Danny Karbassiyoon was definitely on the list at some point. Gedion Zelalem, too. Freddy Adu, obviously. Brian Ching was exactly what we needed. We’re old enough that guys such as Jesse Marsch and Taylor Twellman were almost certainly on the list at one point. Oh, what could have been, Charlie Davies. I’m still holding out hope, Joe Corona. You broke my heart, Bobby Convey.
For years, some nerd friends of mine and I had the same habit. As soon as the United States men’s national team were eliminated from a World Cup — starting in 2002, as far as I can tell, and extending through 2006, 2010 and 2014 — we would immediately project forward four years. We would make spreadsheets of player names (shocking behavior coming from me, I realize), convincing ourselves that not only were the young players on each given World Cup team going to take massive steps forward, but that the up-and-coming generation of American teenagers was going to transform the player pool and turn the US into a genuine contender.
– World Cup 2022: News and features | Schedule
What’s funny is we didn’t do it after 2018 for obvious reasons — namely, that the US didn’t even qualify for the World Cup, so what the heck was the point — and then… it actually sort of happened. The youths took over the US player pool in the five years between the team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup (we won’t mention Couva!) and their advancement to the 2022 World Cup’s round of 16. In total, 16 Americans played at least 45 minutes at the World Cup in Qatar, and 12 of them were 24 years old or younger, meaning they were teenagers when the US lost at Trinidad and Tobago to clinch failure in October 2017.
This group of breakthrough youngsters — Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah dominating the midfield, Sergino Dest at full-back, and pretty much everyone who played upfront, led by Tim Weah and Christian Pulisic — are going to face overwhelming expectations heading toward the 2026 World Cup, which they will be playing on home soil. And the key to living up to that hype will be another group of youngsters attempting to make the exact same impact that this generation just did.
It will be much more difficult for a new generation to break through because the same opportunities for playing time will be harder to come by. But they must try. Especially if they can score goals. Let’s look at how the US player pool will take shape for 2026.
