feel like I’ve got to use that as motivation.”

Four years later, in May 2026, Pepi was sitting in his father’s car in Dallas when a WhatsApp video message arrived from new USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino, addressed to the 26 players who had made the cut for the home World Cup. He showed it to his dad. Daniel Pepi, the man who drove his son to training as a kid in El Paso, started to cry.

Rico had made it.

Quick Facts

From El Paso to MLS Phenom

Born in El Paso, Texas to Mexican parents, Ricardo Pepi grew up on the border — a place that would later make him a dual-national target, with both the USA and Mexico chasing his international commitment. He chose the Stars and Stripes, a decision that has defined his career ever since.

He joined the FC Dallas academy in 2016 at the age of 13 and signed a homegrown professional contract at 16 in 2019 — the same year he appeared for the USMNT at the Under-17 World Cup alongside future internationals Gio Reyna and Joe Scally.

In 2021, Pepi exploded onto the MLS scene. He scored a hat-trick for FC Dallas against the New England Revolution, becoming the youngest player in MLS history to score a hat-trick. He was 18 years old. The goals kept coming. In World Cup qualifying, he tallied three goals in critical CONCACAF matches, helping the U.S. secure their berth in Qatar. Christian Pulisic, watching from the same dressing room, already knew what they had.

The European Gamble — and the Goalless Spell

In January 2022, FC Dallas sold Pepi to FC Augsburg of the Bundesliga in what was then the most expensive sale of an American MLS player. He was 18. Germany, the Bundesliga, a new language and a new system — it swallowed him whole.

Sixteen appearances. Zero goals.

“I was obviously a youngin’,” he admitted later, “and just being 18 years old, going to Europe from FC Dallas is obviously a big change.”

Then came the decision that would reshape everything. Augsburg loaned him to FC Groningen in the Dutch Eredivisie in 2022, and Pepi rediscovered himself completely. Six goals and an assist in eight games. He was involved in 50% of Groningen’s goals at one stage. The Eredivisie was exactly the environment he needed: space, pace, goals.

It still wasn’t enough to get him to Qatar 2022. Berhalter left him off the squad.

The Rebuild: PSV Eindhoven and a Second Chance

Rather than wilt, Pepi rebuilt. He moved to PSV Eindhoven — one of the biggest clubs in the Netherlands — and became a champion. He worked under demanding coaches, refined his movement, developed his link-up play, and emerged as one of the most dangerous young strikers in the Dutch top flight.

By 2025, he had 35 international caps and 13 goals for the USMNT — numbers that rank him among the most prolific U.S. strikers of his generation. Pulisic, assessing the situation ahead of the 2026 tournament, said it plainly: “He probably deserved to be on the last roster. He missed out last time, but you can see he’s continued to work really hard.”

Pochettino described him as having “the possibility to score and to create chances sometimes from nowhere” — exactly the unpredictability you need at a World Cup.

2026 World Cup: The Stage He Was Born For

At the 2026 World Cup, Pepi is one of three forwards vying for the central striker role in Group D alongside Folarin Balogun and Haji Wright, with Team USA facing Paraguay (June 12, Los Angeles), Australia (June 19, Seattle), and Türkiye (June 25, Los Angeles) in the group stage.

Playing in front of a home crowd — in the country where he was born, on a stage he was denied four years ago — Ricardo Pepi arrives at his first World Cup not as a teenager chasing a dream but as a 23-year-old who learned the hard way and came back stronger.Home Advantage or Home Pressure? The USMNT’s 2026 World Cup Report Card

The phone rang again in 2026. This time, it was good news.

Career Timeline