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Success By Crushed Expectations? Thoughts On USMNT World Cup 2026


Well, the run is over. 

However, we took a step forward...right? Right? 

Well, something felt all too different about this World Cup for the United States Men's National Team until...well, it didn't. There was a lot of juju brewing, a lot of national pride bubbling, and a lot of casuals suddenly invested...and then, just like that, it was back to normal. 

Eh, it's just soccer. 

With the US falling short to Belgium, 4-1, in the Round of 16 in a disastrous manner (and some high-level politics involved), it's quite difficult for me to gauge what was accomplished for United States soccer during this World Cup. Quite plainly, it felt like the United States was one win away from not only their first trip to the round of eight since 2002, but from setting the entire world ablaze with the unthinkable, and outright pushing the United States into full-fledged soccer frenzy. 

But it wasn't meant to be. And while a lot of good came from this tournament for USMT - more on those in a few - the outright summary quite possibly is that the "progress" we anticipated on this stage was not in the results, but lies more so in our expectation. 

Maybe, juuuuuuuusssst maybe, we care more about soccer than we let on. 

A few more quick thoughts on the United States run in the Men's World Cup: 
  • It was only a week ago, but those group-play games might as well have been a decade ago, given how everything fell flat against Belgium. 
  • De Ketelaere's goal at the 33rd minute was it. 90 seconds after an amazing high: Malik Tillman's free-kick goal. The party was over on that swing. 
  • Belgium was fired up, huh?
  • It's like they had some bulletin board material, or something that helped galvanize the team to another level...or something of that sort. 
  •  In all seriousness, President Trump's involvement was a bad look. We all knew Balogan didn't deserve a red card, but also, this - this - shouldn't have happened. 
  • Weirdly, it's great that the extracurricular sideshow nonsense didn't alter the course of the tournament. 
  • Soccer is such a litmus for how the rest of the world sees us. 
  • I'm a casual...but Christian Pulisic didn't impress me. Not like Landon Donovan, Tim Howard, or Clint Dempsey have. 
  • Balogon, and at times even Tillman, felt more like that guy. 
  • I thought this even after the game versus Bosnia and Herzegovina. But I thought maybe I wasn't accurate through my ignorant eyes. 
  • Nope, Carli Lloyd certainly validated that point. 
  • By the way, there is something to be said about the post-game coverage for all of the World Cup Games - less sensationalism. The criticism and analysis felt pure and were about the game. There is beauty in that. 
  • The same old discussions of our athletes playing other sports and blah blah blah - the simple and reduced truth is this, there is not enough money in American soccer compared to the other sports we hold in high regard, period. NIL deals. Culture. Salaries. Until then...we slowly improve. 
Damn man, where is the good? I thought you said we might care about this sport! 
  • I watched my eight-year-old son engaged in these games, and now, really into the game of soccer. He's playing this Fall. This World Cup did that. This team did that. So yeah, I'm sure there are millions of new kids around the country who now want to do this soccer thing. 
  • MLS is good. Sometimes, it's great. I was immersed in the league until it switched to Apple TV, which I do not have. Nonetheless, I hope the local soccer leagues here at home get an influx of interest. 
  • I don't recall our nation being this united for a Men's National Team to this level. Again, it's why the loss hurt so much. We're engaged. And while some of the lazy narratives and tropes came back (doyyyyy, here's what soccer should do to make it big, bro - [enter dumbest rule change]), it was refreshing to talk soccer in a mainstream capacity.
We'll see what's come and where we are in 2030. Like the Olympics, it's always those in-between years of interest that will tell the story. 

The ongoing saga of soccer in America continues...
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