Haji Wright cashed in on a big chance with the USMNT last month. Now he gets another one.

His two goals against Australia went a long way toward punching his ticket to the World Cup. This month, he'll split time with the U.S. team's other top strikers, Folarin Balogun and Ricardo Pepi.

Haji Wright (second from left) at work Tuesday during the U.S. team's practice in windy Chester.Read moreJose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Nov. 11, 2025, 6:19 p.m. ET

When a national team is on its way to a World Cup, the best thing a player can do is seize an opportunity.

Haji Wright did that in a big way last month, scoring two goals for the U.S. men against Australia in his first start of manager Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure. They were well-taken shots, too: quick, strong, and with a nice little cutback flourish on the second.

“It was a good game. I think I played well,” Wright said Tuesday after a windswept practice at the Union’s facilities in Chester. “I try to do the same thing every time I go into camp, and that’s play well, train well, give my best, and show what I can do, really. I’m grateful that I was able to do that on that day, and I hope I can continue doing that.”

The 27-year-old is not a man of many words, but he knows many words have been said about him. Was it too much to think that night got him on a plane next summer to his native Los Angeles, where the U.S. will play its World Cup opener?

Soccer fans (and media) can be as reactionary as those in any sport, but one game alone wouldn’t have been enough. Put the outing in the context of his whole season, though, and the picture looks much brighter.

Wright has nine goals and two assists in 16 games for Coventry City of England’s second-tier Championship. The Sky Blues top the table by five points, chasing a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2001 — and they’ve fallen in the promotion playoffs in two of the last three seasons.

We’ll have to wait to see how much Wright plays in this month’s games, Saturday against Paraguay at Subaru Park (5 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62) and next Tuesday against Uruguay in Tampa, Fla. (7 p.m., TNT, Universo). Folarin Balogun tops the U.S. striker depth chart, and although Wright might be No. 2 right now, Pochettino likely will want to give Ricardo Pepi serious playing time in his first U.S. camp in a year.

All three should make the World Cup squad the way things are going. But competing still matters, for its own sake and because three strikers likely will be the most the 26-player squad can hold.

Wright admitted he doesn’t watch the others’ club games much, with enough to do himself.

“No, I don’t really think about it,” he said. “I try and perform for my club, and if I get called into [U.S.] camp, I try and come here and do the same thing. So, yeah, I’m just kind of focused on myself and what I can do to affect the coach’s decision in a positive way.”

That decision includes his ability to play as a winger or central striker. Wright has said before that he’s happy to play either, and that remains true.

“Tactically, things are obviously different when you’re playing as a lone striker as opposed to playing with two [strikers] or playing on the wing,” he said. “I think defensive responsibilities are different across all the positions, so you have to adjust tactically and your state of mind. We have a lot of great players here, so, like I’ve said before many times, I’m comfortable all across the front line and ready to prepare for any opportunity that I get in the future.”

Striker is where he projects right now, and that’s likely to stay the case. For all that has changed with the U.S. team in Pochettino’s tenure, it’s still true that when Wright scored at the 2022 World Cup, he was the first true striker to score for the U.S. in a World Cup game in 20 years.

For as much as there is to do right now, Wright did allow himself one moment to dream on Tuesday. None of his 19 U.S. appearances has come in his hometown, even though the U.S. plays in the Los Angeles area fairly often. What would it mean if his first game there is on the biggest stage of all next year?

“It would be amazing, honestly, if I had the opportunity to do that,” he said. “Not being able to play in your home city, it’s kind of a weird feeling. But hopefully that time will come, and if it does come, I’ll grab it with both hands.”