Gio Reyna said he deleted Instagram from his phone, spends evenings talking to family, sitting with his dog and playing the PGA Tour video game with teammates — small, deliberate changes he put forward as proof that heading into his second World Cup he is a different person. "I’m four years older, and that's a really big difference," Reyna told GOAL, framing the tournament as a moment to alter the narrative that has followed him since 2022.
Reyna is officially part of the U.S. delegation to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which starts this month, and he did not dodge the arithmetic behind that claim. "It’s not just any four years, but from 19 to 23, I believe, in most people's lives, that is where a lot of people grow up," he said, adding later, "I've grown in so many different ways it's hard to pinpoint one, but yeah, now that I'm here, I'm just looking forward to this moment." The age line is plain: the player who arrived as a teenager in Qatar is not the same player arriving for a home-and-neighbor World Cup in 2026.
That difference matters because Reyna’s public life since the 2022 World Cup has become part of the story about him — a three-and-a-half-year thread about form, fitness, injuries, attitude and how the U.S. public perceives its young stars. The interview positions this tournament as a reset; Reyna said the choice to remove Instagram is meant to blunt the constant commentary and allow him to focus on what he can control as the World Cup approaches.
Before the matches "count for real," Atlanta News First Sports Director Baillie Burmaster sat down with Reyna and Tim Scally on the station’s soccer program, and the crew also ran down the United States' recent friendly against Senegal and a final tune-up against Germany. The segment, which airs on "ANF Overtime: Soccer" and streams on ANF+ on Fridays at 7:30 p.m., stressed the proximity of the tournament and the high stakes for players trying to re-shape public perception in a host year that was awarded to the United States, Mexico and Canada eight years ago.
Where the interview gets sharper is in the gap between self-assessment and public debate. Reyna acknowledged the difficulty of perspective in real time: "It's hard, when you're in the moment, take a step back and think about it, but of course, things have changed." Yet the reputation that has been debated and dissected over the last three and a half years has not dissolved because a player says he has matured. Critics and curious fans alike will watch the minutes he plays and the moments he influences on the field, not the Instagram posts he deletes.
Those closest to Reyna describe private coping rituals rather than headline-making gestures. He described family conversations, quiet hours with his dog and casual gaming sessions with teammates as part of a quieter life off the pitch. The small routines are practical: they reduce noise and give teammates a forum to unwind. Reyna’s recalibration is not theatrical; it is domestic, and he framed it that way in the interview.
The unresolved question is straightforward and consequential: can the changes Reyna describes translate into a decisive role for the United States when the tournament begins this month? Mauricio Pochettino has included Reyna on his 26-man roster (see Mauricio Pochettino names 26-man U.S. World Cup roster with Gio Reyna included — but inclusion is a starting point, not a finish line. If Reyna’s private adjustments produce public impact, the story around him will shift for good; if not, the debate that has shadowed him since Qatar will remain the dominant narrative.
