Ricardo Pepi, a prominent striker for the United States, has encountered a significant setback while representing PSV Eindhoven. The young talent suffered a serious injury during PSV’s commanding 5-1 victory over Excelsior in the Dutch Eredivisie this past Saturday.
The unfortunate incident occurred when Pepi, aged 23, awkwardly landed, resulting in a broken forearm as he celebrated scoring PSV’s second goal midway through the first half. This injury will see him out of action for approximately two months, as confirmed by the club.
In the aftermath of the mishap, PSV’s head coach, Peter Bosz, expressed his concern, stating to ESPN, “It didn’t look good right away, and at such a moment you would prefer to look the other way.” Pepi was promptly taken to the hospital, where he is scheduled to undergo surgery on Sunday.
This injury casts a shadow over Pepi’s prospects for the U.S. Men’s National Team, which is gearing up for the World Cup that kicks off in just five months against Paraguay. His participation in the final friendlies against Belgium and Portugal at the end of March is now uncertain, a critical period leading up to head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s roster announcement for the tournament.
“It didn’t look good right away, and at such a moment you would prefer to look the other way,” PSV head coach Peter Bosz said, per ESPN.
Pepi’s injury comes just five months before the U.S. Men’s National Team kicks off its World Cup campaign against Paraguay, with the striker’s availability now in question for the team’s last friendlies against Belgium and Portugal at the end of March — right before head coach Mauricio Pochettino will name his roster for the tournament.
During his time with PSV this season, Pepi has scored 11 goals in 22 appearances and has been a steady presence for the club after suffering a knee injury in January 2025 which sidelined him for the second half of last season.
“Last January Ricardo was already out due to his knee injury,” Bosz added. “It won’t last that long now, but unfortunately we lost him again. Pepi was on a good run, had a strong training camp and was all the way back. He became more confident and was in that good flow again.
“All signs were green for a strong second half of the season, so this is incredibly disappointing. First and foremost for him and obviously for us as well.”
For the USMNT, Pepe has scored 13 goals across 34 matches and was on the roster for U.S.’ wins over Paraguay and Uruguay in November.
