Johnny Cardoso of Atlético Madrid fell short in the Champions League semifinal, losing 1-0 to Arsenal. Despite this setback, his performance may have secured him a spot on the USMNT for the upcoming World Cup.
Key points
Johnny Cardoso played as a substitute in the Champions League semifinal
Atlético Madrid lost 1-0 to Arsenal in the second leg
Arsenal advanced to the final with a 2-1 aggregate score
Cardoso's club performance may secure him a World Cup spot
Atlético MadridArsenalBayern MunichParis Saint-Germain
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It’s quite uncommon for an American to start in a Champions League semifinal or play in both legs. It’s also unusual for such a player to advance to the final and even more rare to play in Europe’s crown jewel.
Atlético Madrid’s Johnny Cardoso, whose club career has outshined his U.S. national team tenure, fell just short of the title game Tuesday.
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 5: Johnny Cardoso of Atletico Madrid and Martin Zubimendi of Arsenal during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Semi Final Second Leg match between Arsenal FC and Atletico de Madrid at Arsenal Stadium on May 5, 2026 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
Johnny Cardoso fights for the ball during Atlético Madrid's Champions League semifinal loss to Arsenal on Tuesday in London.
(Jacques Feeney/Offside via Getty Images)
The loss also denied a championship appearance for Obed Vargas, a native of Alaska and former Seattle Sounders homegrown who represents Mexico internationally. (The 20-year-old midfielder was in uniform for the semifinals but did not play in either leg.)
They were seeking to become the first Americans to reach the final since Christian Pulisic won the 2021 trophy with Chelsea.
The only U.S. national team players to start in a Champions League semifinal are Cardoso, Pulisic and DaMarcus Beasley (2005, PSV Eindhoven).
Cardoso was bidding to follow in the footsteps of a select group of Americans to start for a Champions League finalist.
In 1996-97, Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jovan Kirovski appeared in two group-stage matches against Atlético Madrid and remained on the bench for the first-leg semifinal against Manchester United. He was not in uniform for the championship victory over Juventus.
In 2012-13, Dortmund center back Neven Subotic played every minute of 13 Champions League matches, culminating with a loss to Bayern Munich. Subotic played on the 2005 U.S. Under-17 World Cup team and represented the under-20s before switching to the Serbian senior squad and appearing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
In 2020-21, Pulisic was an integral figure in Chelsea’s trophy campaign, starting and scoring in the semifinal’s first leg vs. Real Madrid, coming off the bench and assisting in the second leg and entering in the 66th minute of the championship victory over Manchester City.
U.S. goalkeeper Zack Steffen was on Manchester City’s bench that day.
Cardoso, who has not had many strong performances in his 23 USMNT matches, is not certain of making Mauricio Pochettino’s World Cup squad. However, his growing role with Atleti in recent months suggests Pochettino will include him when he unveils his 26-man roster May 26 in New York.
The only other USMNT player still alive in European competition is Chris Richards, a starting center back for Crystal Palace, which will carry a 3-1 lead into the second leg of the third-tier Conference League semifinals against visiting Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday.
The winner will face Strasbourg or Rayo Vallecano on May 27 in Leipzig, Germany. Should Crystal Palace advance to the final, Richards would miss the first few days of World Cup training camp in the Atlanta area.
