***Official 2026 World Cup Thread***

[CascadeClone]

Yes that’s true. Having a guy like LeBron would be nice to have in the box for corner kicks. But you can’t have a whole team of them. At some point you need someone that can deliver that perfect cross.

A English friend / former co-worker of mine (big Arsenal fan) told me something similar once.
He was familiar with US sports, he said imagine all the tight ends, power forwards, etc with their size and athleticism. Now imagine instead of baseball, football, basketball, they played soccer from age 4.

He thought the US would be unstoppable due to physical size, talent pool from large population, and the money to develop and support. But until at least some those other sports go away, it won't/can't happen.

 

[BCClone]

A English friend / former co-worker of mine (big Arsenal fan) told me something similar once.
He was familiar with US sports, he said imagine all the tight ends, power forwards, etc with their size and athleticism. Now imagine instead of baseball, football, basketball, they played soccer from age 4.

He thought the US would be unstoppable due to physical size, talent pool from large population, and the money to develop and support. But until at least some those other sports go away, it won't/can't happen.

If a large population was a major help, wouldn’t India and china be soccer powerhouses?

 

[cydsho]

If a large population was a major help, wouldn’t India and china be soccer powerhouses?

If the US is behind the rest of the world in soccer development. India and China is 50-75% more behind. They just don't play it or support it. Especially at the higher levels.

 

[Clonefan32]

These European countries are identifying the best-of-the-best at an extremely early age and are spending 15 years training them professionally. That just isn't happening here. Sure, we have tons of kids playing club soccer. But how many of our most elite athletes are taking it up full time and receiving the type of training the Europeans are?

I think our reality is we have to just keep hoping European raised kids with ties to America continue to want to play for our national team. Because developing talent herein the US is just way too far behind. We've wound up with a few mid-level European trained players, and backfilling with average MLS guys. That just isn't going to work.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

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!

It probably doesn't help that all three sports began in the US and there is still a large part of the country that view soccer as "something foreign countries play".

 

[coolerifyoudid]

I'd never expect everyone to share the same enthusiasm for the sport that soccer fans do, but the truly aggravating thing is there is a niche group that actively go out of their way to persuade others to hate the sport. It would be like going to a marathon, standing next to a cheering crowd, and then you randomly start throwing rocks at the runners.

 

[Cyhig]

A English friend / former co-worker of mine (big Arsenal fan) told me something similar once.
He was familiar with US sports, he said imagine all the tight ends, power forwards, etc with their size and athleticism. Now imagine instead of baseball, football, basketball, they played soccer from age 4.

He thought the US would be unstoppable due to physical size, talent pool from large population, and the money to develop and support. But until at least some those other sports go away, it won't/can't happen.

I agree. I also thought this was funny

 

[SolterraCyclone]

It probably doesn't help that all three sports began in the US and there is still a large part of the country that view soccer as "something foreign countries play".

You can see it in the comments within this very thread. There is active vitriol towards soccer from a decent size percentage of Americans. Not even ambivalence, actual dislike.

Versus in Europe and South America where soccer is a lifestyle. It’s ingrained into their every day life. That’s a hurdle I’m not sure America can ever overcome. Or it will take generations.

 

[AllInForISU]

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.

Ok, but what are the prospects of goalkeeper? That used to be the only position the US was above average at, since Howard, it’s been a serious detriment.

 

[wxman1]

As others have said specialization and the prowess of other sports like football, basketball and baseball largely taking the best athletes will always put the US at a disadvantage.

 

[jdoggivjc]

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.

I mean, the most obvious reason MLS doesn't want to switch to a fall-spring schedule is it'll never compete with football in the fall or basketball (or hockey, simply due to its decades head start) in the winter and spring. Spring-fall all it really has to compete with is baseball, and that IS something it can compete with, as baseball has had a decline in popularity over the decades.

