Gio Reyna injured again, ruled out of USMNT's Concacaf quarterfinal against Haiti

Same story, different day. Gio Reyna started, scored a goal for Strasbourg, and minutes later had to head straight down the tunnel. That summed up a Friday that began with hope and ended with the US men's national team announcing he would miss the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal against Haiti.

The 23 year old attacking midfielder had been called up just days earlier for that match. But an unspecified injury ruled him out right when he was playing his best soccer. And that's what stings most about all this: Reyna wasn't walking into this game as just another player, he was arriving as a key piece for his club and, by extension, for the national team as well.

It's hard not to reach for big words to describe what he had been doing this season. Just a few months ago, plenty of eyebrows went up when Mauricio Pochettino included him on the World Cup roster despite Reyna having played just 577 minutes for Borussia Monchengladbach across the entire 2025-26 campaign. The coach defended the decision at the time.

He can bring different things to the team. He has the quality. I really trust him.Mauricio Pochettino

The Argentine coach's trust paid off: Reyna scored at the World Cup and started for the national team during the September and October window. That momentum carried over to Strasbourg too, the club that had bet on him and ultimately found in the American a decisive player.

The numbers back up that improvement. With 645 minutes across just 10 matches, Reyna already has his second best minutes tally for a single season of his entire career. On the youngest squad among Europe's top five leagues this season, he leads his team in chances created and ranks second in total shots. Not bad for someone who, not long ago, raised more questions than answers.

That leadership had also started to show inside the national team setup. Forward Justin Ellis, 19, made that clear ahead of a recent camp:

He's been my favorite national team player for a couple years now, I really enjoy his game and I hope to be able to play with him and learn a lot.Justin Ellis

In fact, it was Reyna who assisted Ellis on the Orlando City SC forward's first goal for the national team, just a week after those comments.

A maturity that contrasts with the bad luck

Beyond the soccer, there's a personal growth that Reyna himself has acknowledged, now far removed from that 2022 episode that generated so much noise around the World Cup and his family.

Obviously, a lot of things have changed. I just like to say that I've matured and grown in a lot of areas of my life.Gio Reyna

That's what makes what happened this Friday feel so unfair. Injuries are nothing new for him: muscle problems sidelined him several times in 2025-26, a groin injury kept him out for a significant stretch in 2024-25, and a stress fracture also sidelined him for several months in 2022-23. According to Transfermarkt data, since the 2021-22 season Reyna has missed a total of 96 matches between club and country due to injuries.

Will he recover in time to keep this season from becoming another missed opportunity? The question remains open. In the meantime, the call to fill his spot in the US midfield goes to Jack McGlynn, the Stoke City midfielder enjoying a strong run in the English Championship, with five goals and two assists in 11 matches since joining the club. A real consolation, though everyone knows that some of what Reyna brings, that blend of creativity, vision and finishing, isn't easily replaced.