Why is this World Cup Different for the United States?
Why is this World Cup Different for the United States?
By: Andrew Ferguson
USA! USA! USA! Come on, let’s get a chant going! If you’re not on board with what’s going on right now with this team, will you ever be? To support a team that’s the country’s 5th most popular sport (arguably), this is the best chance we’ve had in a very long time to win the World Cup. And! We’re doing it on home soil. In fact, the United States has only won its first two games one other time in the history of the Cup. It happened in the very first World Cup in 1930. The good news is, they advanced to the Semifinals that year. And, before even playing our 3rd game in 2026, we’ve already won our group to advance. The bad news, 1930 is the best we’ve ever done.
It’s been nearly 100 years (you all know that titanic meme? “It’s been 84 years,” but it’s been even longer) since the United States had a legitimate chance to win the World Cup. But do they truly have a chance to win it all right now? That’s debatable. But the team has never looked this good in my lifetime so I’m riding the Red, White and Blue hype right now and so should you.
The United States has been on an impressive 2 game run to start the World Cup by outscoring their opponents 6-1. They’ve beaten up on Paraguay 4-1, which was the most goals they’ve ever scored in a single game in World Cup history. So automatically, this is the best team we’ve ever had, right? Yes :) Then they confidently shutout Australia 2-0 in the second game. I know it’s only 2 games, but there is a lot to be excited about. I mean, it’s our country, what more do you need? Especially since we’ve been somewhat of a laughing stock in the sport worldwide. Since that Semifinals appearance in 1930, The US has made it to the quarterfinals one time in 2002, and other than that, not past the round of 16. It’s been a tough run, but Americans don’t care, we’re undefeated in real football when it comes to international competition. But anyway, what’s different about this US soccer team than year’s past? It’s the talent.
Right now, the United States has arguably the best pool of talent on the roster in its history. And I know all the Landon Donovan fans out there want to ‘X’ out of this article (is that an old person thing to say?) but this current TEAM is better. But how and who are you talking about?
Well the good news behind that is you may not have heard of a lot of these players on the current roster because they’re playing in Europe. Europe overall draws in the best talent, even from the United States. So when you dig into the top players on this team, you have players like Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie playing in the Italian Series, Folarin Balogun playing in the French League and Tyler Adams playing in the English Premier League. For casual American fans that have no idea what I’m even talking about or have never heard of these leagues, they’re all the most competitive leagues in international soccer. This is a good thing for the United States men’s national team that they’re good enough to play over there, then come back and represent the stars and stripes.
But what’s crazy is that the stars have indeed shown up, but at the same time, have not. In the first game, the US looked unbeatable with Pulisic and Balogun running the show. In the 2nd game against Australia, Pulisic didn’t play due to a calf injury. They still looked impressive and won, but how far can the team make it without him? That’s the important part of him being healthy and how serious the world needs to take them. Pulisic has the chance to solidify his legacy in United States soccer as the best player in our country’s history. If he plays the way he’s capable of and the team makes it past the round of 16, he will be Captain America. Okay maybe more like the Falcon since nobody cares AS much. Any Marvel fans out there?
Former US national team Goalie, Tim Howard, recently went viral for saying the US doesn’t stand a chance, even with all of the hype. Come on dude, don’t be a hater. But you are now THAT guy and people will boo you. Please go sign my petition to do so. He said the US would have to play the best game they’ve ever played in their organization’s history… 4 times in a row and it’s very unlikely they do so. Okay, and? Well, there haven't been a lot of good games in the history so it isn’t very hard to have a run like this based on what we’ve witnessed for almost 100 years.
Also, is it just me or is this World Cup the most entertaining we’ve ever seen? All the stars have shown up and we’re seeing elite, world-wide talent continue to put the ball in the net, over and over. We’ve seen some upsets, we’ve seen some drama, but the fact that everything is happening in North America, makes it that much better for Americans to be fans. And people from Europe are finally realizing why we love Chili’s and Triple Dippers so much.
One of the craziest things I recently saw was that since the World Cup began in 1930, there have only been 8 countries to win the title. Here are your winners with how many times they’ve brought it home:
Brazil (5)
Germany (4)
Italy (4)
Argentina (3)
France (2)
Uruguay (2)
England (1)
So when you look at this list, the odds seem to be stacked against the United States pulling off a miracle. Which brings me to my next point.
We’ve all seen the movie, right? Herb Brooks and that US hockey team took that hockey puck and shoved it right up Leonid Brezhnev’s launch site. Go read a book, he was the Soviet leader when the US took them down in the Olympics. How embarrassing for a country, who at the time, only had hockey to rely on for any type of joy. But at the end of the day, the United States were huge underdogs then, they were underdogs against England in the Revolutionary War, and they’re underdogs right now. I’ve never been more proud and confident in the team because we love to prove the world wrong. How great would it be to bring that World Cup title home on the 250th Birthday of America? In America. I can’t wait to see the sequel to Miracle and to be number 9 on the champion list. One thing is for certain, if the United States makes it further in the World Cup than England, the world has to call it soccer instead of football moving forward. USA! USA! USA!
