By Mark Nagi
The 2026 World Cup is now complete. Well, technically, it’s not over just yet, but with the United States falling to Belgium 4-1 in the Round of 16, the casual sports fan will likely move on to preparations for the upcoming college and professional football seasons.
Was it fun? Sure was! For a while at least. Team USA won their Group following victories over Australia and Paraguay and then beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in a gritty performance to advance to the Round of 16. TV ratings and sellout crowds followed the American squad everywhere they went.
The game against Belgium would be played in Seattle, one of the best soccer cities in the USA. Unfortunately, the Americans didn’t meet the moment, falling 4-1 with three of the goals coming directly off mistakes by the Yanks.
The United States has never won the World Cup. In fact, they’ve only been as far as the quarterfinals once, that coming back in 2002 when Germany beat them 1-0 in a controversial game. A handball at the goal line that should have been given against Germany was not. Had that whistle been blown, the Americans would have received a penalty kick, likely tied the game, and then you never know what would have happened the rest of the way.
24 years later, the Americans have failed to return to the final 8. And considering that much of the tournament was played on the friendliest of soils, the Americans never had a better chance of a deep run than this one.
So, why can’t we get over the hump against the Belgiums, the Ghanas, the Netherlands of global soccer? And do we, as a sporting nation, care enough to make the tough decisions that will make Team USA a real contender in this tournament?
Now, we’ve figured it out on the women’s side. The U.S. Women’s National Team has won the World Cup four times, Olympic gold five times, and nine CONCACAF titles. But we also invested the time and money into growing the women’s game sooner than most other nations.
The men’s side? We’ve been playing catch-up for most of the last century. The U.S. qualified for the 1950 World Cup and then took a 40-year hiatus before returning to the tournament in 1990. But we’ve now had over three and a half decades of American kids watching Team USA in the World Cup regularly, but it feels like we’ve plateaued.
There are no easy answers here. Yes, some of the best athletes in the country are playing soccer starting at an early age. But most of the best of the best are still choosing football, basketball or baseball. Been like that in the United States for as long as a football has been thrown, a basketball dribbled or a baseball caught. And that’s probably not going to stop anytime soon.
And here’s the other thing… There are no guarantees of success at the World Cup. The two winningest countries are Brazil with five titles and Germany (or West Germany) with four titles. And guess what… Brazil and Germany were both eliminated in the Round of 16, as were the Americans.
It’s possible that the U.S. Men’s National Team gets a few breaks, a few good draws, and finds its way into the Final 8 soon. After all, there are a lot of players just coming into their own on that roster.
Or maybe… this is as good as it gets.
