***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.