USMNT’s Antonee Robinson undergoes knee surgery, will return at start of 2025-26

Defender Antonee Robinson’s absence from the United States men’s national team’s roster for the upcoming Concacaf Gold Cup has been explained. Robinson underwent successful “minor” surgery on his right knee, his club team, Fulham, announced Wednesday. 

Robinson will immediately begin rehab and is expected to be ready to return to the pitch by the start of the 2025-26 Premier League season, Fulham added in its statement. 

The 27-year-old has emerged as one of USMNT’s top players in recent years, becoming one of the best American players in Europe after joining Fulham in 2020. That’s why his exclusion from Mauricio Pochettino’s 27-player roster for the Gold Cup initially caught some off guard.

Antonee Robinson and Christian Pulisic are just two of the USMNT mainstays who won’t play in the Gold Cup after a grueling 2024-25 season with their European club teams. (Photo by Stephen Nadler/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)

However, it had been reported Robinson played through a knee injury during the 2024-25 season. The severity of the injury was never disclosed, but he still played in 38 total matches, including 36 of Fulham’s 38 Premier League fixtures. He logged over 3,200 total minutes in the 2024-25 season for Fulham.

Despite the injury, Robinson was still highly productive for Fulham this past season. He dished out 10 assists in Premier League play, which was the most of any defender.

Robinson was just one of a handful of USMNT mainstays not to be included on the Gold Cup roster. Midfielders Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna and Yunus Musah, along with forward Timothy Weah, were among the group of notable players not to be named to the 27-man roster as they each just concluded their 2024-25 club season. 

“Many people can say it’s really important for us to be all together for the last time before the World Cup,” Pochettino said when asked about the decision to keep Pulisic off the roster last week. “We decided the best for him, the best of the team, the best for the national team is the decision that we made.

“Sometimes we give too much importance knowing to be together and sometimes the group maybe sometimes doesn’t work in this way or build in this way … I think it is important to create this challenge. I really believe that to build a team is about staying together, to have time to work, yes, but I think we cannot underestimate the player.”

The USMNT will convene for camp ahead of the Gold Cup on Sunday, June 1. It’ll play in a pair of friendlies before beginning Group D play in the Gold Cup on Sunday, June 15. 

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