Zavier Gozo enters the chat: Diego Luna may not be only RSL star on U.S. World Cup radar
Apr 7, 2026, 4:46 PM | Updated: Apr 8, 2026, 10:57 am
SANDY — Real Salt Lake talisman Diego Luna made his starting debut Saturday in the club’s 3-1 win over Sporting Kansas City, and showed exactly why the the 22-year-old U.S. international should be a shoo-in for Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for this summer’s World Cup on home soil.
Luna scored less than four minutes into the match, and opened up another goal with his vision and creative footwork as Salt Lake (3-1-1, 10 points) improved to fourth in the Western Conference with a fifth-straight result.
“It was always going to be tough, starting your first game but especially with the weight of expectations — not only for us here at the club, but also for the national team,” RSL manager Pablo Mastroeni said after the match. “I don’t think anyone, unless you’ve lived it, understands how heavy that is. To be able to perform and score that goal took a lot of pressure off him.
“I think he was dogged in his work rate, dogged in his defending; I think he’d like to have a couple of decisions back in the final third. But getting in those areas, he’s a difference maker as he showed tonight. And this 80 minutes that he played will do really well as we prepare for a tough three-game week two weeks from now.”
But Luna may not be the only RSL star on Pochettino’s radar for the United States’ World Cup roster. A darkhorse candidate, Zavier Gozo is putting himself into position for international success after opening his fourth season with two goals and three assists in six matches.
The win comes before a weeklong break in MLS play, a bye caused by MLS postponing the club’s Sept. 12 visit to Seattle due to the Sounders’ advancement in the 2026 Concacaf Champions Cup. Instead, the group will be off for a week before hosting San Diego FC on Saturday, April 18; Inter Miami CF four days later; and a trip to Los Angeles to face the LA Galaxy on April 26.
All three games will be broadcast on Apple TV and heard on KSL radio.
But the club isn’t thinking about what could have, should have, or what might have been. Instead, they’re collecting points at a rapid rate.
“You can always make excuses in life,” Mastroeni said. “You can use anything you want to make excuses. But these guys put their heads down, did the best they can, worked for each other, are committed to each other — and they played some fantastic soccer.”
Should Gozo be World Cup-bound?
It wasn’t just Luna who turned heads and drew attention — perhaps even internationally — in RSL’s win Saturday.
Zavier Gozo had a goal and two assists in the victory over Kansas City, which helped lift the homegrown emerging star to Major League Soccer’s “Team of the Matchday” starting 11 for Week 6 of the 2026 MLS season.
The 19-year-old standout earned a secondary assist on Luna’s opening goal, then directly set up rookie Sergi Solans’ strike on a counter attack, and added a sublime self-volley in front of 20,000 fans at America First Field to seal the fourth win in five matches.
The effort has a few voices around the league wondering if Salt Lake should double its World Cup selections on Pochettino’s final announcement that is expected May 26.
“I really don’t think it’s out of the question to consider a late flyer on Zavier Gozo making the USMNT squad,” former U.S. international and current Fox Sports broadcaster Stu Holden wrote on social media. “(He’s) 19 years old, but the kid is fearless, full of swagger and has been on a heater.
“We’ve seen crazier things.”
ESPN’s Herculez Gomez agreed, though he admitted as well that such a move might be unlikely.
Ultimately, the moment is probably too late for the RSL rising star. But four years from now? That could be an entirely different story.
“Realistically, with exactly zero USMNT camps left before Pochettino names his 2026 FIFA World Cup roster, it’s probably too late for Gozo to push his way into this summer’s squad,” Joseph Lowery wrote in his latest for mlssoccer.com. “But it seems inarguable that the 19-year-old homegrown is doing things that few other players in MLS – or in the USMNT pool – are capable of.”
Indeed Gozo is likely on the outside looking in, and his club coach seems to agree, noting that the only thing limiting the U.S. youth international’s shot at the senior team for the World Cup is his debut with the full side. That will likely keep him out for the World Cup on home soil — but could set up Gozo for a run at the roster in 2030 at the World Cup hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
“I think the moment he gets an opportunity with the national team,” Mastroeni said, “there’s no doubt that he’s going to star in one of these World Cups up ahead.”
Caliskan also receives team-of-the-week honors
RSL midfielder Noel Caliskan, the German-born midfielder in his third season with Salt Lake after debuting with Portland, was also included in this week’s MLS Team of the Matchday on the bench rotation.
The former Real Monarchs star assisted on Luna’s opener and Gozo’s decisive closer, and also drew attention for what Mastroeni called the “little things,” dictating and winning balls alongside first-time starter Stijn Spierings in the midfield.
It’s the second-straight match with a goal contribution for Caliskan, the six-match starter who also had an assist in the club’s 2-2 draw at San Diego FC.
LAFC forward Denis Bouanga was voted Player of the Matchday after securing the third-fastest hat trick in MLS history with three goals in nine minutes of a 6-0 rout of Orlando City SC.
Follow Real Salt Lake with KSL Sports
Apple TV subscribers will no longer need to purchase the add-on MLS Season Pass. All Major League Soccer matches will be available on the standard Apple TV subscription at no additional cost.
All Real Salt Lake English-language radio coverage for the 2026 season and beyond will be carried on various KSL radio signals, including KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM) and KSL Newsradio (102.7 FM / 1160 AM).
You can find KSL Sports coverage of Real Salt Lake here.
