Plenty has changed in the four years since the last World Cup.

FIFA’s global championship has added 16 teams to its field, which means 48 countries will compete in the United States, Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19. The schedule has returned to the traditional summer months as opposed to the matches Qatar hosted in November and December 2022.

As for changes on a less grandiose scale, look no further than United States midfielder Gio Reyna. While chatting with reporters on Friday, Reyna explained why he’s no longer the 20-year-old who was chastised by his coach for a lack of effort while preparing for the 2022 World Cup.

“Obviously, a lot has changed,” Reyna said. “(I’m) married now. Have a dog. I just like to say, I matured and grown up in many aspects of my life. It’s hard to pinpoint one.”

Reyna continues to field questions about his maturity level because Gregg Berhalter, the USMNT’s coach for the 2022 World Cup, mentioned after the tournament was over that he nearly sent a player home.

Basic sleuthing revealed that player to be Reyna, who played just 53 minutes in the 2022 World Cup. That sparked a multi-generational row between Reyna’s family and Berhalter’s family.

“It doesn’t really affect me anymore,” Reyna said. “… It more confuses me when I get asked the question still. It’s obviously four years removed and I think everyone is so far removed from that.”

Reyna is among the 13 returnees on the USMNT’s 26-man roster for this World Cup. The 2022 squad finished as the Group B runner-up, which merited a spot in the Round of 16. Once there, the U.S. fell 3-1 to the Netherlands.

Heading into Sunday’s friendly against Senegal in Charlotte, N.C., the Americans stand No. 16 in FIFA’s official world rankings.

It’s too soon to know how much of an impact Reyna, 23, will have on this year’s squad. He wasn’t a cinch to make the team because he played little in the Bundesliga this season for Borussia Monchengladbach. He started just four matches and scored one goal in 137 total minutes.

“I think rhythm comes from game time, which I feel even those 30, 20-minute stints definitely help,” Reyna said.

“But in the end, it also comes down to training well every day and preparing yourself, which I feel like I try to do whether I’m playing 90 minutes in a good situation or not playing at all. So it’s just the consistent body of work every day showing up and trying to get better.”

–Field Level Media

Less than four months after undergoing surgery to repair a ruptured hip tendon, striker Promise David was named to Canada’s roster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday night.

David, 24, suffered the injury Feb. 21 while playing with Union SG of the Belgian Pro League. He was told recovery time would take six months.

“I did not think it was possible. I’m not going to lie,” David told TSN. “When I had to opt in for the decision to get the surgery … they told me, ‘We don’t see people come back from this quickly as they should.’ I kind of gave up.”

Then he got an encouraging call from Jesse Marsch, Canada’s head coach.

“He said, ‘We’re going to give you as much time as you need. You’ll be fine,'” David said. “I was like, ‘If he’s banking on me, there’s no reason I shouldn’t bank on myself.”

Another player recovering from a setback, captain Alphonso Davies, made the roster despite suffering a left hamstring injury earlier this month while playing with Bayern Munich.

“We just wanted to go through the process with Alphonso and Bayern Munich and make sure that he was set up to succeed and we weren’t putting additional pressure on him,” Marsch told TSN. “Alphonso is a big personality and a big player for us, and we wanted to make sure in all ways we were setting him up to succeed, that we were all collaborating in this return-to-play process.”

Marsch said “it’s too early to tell” when Davies will play for Canada, a co-host nation that opens Group B play June 12 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto.

“Will we be 100% with every player on the roster? No, we won’t be,” Marsch said of the first match. “But we feel like we have enough guys that are playing at a high level that are in really good form … to get the result that we need.”

CANADA WORLD CUP ROSTER

Goalkeepers: Maxime Crepeau, Owen Goodman, Dayne St. Clair

Defenders: Moise Bombito, Derek Cornelius, Alphonso Davies, Luc De Fougerolles, Alistair Johnston, Alfie Jones, Richie Laryea, Niko Sigur, Joel Waterman

Midfielders: Ali Ahmed, Tajon Buchanan, Mathieu Choiniere, Stephen Eustaquio, Marcelo Flores, Ismael Kone, Liam Millar, Jonathan Osorio, Nathan Saliba, Jacob Shaffelburg

Forwards: Jonathan David, Promise David, Cyle Larin, Tani Oluwaseyi

–Field Level Media

Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami was removed in the third inning of Friday’s game against the Detroit Tigers after tweaking his hamstring.

Murakami, whose 20 home runs share the American League lead with Houston’s Yordan Alvarez, grabbed at his right hamstring after hustling down the first base line to avoid a 4-6-3 double play.

Murakami walked slowly back to the dugout without needing assistance.

“He’ll be evaluated and we’ll see what we got,” White Sox manager Will Venable told CHSN after the inning ended. “Obviously, it grabbed on him. In that instance, you just want to make sure he’s all right and not push it. Obviously with all our guys, we want to protect them and make sure they’re healthy.”

Luisangel Acuna ran for Murakami and scored on Miguel Vargas’ double. In the top of the fourth, Vargas moved from third to first, Acuna took over at short and Colson Montgomery slid from short to third. Montgomery stayed in the game despite tweaking his lower back while popping out to close the third inning.

Murakami has been a revelation for a White Sox squad that entered Friday’s game as the No. 2 wild card in the American League. The 26-year-old first baseman has appeared in all 57 games and delivered a .240/.378/.560 slash line with 20 homers, 41 RBIs and 44 walks.

–Field Level Media