***Official 2026 World Cup Thread***

[aeroclone]

I've been hearing about the growth of soccer in the US my entire life. But in that time, it really doesn't seem like we have made up any ground on the top European countries. More kids are playing, and clubs and tournaments are soaking up the cash. And we put more buttons in seats at MLS games. But none of that seems to have translated to the product we put out at the highest level. I'm to the point where I don't ever expect to see the US field a legit World Cup contender in my lifetime, let alone actually win it.

 

[AppleCornCy]

 

[twojman]

The US has 12-15 players in the top 1000 of the world, we need to double that to be a threat in the World Cup. I honestly don't know what we have in the pipeline to improve on this in the next 4 years. Do we have the right coach? I think so.

'The best athletes play other sports.' That's so weak. We have a population of 340,000,000. The 6 teams that have made the quarters have a COMBINED population of like 231,000,000. To say we can't compete with that is wrong. Are there things that need to change? Yes. MLS academy's probably need to step up and not necessarily with up front payments by the players and their families...maybe some sort of piece of future contracts or something otherwise it will leave people in the dust.

 

[BryceC]

This was exactly the point I was getting at with the thread I started today. We all complain about the rules and officiating in every sport. And most can acknowledge that there's room for improvement in sports we love.
Die hard fans, especially of niche sports, sometimes seem get defensive of criticism. Happens alot with wbb and wrestling fans too.

There is a lot of complaining about rules in other sports. But people don’t complain about ones that would fundamentally change the game.

Nobody is out here saying scoring in basketball is too easy, we should make it so there is no goaltending.

Or something like scoring is too hard in football, we should make it 7 yards until a first down.

Thats the kind of stuff people continuously say about soccer rules and then act all offended when people say that no, that’s a terrible idea.

 

[Clonehomer]

There is a lot of complaining about rules in other sports. But people don’t complain about ones that would fundamentally change the game.

Nobody is out here saying scoring in basketball is too easy, we should make it so there is no goaltending.

Or something like scoring is too hard in football, we should make it 7 yards until a first down.

Thats the kind of stuff people continuously say about soccer rules and then act all offended when people say that no, that’s a terrible idea.

Well, I would love to go to the international goaltending rules. Too much of this “is the ball above the cylinder?” stuff.

 

[SolterraCyclone]

The US has 12-15 players in the top 1000 of the world, we need to double that to be a threat in the World Cup. I honestly don't know what we have in the pipeline to improve on this in the next 4 years. Do we have the right coach? I think so.

'The best athletes play other sports.' That's so weak. We have a population of 340,000,000. The 6 teams that have made the quarters have a COMBINED population of like 231,000,000. To say we can't compete with that is wrong. Are there things that need to change? Yes. MLS academy's probably need to step up and not necessarily with up front payments by the players and their families...maybe some sort of piece of future contracts or something otherwise it will leave people in the dust.

Yes, but say we have 100 great athletes to a European country’s 5. In America, maybe, 1 of those kids plays soccer. And that’s a big maybe. And he’ll be playing with fewer resources and expertise than in Europe.

In Europe all 5 of those kids are going to an elite soccer academy school by the age of 8 and playing the sport throughout their primary school with endless resources and expertise.

The USWNT shows what the U.S. could be in soccer, because soccer is the most popular or second-most popular women’s sports in the states.

 

[apiaryaviary1]

I've been hearing about the growth of soccer in the US my entire life. But in that time, it really doesn't seem like we have made up any ground on the top European countries. More kids are playing, and clubs and tournaments are soaking up the cash. And we put more buttons in seats at MLS games. But none of that seems to have translated to the product we put out at the highest level. I'm to the point where I don't ever expect to see the US field a legit World Cup contender in my lifetime, let alone actually win it.

In 1998 the USMNT had 2 players on the 22 man roster playing in one of Europe's Big Five leagues - Claudio Reyna (Wolfsburg) and Thomas Dooley (Schalke 04), neither of which are in the prem. 16 guys were in the two year old MLS, with the rest spread out in Mexico and lower tier leagues.

2026 USMNT has 13 guys in the Big Five, three of which are in the Prem (Adams, Richards, Robinson)

We are so far ahead of what was previously considered a golden generation of talent in the early 2000's. Sullivan, Campbell and Banks all have legit 'superstar at a huge club' potential in the next 5 years. Freeman and Cremaschi are only 21. Balo will still be in his prime and on a big time club. On paper 2030 should be the strongest US team ever assembled.

