A year from now, the U.S. men’s national team will take the field at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, for its first group stage game at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. As cohosts of the tournament, alongside Canada and Mexico, the match will present an immense opportunity to move the U.S. program forward on the world’s biggest stage.
The expectation is that the USMNT will be well on its way in terms of preparations. The core of the team will be identified. The style of play will be defined and only require some fine-tuning, with confidence building.
So is the USMNT meeting those expectations? Does it look ready to make the most of next year’s festivities? Not even close.
One only needs to look at the past 12 months as proof. There was last year’s group stage exit at the Copa América in an utterly manageable group, as well as a fourth-place finish in the Concacaf Nations League last March that witnessed home losses to Panama and Canada. The former competition resulted in manager Gregg Berhalter losing his job.
His replacement, the highly regarded Mauricio Pochettino, hasn’t been able to arrest the slide to any great degree. The USMNT is in the throes of a four-game losing streak, all of them at home. The last time the USMNT lost four consecutive games at home was 1988. The past two setbacks have come with a youthful roster with several stars being omitted for various reasons, but the U.S. has also struggled with its first-choice lineup.
The good news is that the USMNT only needs to be ready next year, not now. But there are enough warning signs to cast doubt as to whether the U.S. can deliver even a respectable showing. Instead of being primed to deliver a performance for ages, one that would galvanize the country’s sporting populace and provide the sport of soccer with another shot of adrenaline, the USMNT’s engine is idling and the team seemingly bereft of momentum.
There are deeper issues plaguing the team as well. There is a perception that some players are apathetic about suiting up for the USMNT. The performances at the Concacaf Nations League were listless, with captain Tyler Adams and Pochettino strongly suggesting that players aren’t as committed to the USMNT as they are to their clubs.
This summer’s Gold Cup was supposed to do plenty to cure the team’s ills. The squad would be together for over a month, with plenty of time to iron out wrinkles on the field while getting to know Pochettino better away from the training ground. Those best-laid plans have been shredded as a combination of fatigue, injury and club commitments have seen over a dozen players from the higher end of the player spectrum rendered unavailable.
“There’s just so much uncertainty of what the starting 11 is, and the big positions within that 11,” former U.S. international forward and current ESPN analyst Herculez Gomez said. “The center back pairing, the No. 9, the team’s DNA, the lack of battle-hardened actual games, signature games that don’t include Mexico.
“You’re looking for some positives here. They’ve not had them.”
But Pochettino and his charges must carry on and with the start of the Gold Cup approaching, and that brings us to the team. The personnel issues start in goal, where incumbent Matt Turner played a total of four matches this season for club side Crystal Palace, none of them in league play.
The rust showed itself in the Nations League with some shaky positioning on the late winner by Panama’s José Fajardo. USMNT fans got another reminder Tuesday against Switzerland, when Turner left a juicy rebound for Breel Embolo to convert from close range. Turner’s reported move to Lyon could be the answer to his quest for more playing time, but for now, the door to the starting keeper job is still open.
The problem is that none of the possible replacements have stepped up. Ethan Horvath had a poor season with Cardiff City. The Columbus Crew‘s Patrick Schulte is injured with an oblique strain. The Colorado Rapids‘ Zack Steffen is out after knee surgery. That leaves the relatively inexperienced duo of New York City FC‘s Matt Freese — who made his debut Saturday — and Chicago Fire‘s Chris Brady to challenge.
“You either got it or you don’t,” said Keller about the team’s goalkeeping situation. “And unfortunately, we don’t.”
The center back situation isn’t much better. Tim Ream was among the feel-good stories at the 2022 World Cup, but the fact that he’s still a starter at age 37 is a sign that the younger positional prospects haven’t done enough to push him out. Richards now has a winner’s medal following Palace’s FA Cup triumph, but his play with the U.S. has been uneven over the past year. Toulouse‘s Mark McKenzie has been just as inconsistent. FC Cincinnati‘s Miles Robinson has yet to reach the heights he enjoyed since tearing an Achilles right before the 2022 World Cup.
Then there are the forwards. The hope is that Balogun could get past an injury-riddled 2024-25 season and find a semblance of form this summer. It was not to be. With PSV Eindhoven‘s Ricardo Pepi still recovering from knee surgery and Norwich City‘s Josh Sargent not called in, Pochettino has been left to rely on several MLS players in Charlotte FC‘s Patrick Agyemang, Vancouver Whitecaps‘ Brian White, Coventry City‘s Haji Wright and FC Cologne‘s Damion Downs.
“Nobody has really taken a hold of that saying, ‘This is going to be my opportunity. I’m going to make it mine,'” Gomez said.
“Pepi has come the closest. But that’s it. It’s not really been too many positives with the nine. You’ve got to go back to Brian McBride as the last serviceable No. 9. So it’s not been a good situation historically for the U.S. men’s national team and the nines.”
Can Pochettino and the U.S. turn it around before the World Cup? Sure, if the team’s luck with injuries changes. And if some young players can pressure the incumbents and create competition for positions. And if Pochettino can find a way to connect with the players in a way that has so far proved elusive. That’s already a lot of ifs.
There are 365 days to go.
