‘Big surprise’: Dabo Swinney’s godson left off US soccer roster for World Cup
For months, all signs pointed toward Tanner Tessmann making the United States men’s national soccer team and giving Clemson fans something extra to cheer about.
But in a surprising turn of events, Tessmann, the godson of Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney, wasn’t included on the 26-man US national team formally announced Tuesday ahead of this summer’s FIFA World Cup.
The US is hosting men’s World Cup games for the first time in 32 years this summer, and most if not all national media outlets considered Tessmann a lock for coach Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.
The 24-year-old midfielder from Alabama – who plays professionally for club team Lyon in France’s top soccer league – has 14 career appearances for Team USA.
Tessmann was on the national team’s spring training camp roster, appeared in both of Team USA’s friendlies in Atlanta in March and logged a start on March 31 against Portugal in one of the team’s last pre-World Cup scrimmages.
In other words: Everything was falling into place for Tessmann, who signed with Clemson as a Class of 2020 two-sport athlete and planned to play soccer and football before opting to pursue a pro soccer career, to make the team.
Yet Tessmann wasn’t among the 26 players selected by Pochettino to represent the United States this summer. The full USMNT roster was leaked Saturday by The Guardian and formally announced during a Tuesday event in New York City.
Although Tessmann had recently suffered a muscle strain playing in France, the injury wasn’t expected to impact his availability. His omission came as a shock, with various media outlets deeming Tessmann the US roster’s biggest snub.
In a news conference Tuesday, Pochettino, coach of the US national team since 2024, was asked directly about Tessmann being left off the roster and wouldn’t elaborate.
“We cannot talk about the players that aren’t on the roster, because I think it’s very disrespectful to the players that made the roster,” Pochettino said, adding that it’s “impossible to be fair” to everyone when assembling a national team roster and he believed the 26 players he picked are “the right players.”
Tessmann hasn’t made any public statements, but his World Cup roster snub was a “big surprise” to him, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle reported Tuesday, citing sources.
How Tanner Tessmann is connected to Clemson, Dabo
Tessmann’s unique relationship with Clemson and Swinney dates back decades.
Tanner’s father, PJ Tessmann, is one of Swinney’s best friends. The Alabama-rooted families are also connected by marriage because Tanner’s uncle (his mother’s brother) married the sister of Kathleen Swinney, Dabo’s wife of 30-plus years.
“He’s basically my brother-in-law,” Swinney once said of PJ Tessmann, who now works as the director of Swinney’s charity, Dabo’s All-In Team Foundation.
After announcing Tessmann as a surprise addition to Clemson’s 2020 signing class, Swinney joked that he had the “inside track” on his godson’s recruitment.
Tessmann had committed to play college soccer for Clemson and coach Mike Noonan but also planned to join Swinney’s football team as a kicker.
He hadn’t formally played football since middle school, but his foot skills unsurprisingly translated: Hanging around Clemson’s practice facilities the summer before his junior year, Tessmann reportedly made a 64-yard field goal kicking with his right foot and a 52-yard field goal kicking with his left foot.
“Tanner could go play D1 basketball,” Swinney said of his godson in 2019. “He could probably start at receiver at Clemson. He could probably play safety at Clemson. He’s a 6-foot-2 phenom. He can fly. He’s as good of an athlete as I’ve ever seen.”
Tessmann never made it to campus, though. Already deeply entrenched in FC Dallas’ youth team system, he signed a “homegrown” developmental contract with the team in February 2020, five months before he was set to enroll at Clemson.
Tessmann made his MLS debut later that month and his US men’s national team debut in 2021 and never looked back. A college sports career including an opportunity to suit up for the Clemson football team and his godfather was intriguing, Tessmann said at the time, but pro soccer was “my dream.”
“That was the goal, and when that goal came, it was a no-brainer,” he said in 2020.
Dabo ‘really proud’ of godson Tessmann
Although Pochettino declined to discuss Tessmann’s omission from the US World Cup roster, he said in a news conference that players’ injury statuses played a role in his roster composition. ESPN also reported that Tessmann’s recent injury with Lyon (deemed a “muscle strain”) influenced Pochettino’s decision-making.
Players including Tessmann who were on the United States’ 55-man provisional roster but didn’t make the 26-man final roster were controversially informed of that news via email rather than via phone call. One former US national team member ripped that as an “inexcusable” and “wrong” move on Pochettino’s part.
The United States’ final World Cup roster isn’t due to FIFA until June 1, and the team can also make changes up to 24 hours before its first match on June 12 if a rostered player gets injured. So, there’s a sliver of hope for Tessmann and others.
In all likelihood, though, Tessmann won’t be suiting up for his home country in the first men’s World Cup played on American soil since Los Angeles hosted in 1994. The next World Cup is scheduled for 2030 in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
Swinney told reporters in March he was planning to attend Team USA’s opening World Cup group play match against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on June 12 — if Tessmann made the roster. Swinney also attended the US national team’s March 31 friendly against Portugal in Atlanta, which Tessmann started.
“I’m really proud of him,” Swinney said of Tessmann.
This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 8:00 AM with the headline "‘Big surprise’: Dabo Swinney’s godson left off US soccer roster for World Cup."
