Christian Pulisic is among a slew of regular starters who will be missing when the United States plays in next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, including one in San Jose in June. The absence of many of the team’s starters is another blow for a team coming off dismal performances at the Copa America and CONCACAF Nations League.

Given the absences, coach Mauricio Pochettino wants players who will convince worried fans a turnaround is ahead.

“It’s our responsibility to send some signal to them,” he said Thursday during a Zoom news conference after announcing his 27-man roster. “I think our fans need to see our team fighting and playing and performing and playing well, yes, but fighting for the flag and being always in every single game (to) match the aggressivity of the opponent.”

Pulisic, the top American player, asked to be left off the roster for the last competitive matches before the 2026 World Cup in order to rest after playing about 120 games for club and country over two seasons.

Yunus Musah also asked out, Antonee Robinson was dropped because he has been playing with an injury, and Weston McKennie, Tim Weah and Gio Reyna were blocked because FIFA gave the expanded Club World Cup priority over national teams.

Players will start reporting June 1 for training in Chicago, and the 26-man Gold Cup roster is due June 4. The U.S. plays Turkey on June 7 at East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland three days later at Nashville, Tennessee, then meets Trinidad and Tobago on June 15 at PayPal Park before matches against Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the first round of the Gold Cup.

Sixteen of the players picked are from Major League Soccer, the most in a FIFA window since the U.S. sent a B team to the 2023 Gold Cup. Among the MLS players selected is San Jose defender DeJuan Jones.

The San Jose Earthquakes will host Austin FC in the Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on either July 8 or July 9. The game details will be announced on Tuesday.

San Jose is one victory away from reaching the U.S. Open Cup semifinals for the first time since 2017.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

The College Football Playoff will go to a more straightforward way of filling the bracket next season, placing teams strictly on where they are ranked instead of moving pieces around to reward conference champions.

Ten conference commissioners and Notre Dame’s athletic director came to the unanimous agreement they needed to shift the model that drew complaints last season.

The new format was widely expected after last season’s jumbled bracket gave byes to Big 12 champion Arizona State and Mountain West champion Boise State, even though those teams were ranked ninth and 12th, respectively, by the playoff selection committee.

The five highest-ranked champions will still be guaranteed spots in the playoff, meaning it’s possible there could be a repeat of last season, when CFP No. 16 Clemson was seeded 12th in the bracket after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference.

HOCKEY

Nick Olesen scored with 49 seconds left and tournament host Denmark stunned Canada 2-1 at the ice hockey world championship to advance to the semifinals.

Denmark had tied it with 2:17 remaining when Nikolaj Ehlers scored through traffic in only his second game at the tournament following his Winnipeg Jets being eliminated from the NHL playoffs.

Denmark has only two NHL players at the worlds, while Canada has only two who don’t play at the NHL.

The semifinals are set for Saturday: Denmark will play Switzerland; and the United States will face Sweden.

Earlier, the U.S. advanced by beating Finland 5-2, backed by Conor Garland’s two power-play goals.

GOLF

Scottie Scheffler and John Pak enjoyed the same start to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, with eagles on their respective first holes. The world No. 1 couldn’t keep up with the PGA Tour rookie from there.

After his third major at the PGA Championship, Scheffler opened opened his attempt at three consecutive victories with a 2-under 68. Pak shot 63 for a three-shot lead over nine players, J.J. Spaun the highest-ranked among them at 27th.

TENNIS

Novak Djokovic advanced to the semifinals at the Geneva Open on his 38th birthday, beating the opponent who eliminated him last month at Madrid.

Djokovic rallied in the second set for a 6-4, 6-4 win over 39th-ranked Matteo Arnaldi in their quarterfinals match.