 

[WIBadger]

I dont know how you grow MLS without telling owners they are just going to have to take in less money to buy better players. There's just no way they'll ever get it to where they want it to be. Thats like trying to make the Japanese or Korean League as big as MLB. One thing we need to consider is a merger with Liga MX. It’s probably better.

I actually don’t know that the quality of the players makes that much of a difference, especially because we’re almost certainly not going to be the number 1 league in the world. If quality of the players were all that mattered, more Americans would be watching the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, or Serie A. Instead, the vast majority of them are watching the Premier League because it has the best players and is English.

I know I’m in a small camp here, but I’m honestly more excited for soccer season to start than college football for the first time ever. The NIL and transfers and conference realignment crap has taken a pretty big toll on my enthusiasm.

Same, I’m really excited for the German leagues to start (and a little bit the Premier League). But I’m really not in favor of MLS switching to a fall-spring schedule. That’s going to put you in direct competition against our top stops and also the main soccer leagues that people follow.

I suppose the good thing is that while MLS has its reasons for doing this, the reasons for concern are also obvious, so if it fails no one can say there was no way to see this coming.

 

[NWICY]

This is very well written but what is 'Nickelbacking'?

Pretty sure it is dogging on something others like that you don't. It is a reference to the band Nickleback people listen to the music but slam people who admit to liking it.

 

[apiaryaviary1]

I actually don’t know that the quality of the players makes that much of a difference, especially because we’re almost certainly not going to be the number 1 league in the world. If quality of the players were all that mattered, more Americans would be watching the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, or Serie A. Instead, the vast majority of them are watching the Premier League because it has the best players and is English.

Same, I’m really excited for the German leagues to start (and a little bit the Premier League). But I’m really not in favor of MLS switching to a fall-spring schedule. That’s going to put you in direct competition against our top stops and also the main soccer leagues that people follow.

I suppose the good thing is that while MLS has its reasons for doing this, the reasons for concern are also obvious, so if it fails no one can say there was no way to see this coming.

It's also hard to overstate just how explosive MLS growth has been in recent years. In 2018 the most valuable club was worth about ~500 million. Today all but ~3 teams are worth that, the average franchise value has more than doubled, and there are multiple clubs over $1B. Inter Miami have a higher operating income than about half of the NHL.

 

[t.m.]

'The best athletes play other sports.' That's so weak. We have a population of 340,000,000. The 6 teams that have made the quarters have a COMBINED population of like 231,000,000. To say we can't compete with that is wrong. Are there things that need to change? Yes. MLS academy's probably need to step up and not necessarily with up front payments by the players and their families...maybe some sort of piece of future contracts or something otherwise it will leave people in the dust.

The numbers in your post actually prove the argument that "the best athletes play others sports".

Off population, the US should have 28x the elite athletes that Belgium has, but ours aren't playing soccer. The best 8/10/12 year olds in the US are playing SS/P, or QB/RB/WR/CB, or PG/SG. In Belgium, every damn one is playing soccer.

 

[Drew0311]

I've been hearing about the growth of soccer in the US my entire life. But in that time, it really doesn't seem like we have made up any ground on the top European countries. More kids are playing, and clubs and tournaments are soaking up the cash. And we put more buttons in seats at MLS games. But none of that seems to have translated to the product we put out at the highest level. I'm to the point where I don't ever expect to see the US field a legit World Cup contender in my lifetime, let alone actually win it.

I think it honestly boils down to our best athletes still playing football and basketball. The women’s team can thrive because our best athletes play soccer I instead of having football as an option.

My thoughts on this tournament. We didn’t really do anything other than beat teams we were supposed to beat and then failed when we ran into a real team. It’s sad but the reality is we are just not on the level of soccer countries

 

[SolterraCyclone]

Yes, but say we have 100 great athletes to a European country’s 5. In America, maybe, 1 of those kids plays soccer. And that’s a big maybe. And he’ll be playing with fewer resources and expertise than in Europe.

In Europe all 5 of those kids are going to an elite soccer academy school by the age of 8 and playing the sport throughout their primary school with endless resources and expertise.

The USWNT shows what the U.S. could be in soccer, because soccer is the most popular or second-most popular women’s sports in the states.

