Optimistic for 2026

When the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994, there were low expectations.  The hope was that they'd make it out of the group stage, which they did as one of the best third-place teams in the 24-team era.  When the U.S. hosts again, along with Mexico and Canada, in 2026, the expectations will be much higher.  Just making the round of 16 will not be enough.

That tells you just how far U.S. soccer has come in the 32 years between World Cup hosting assignments.  There were low expectations in 1994 because the Americans were, in large part, happy to be there.  That won't be the case in 2026.  Not after the team's performance in Qatar, where they showed they very much belong with the top dogs from Europe and South America.

In the eight halves they played during this year's World Cup, it could reasonably be argued that the U.S. was the better team in six of them.  They didn't play well in the second half against Wales and they looked tired at the end of the round of 16 loss to the Netherlands, but the U.S. was the better team in the first half of both of those games and outplayed England and Iran for the full 90 minutes.  Even in the loss to the Dutch, they had their chances, and that game could've gone very differently had, for example, Pulisic not hit the post in the 3rd minute.

If there was one issue in Qatar, it was the lack of scoring.  They scored only three goals in four games, with Christian Pulisic playing a part in all three of them.  The lack of a world-class striker was very glaring.  But...despite that, the U.S. went unbeaten in group play, largely due to its defense.  In three group games, the only goal surrendered was a penalty kick against Wales.  Zero goals allowed during the run of play.  The only team that can make that claim.

I fully expected Zach Steffen to be the starting goalkeeper at the World Cup, and I'll admit to being shocked when he wasn't even named to the roster.  But Matt Turner more than proved he deserved to be the No. 1.  He was excellent throughout the World Cup.  He kept a clean sheet against England, which scored nine goals in its other two group games and three more in its round of 16 win over Senegal.

The ending was disappointing, but that's actually a good thing.  It shows how far the U.S. has come and how reaching the knockout stage of the World Cup isn't good enough anymore.  Playing England or the Netherlands is no longer an overwhelming experience.  The U.S. went into both of those games expecting to win, and eventually they will.  Those top European and South American teams already know the U.S. can be competitive against them.  Now the rest of the world is on notice, too.

This coming just four years after the lowest of lows, that loss in Trinidad & Tobago on the final day of qualifying that knocked the U.S. out of the 2018 World Cup.  As bad as that day was, though, it might've been a blessing in disguise.  Because it led to an almost complete roster turnover.  The team's veterans were replaced by a generation who'll become the new faces of American soccer.

Throughout the World Cup, FOX's set has been peppered with some of the most famous names in American soccer.  Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey are legends who were the cornerstones of the U.S. Men's National Team for more than a decade.  It's Christian Pulisic's team now, but he's not the only star.  There's also Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Sergino Dest, Tim Weah and so many more.

These guys are young.  The U.S. had the second-youngest roster at the World Cup.  And they're good.  I don't know the exact number, but most of them are playing for some of the top clubs in Europe.  And the level of play in MLS has gotten a lot better, so even those players who are based domestically are more than capable of holding their own against the best players in the world.

A lot was made of the fact that DeAndre Yedlin was the only player on the roster with previous World Cup experience.  Well, that sort of thing happens when your last World Cup was eight years ago!  But I think the young roster was chosen on purpose.  Yes, in Gregg Berhalter's opinion, they were the best 26 to bring to Qatar.  But it wasn't just about Qatar.  It was about being the home team four years from now.

Come 2026, they'll all be veterans of the U.S. Men's National Team...and they'll all either be in or entering their primes!  And the core of the 2026 team will already have a World Cup under their belts.  I say the core because reinforcements are coming.  Ricardo Pepi and Jordan Pefok were among the players who contributed during qualifying, but weren't selected for the final roster, and the under-23 team qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 2008.  Those guys will be fighting for roster spots, too.

So, there's plenty of reason for optimism heading into the 2026 World Cup.  Are there areas for improvement?  Absolutely.  But the performance in Qatar was encouraging to say the least.  The U.S. achieved a lot.  They got out of the hardest group, a group in which all four teams were ranked in the top 20.  They held England scoreless.  In a must-win game against Iran, they won.  And even against the Netherlands, the 3-1 result wasn't indicative of how much the U.S. controlled a good portion of that game.

Ultimately, the U.S. lost to a Dutch team that wasn't necessarily better.  They were just better prepared for the moment.  The knockout round at a major tournament is old hat for them, and once they got the lead, they made sure they held it.  That's where the Americans' inexperience at this level really showed up.  Inexperience that won't be a problem at the next World Cup.

And, frankly, I think losing in the round of 16 may have been a good thing.  It's where they expected to be, but they wanted more.  And it lit a fire under them.  Just as failing to qualify in 2018 served as motivation for this year, the round of 16 loss this year is the perfect motivation for an even deeper run in 2026.