DOHA, Qatar — Four years ago, the United States men’s national team watched the World Cup from home. This year, they proved themselves to be one of the most promising young teams at Qatar 2022.
Their time in the tournament may have felt short-lived, but emerging from a competitive group containing England, Wales and Iran was a notable achievement. In the round-of-16 defeat to the Netherlands, they showcased a level of talent that should have fans across the country excited for a 2026 World Cup on home soil, while being let down by the sort of lapses in concentration you’d expect from the second-youngest team in the competition.
In short, the US earned a passing grade in Qatar, but left the world wanting more. So, with a few days to decompress and analyze this team and its tournament, ESPN’s Sam Borden, Jeff Carlisle and Kyle Bonagura sat down to discuss what Gregg Berhalter and his team did right, what they didn’t, and where they go from here.
Are the US making progress?
Borden: The question I keep coming back to is this one: This round-of-16 exit does feel different than the previous ones for the USMNT, but is it actually different? Sure, the US roster is younger and more talented than ever before, but lots of teams are younger and more talented than ever before. Top-tier soccer is more global and deeper than it has ever been. So, are the US actually getting better or are they just sort of treading water?
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Carlisle: I wouldn’t say the US are treading water, Sam. This cycle followed perhaps the biggest failure in the program’s history, and it was a considerable lift considering how much this team had to be rebuilt with young players. Is it better than some of its predecessors? I think that depends on what part of the field you’re talking about.
Defensively, I think this team was very solid — the Netherlands game notwithstanding — and that speaks well of the entire side. Tyler Adams was immense, as was the backline. Matt Turner performed at a level where no one was pining for someone else to be in net.
The 2022 edition took care of the ball better, too, but as I argued earlier this week, I think chance creation is where the 2022 team doesn’t stack up as well against, say, the 2010 team or even the 2014 team.
As effective at times as the midfield of Adams, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah was, there isn’t really a chance creator in that group. The deliveries from out wide weren’t accurate enough either. That means a new attacking talent needs to emerge in the 2026 cycle, or the same players will be asked to raise their game. Or the manager could opt to go straight defend-and-counter, the better to exploit the skills of the players on board like Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna and Timothy Weah. Given the style employed this time around, one wonders if the players would go for it.
Bonagura: It’s possible that the players could prefer to play the style Berhalter installed, but given the goal numbers, I don’t really think that should matter. Playing this way, with this group of players, just didn’t work in the attacking third.
We’re at the end of the cycle. This is a fact. Given that’s the case, it seems silly to not experiment with other ways to play, especially considering the US don’t have to worry about qualifying for 2026.
“Berhalter can be criticized for not going to the false nine option earlier”
Bonagura: Either way, the lack of a clear-cut striker is still going to be an issue. I’m optimistic Ricardo Pepi can develop into that guy by 2026, but he’s not there yet, and he’s not a sure thing.
The part about the striker situation that has never made sense is that Berhalter never experimented with Weah or Reyna there over the past two years. Part of that is due to injury — and it’s possible they worked there in training — but it has been clear for a long time that the position was in flux. So, with that understood, it made sense even before qualifying began to dip into the winger bucket and see how the team functioned with one of those guys up top. Both Reyna and Weah played striker at youth World Cups, so it’s not like the concept would have been completely foreign for them with the full national team.
Leaving Pepi off for Jesus Ferreira will always seem strange, too, considering Ferreira was Pepi’s backup with FC Dallas (under USMNT assistant coach Luchi Gonzalez, no less) and it’s Pepi’s move to Europe that cost him his spot. Pepi had seemingly found his form in the Netherlands, while Ferreira finished the season poorly in MLS and when he got his shot against the Dutch, it had been well over a month since his last competitive match and nearly three months since he last scored.
Ferreira’s inclusion was ill-fated from the start, but to be fair to him, a guy who was gracious in fielding questions after the game, the way the US played was always going to render the striker mostly ineffective against the Netherlands’ three center-backs. When Reyna entered, he did his best work when he moved out of the high, central areas.
At one point during qualifying, Berhalter was asked why he left Josh Sargent off the roster. He took issue with the question, implying that Sargent was playing on the wing with Norwich City, so it didn’t make sense to call him in and play him centrally. Well, it turns out, just because a club sees a player one way doesn’t need to define how he’s used with the US.
Carlisle: I think in retrospect, Berhalter can be criticized for not going to the false nine option earlier in the tournament, as well as earlier in the qualifying cycle. Berhalter has specific asks of his No. 9, one of which is initiating the press, and that requires mobility. It was the justification for giving Ferreira chances, as well as leaving out candidates like Jordan Pefok.
I think Weah could have filled that role, however. He’s conscientious enough to do the defensive work, and could drop into midfield to help build the attack. He’s also a better finisher than any of the other candidates, although he still needs to grow in this area. It wasn’t until Sargent’s injury and Ferreira’s ineffectiveness that Berhalter played the false nine card, and then only for 20 minutes. All of this would have created space on the wing to get Reyna on the field.