But there's another factor: climate. Winters in Europe are NOT the same as winters in the US. European winters are much more moderate compared to much of what the US and Canada sees. Sure, the South and Pacific would be fine, and to an extent so would the Atlantic metroplex from DC to Boston, and yes, we romanticize playing and watching people play football in the snow in December and January... but is anyone going to want to watch anyone play soccer on a cloudy, cold-ass day in Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, St. Paul, Cincinnati, Columbus, Toronto, or Montreal? That's probably a gigantic NO... which is why a fall-spring outdoor league in the US isn't going to work.

 

[brokenloginagain]

The United States women's national team (USWNT) has won the FIFA Women's World Cup a record four times: 1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019. No other country has won the tournament more than twice.

(I'll leave right now!)

 

[Land Grant]

As others have said specialization and the prowess of other sports like football, basketball and baseball largely taking the best athletes will always put the US at a disadvantage.

I simply don't believe this. There are enough great athletes to go around. Look at the Olympics -- US does very well, even with the diversion of pro football, baseball, basketball. Look at wrestling: we have a great development culture and thus compete at an elite level. No such structure exists for soccer. Belgian individual skills and game flow was just much more developed than the US.

 

[apiaryaviary1]

Ok, but what are the prospects of goalkeeper? That used to be the only position the US was above average at, since Howard, it’s been a serious detriment.

We have a 20 year old in the Barcelona academy named Diego Kochen that is promising, but hasn't gotten a ton of minutes. It's pretty bare bones behind him. I'd think the favorite would be Chris Brady in MLS as the 2030 starter. Definitely our weakest position of depth.

 

[4cy16]

 

[3TrueFans]

The United States women's national team (USWNT) has won the FIFA Women's World Cup a record four times: 1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019. No other country has won the tournament more than twice.

(I'll leave right now!)

Women are better than men confirmed.

 

[CascadeClone]

The United States women's national team (USWNT) has won the FIFA Women's World Cup a record four times: 1991, 1999, 2015, and 2019. No other country has won the tournament more than twice.

(I'll leave right now!)

I mean, that's proof of what we've been saying.

How many women play professional football or baseball? None, you say? Thus there's so many more playing soccer and the US is good at it.

 

[cycloneman003]

We have a 20 year old in the Barcelona academy named Diego Kochen that is promising, but hasn't gotten a ton of minutes. It's pretty bare bones behind him. I'd think the favorite would be Chris Brady in MLS as the 2030 starter. Definitely our weakest position of depth.

Chris Brady is better than Freese already, but I get why they went with more experience. Brady definitely could be the guy for a while. Kochen is a legit big time prospect though, big year for him going on loan to Danish team.

Leonard Prescott is a long shot, but he’s a dual national that’s been in German youth teams and part of Bayern’s set up.

Winning some of these dual national battles will be huge the next few years. Noahkai Banks is the biggest one in my mind. Him and Richards would be such a great pairing for this next cycle.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

I mean, that's proof of what we've been saying.

How many women play professional football or baseball? None, you say? Thus there's so many more playing soccer and the US is good at it.

This actually isn’t the case, it’s more that the US has supported women’s sports for much longer than Europe or the rest of the world does. Where we are playing catchup to the men’s teams the rest of the world is playing catchup to our women’s teams

 

[FriendlySpartan]

As others have said specialization and the prowess of other sports like football, basketball and baseball largely taking the best athletes will always put the US at a disadvantage.

This is less and less true as kids specialize even earlier (not necessarily a good thing). Not having a domestic league where they can make the big bucks compared to the other sports or even watch high quality games is a much bigger sticking point.

You also have to remember how big a factor parents are in this. As a kid in the 90’s that was part of the first wave of massive soccer growth but the problem is none of the parents really played seriously or had any idea what the game was about.

You can find parents who can teach their kids how to throw a perfect spiral, shoot a jumper, or throw a fastball in just about every town. It’s only lately that the generation that grew up playing actual soccer is staring to have kids that can be raised and taught their right skills.

Academy teams need to continue to step up and we are seeing improvements but a whole lot of high level soccer is still behind a paywall. There was a whole thread talking about youth sports and the cost of travel and club teams. That quality of coaching and development is standard on every pitch in Europe that is behind a 4 figure or more commitment in the US