Redemptive moments that felt four to eight years in the making have now finally arrived. The U.S. men's national team is returning to the FIFA World Cup, and Gregg Berhalter confirmed his final roster before a packed crowd at Brooklyn Steel in New York this afternoon.

Many of the names were no surprise, including marquee player such as Christian Pulisic to Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Walker Zimmerman.

But there was no shortage of surprises either with both Zack Steffen and Ricardo Pepi's omissions from the roster raising more than a few eyebrows.

No matter the disappointment inevitable in those left off, 26 men will depart for Doha, Qatar in a matter of days and the roster is officially set.

Here's a look at the Winners and Losers from Wednesday's USMNT roster for the 2022 World Cup.

Winner: Tim Ream

Not long ago, it seemed nearly certain Ream's USA career had long since passed us by. The 35-year-old from St. Louis may have appeared with the USMNT on 46 different occasions, but he bowed out of World Cup Qualifying last October because of family reasons, and hasn't been seen since.

Berhalter has received no shortage of questions concerning his center back decisions throughout his tenure as national team coach. The criticism is perhaps deserved, as it's among the team's shakiest areas on the pitch. Miles Robinson and Chris Richards couldn't recover from their injuries in time to make the World Cup squad, and the team's friendly performances in September without the duo weren't necessarily convincing.

When it came to Ream, the line had long been, "we know what he can do", and it wasn't what the team needed.

But Ream has risen to the Premier League this year with his longtime club, Fulham, and is in the form of his life. He wears the captain's armband for a club placed comfortably mid-table, leading from the back line with USMNT left back Antonee Robinson by his side.

His form, his familiarity with Robinson, his proven leadership at the highest levels and the lack of depth at center back proved too hard for Berhalter to ignore. Ream will fly to Doha after all.

Loser: Zack Steffen

Steffen's absence is potentially the biggest shock of them all.

The 27-year-old has been Berhalter's first-choice keeper for most of his national team tenure; his preference for Steffen's progressive style of play seemed clear. Their relationship dates all the way back to their time together with the Columbus Crew.

Steffen, at times controversially, featured in notable World Cup Qualifying matches when he was healthy. But Arsenal's Matt Turner played well in goal when Steffen was unavailable, leading many to suggest Steffen should be the No. 2. Nevertheless, it never seemed likely that Steffen would be omitted from the final roster.

Steffen ended last season clinching the Premier League title as backup keeper for Manchester City, but struggled when he was called upon.

He has been on loan with Middlesbrough in the English Championship, in part to ensure the reps needed to feature as starting keeper with USMNT. Unfortunately for Steffen, mistakes would continue to plague his time on Teesside. But there have been bright moments for the Pennsylvania native and he's kept four clean sheets in 16 matches at club level.

But his mercurial form would prove insufficient. After all the debate raged regarding his role as starting keeper, it appears now he won't feature in the roster at all.

Losers: Strikers in Form in Europe

Ricardo Pepi's absence from Berhalter's roster is a shock surpassed (perhaps) only by Steffen's.

A few months ago, it seemed plausible why Pepi wouldn't be on the roster. The breakout FC Dallas academy talent struggled to transition to Bundesliga after breaking transfer records when he moved to FC Augsburg this past January. The goal-scoring "Pepi train" that broke headlines in MLS couldn't produce the same form in Germany.

But that dry spell broke this fall as the El Paso, Texas native moved to the Dutch Eredivisie side FC Groningen. His play picked up in the Netherlands and it seemed like Pepi would be on a plane to Doha.

Berhalter noted that not taking Pepi was an extremely tough call but said that the decision was more about what they did have than what they didn't have. Berhalter explained that he was more comfortable selecting FC Dallas striker Jesús Ferreira and Norwich City's Josh Sargent over the 19-year-old Texan.

Pepi wasn't the only striker that was left off the roster who had a reasonable case to make the team. Jordan Pefok has been solid for Union Berlin in the Bundesliga—at one point, topping the league in goals—but hadn't been selected for friendlies leading up to the World Cup this September, and has since lost form. With that in mind, Berhalter opted to include Haji Wright, whose nine goals in 12 Turkish Super League matches with his club Antalyaspor is the second-most in the league.

Winner: Berhalter's Trusted Tribe

There's no shortage of names on this World Cup roster drawn from Gregg Berhalter's cadre of trusted stalwarts, players relied upon consistently over the few short years of his reign.

Those names—the glue men, the intangibles, the trusted tribe—include the likes of Jordan Morris, Cristian Roldan, Shaq Moore and Kellyn Acosta, to name just a few of the largely MLS-based talents that have earned a role in the World Cup squad.

Most of these players have featured for either of Berhalter's trophy-winning squads in the CONCACAF Nations League or the Gold Cup and proved indispensable in stringing together the eras of his reign. Much has been in flux as Berhalter tweaked and evolved (sometimes slowly), but throughout those evolutions, there have been a few names kept present, and it is perhaps no surprise that those names will be present also in Qatar.

They'll be familiar with Berhalter's expectations when asked to perform and contribute off the field as well as on it.

"We think it's a well-balanced roster", Berhalter said to the media after the roster was revealed, emphasizing the cohesive nature of the group. "We're going to need that in Qatar".