2 other things. It’s pretty impressive that soccer, at best, is the nation’s 5th most popular sport (probably lower when taking into account individual sports like golf and tennis), but we still field a top 16 nation in the world.

After our great World Cup in 2010 (with the Algeria win I’ll remember my entire lifetime), where we took Belgium’s golden generation to the brink, I thought we’d make a little more progress than we have in 16 years. Especially with fewer parents putting their kids in football for fear of concussions. The number of our guys playing in Europe has increased so there’s been a talent increase. But the concussion thing hasn’t scared off parents from American football as much as I thought it would.

 

[apiaryaviary1]

I think it honestly boils down to our best athletes still playing football and basketball. The women’s team can thrive because our best athletes play soccer I instead of having football as an option.

My thoughts on this tournament. We didn’t really do anything other than beat teams we were supposed to beat and then failed when we ran into a real team. It’s sad but the reality is we are just not on the level of soccer countries

On a position by position grade basis vs Belgium, the only position on the field where we had an advantage was Robinson. Belgium has massive advantages at goalie, in the midfield, wingers, striker, depth everywhere...the insane thing is that Spain has an even more decisive advantage against Belgium, every position, on the bench, all over the field. There are levels.

 

[Frak]

Since we are looking for bright sides. At least now us folks that actually enjoy soccer can finish watching the rest of the WC without the ignorant pricks!

I enjoyed the games. But I'm just not watching other countries continue on after the US is gone. It is what it is.

 

[Drew0311]

On a position by position grade basis vs Belgium, the only position on the field where we had an advantage was Robinson. Belgium has massive advantages at goalie, in the midfield, wingers, striker, depth everywhere...the insane thing is that Spain has an even more decisive advantage against Belgium, every position, on the bench, all over the field. There are levels.

You could tell we were cooked in the first 5 minutes of that game last night. We looked like a rookie team playing a bunch of seasoned vets. I think Freeman was solid this tournament also. Pulicic gave zero. Like not sure if it was injury or what but by the time it was over I thought he was garbage. He kind of reminded me of a guy who can beat the crap out of the nobodies but when it’s time to play the big boys he wasn’t on that level yet. We will see in four years if he steps up

 

[CascadeClone]

People are going to play the sports they enjoy. Soccer is boring, play 90 minutes or more, run many miles all over the field and only score a couple points. That's like watching Iowa play themselves in FB (or even now in BB), no thanks.

I don't hate soccer, but it's basically like watching hockey replayed at 1/20th speed in a gigantic costco parking lot.

 

[apiaryaviary1]

You could tell we were cooked in the first 5 minutes of that game last night. We looked like a rookie team playing a bunch of seasoned vets. I think Freeman was solid this tournament also. Pulicic gave zero. Like not sure if it was injury or what but by the time it was over I thought he was garbage. He kind of reminded me of a guy who can beat the crap out of the nobodies but when it’s time to play the big boys he wasn’t on that level yet. We will see in four years if he steps up

I think the best case for the US in 2030 is that he's like the 6th best guy on the team. Cavan can be The Hub/Primary Creator, Balo in the middle as a finisher, and Pulisic can just focusing on attacking and scoring

 

[CascadeClone]

Baseball looked at their sport and realized one of the killers was the dead time between pitches so more action would happen. Every pitch has a chance for some big action. Baseball figured out how to keep the attention span of the audience. Soccer needs to find something like that if they want to keep the average viewer watching.

Baseball didn't change - it changed BACK. Games used to be 2-2.5 hours, a 3 hour game was a rarity.

Then they slowly got to the point of the pitcher-batter face off bs. Pitcher stepping off the rubber 4 times to look at the 3rd baseman for no reason, batter stepping out of the box 3 times to check his shoe and adjust his cup, all while holding one hand in the air like a self-important politician asking the crowd for silence. Just waste 45 seconds and then throw a curve in the dirt for ball 2.

Trimming that prima donna, fake intensity bs was the best move they could make.

 

[CascadeClone]

We need more fans to care outside of the national team to really grow the sport.

You can wish in one hand, and **** in the other, and see which one fills up first.

The NFL, NBA, even MLB and hockey are so much better at marketing and protecting their advantages, I don't see how soccer will ever break thru.

Although, I have lived to see solar power become viable, after 50 years of it being "the future" -- so I suppose anything is possible!