The US men’s national team will hope to nail down their starting striker position ahead of this summer’s all-important Copa America tournament on home soil.

The USMNT will be expected to go far into the upcoming competition with Gregg Berhalter at the helm for the Stars and Stripes. While the US‘ midfield and defense have improved over the years, many players have found it difficult to make the center-forward position their own to partner Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah in the attack.

Even though Weah and Pulisic have been involved in most of the goals up front for the USMNT, Berhalter’s side won’t be able to go as far as they’d like in Copa America without an out-and-out striker to lead the line.

The second park of the USMNT’s Striker Search takes a look at some of the lesser-known forwards that could make their way into Berhalter’s squad and thus have a slight chance at leading the attack on June 23 against Bolivia.

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After a brief but quite successful 2023 MLS campaign with St Louis CITY in which he managed 10 goals in 37 appearances, Nicholas Gioacchini made his return to Europe to join Italian outfit Como.

Although Como didn’t have a direct influence on Como’s sensational promotion to the Italian top flight with zero goal involvements in nine appearances, he could be an wild card option if Berhalter chooses to think outside the box.

Daryl Dike made strides during his time with Orlando City and Barnsley before moving across the pond to join Championship outfit West Brom.

It’s safe to say it’s been a difficult time for the 23-year-old in England, as he’s suffered back-to-back Achilles tendon injuries. Dike is expected to return to training sometime this summer, meaning he won’t be able to recover in time to be in contention for the USMNT Copa America squad.

There’s about a near-zero chance that Duncan McGuire will be leading the USMNT up front when Copa America rolls around due to his inexperience, but he’s still a legitimate option after making his national team debut in January.

It would be quite the shock for McGuire to even make Berhalter’s squad, but that doesn’t mean you won’t see him in future tournaments for the Stars and Stripes.

Like Duncan McGuire, Jesus Ferreira has too spent all of his career in MLS outside of a brief loan spell to FC Tulsa in the USL Championship. Even though FC Dallas‘ No. 10 has yet to make the move to Europe, he’s still shown up and shown out when his number has been called at the international level.

Given that Ferreira has managed 15 goals in 23 appearances for the US — that includes eight goals scored in seven appearances in 2023 — he has a much better chance of starting up front come June when compared to McGuire, but it’s difficult to see him spearheading the frontline ahead of the likes of Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi and Josh Sargent.

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