Tony Meola knows the pressure of competing in front of his local fans. In 1994, when the United States host the FIFA World Cup, Meola, the owner of the national team and his teammates had one but two jobs: to overcome the competition and help grow the game.
“It was relentless,” News told NBC. “Twenty -four hours a day for a year leading to the World Cup. Game promotion, events. We never stopped.”
His team made his part out of the field, the event shattered assistance records despite the fact that football was not the most popular sport at that time, and went out of the group stage before he lost 1-0 against the eventual Brazil champion. Although it was not the result I wanted, that squad is accredited to help generate great interest and participation in the United States.
Meola dreamed of one day seeing the national male team of the United States becoming perennial contestants. But more than 30 years later, with the country (together with Canada and Mexico) organizing the 2026 World Cup next June, he says that there is still both in the air and two decades ago.
“I don’t feel we are ready at this time,” said Meola, now CBS Sports Golazo Network analyst about the current American team. “I want to see the progression during the next year and enter into [the World Cup] With as much questions as possible, not entering there fearing what is going to happen. “
Meola is far from being the only former USMNT player to share some skepticism for a year. His co-elans in the football podcast “call whatever you want,” Charlie Davies and Jimmy Conrad also expressed concern. So did Fox Sports, MLS and Apple Maurice Edu commentator.
Taylor Twellman, the main soccer analyst at Apple TV, expressed him more bluntly.
When asked how the United States accumulates at this time with the main countries of the world, he told NBC News: “They are not in the conversation with any of them … they do not see themselves as a contender.”
When North America received the rights of the 2026 World Cup in June 2018, Carlos Cordeiro, then president of American football, described him as a “rare and important moment to demonstrate that we are really united through sport.”
He also guaranteed more eye balloons in the host countries. According to FIFA, the average global live public for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was 175 million viewers. The final between Argentina and France attracted 1,500 million viewers, dramatically more than the most recent Super Bowl (127.7 million).
And with the 2026 World Cup final at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey, this was the perfect time to show how far the male team of the United States has come. Especially with the “golden generation” of players who enter their best.
That term: attached to rising stars such as Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Sergiño Dest, Gio Reyna, Timothy Weah, Antonee Robinson, Matt Turner and Tyler Adams, recognizes what was expected to be the best core in the history of the program.
They showed bright glimpses during the 2022 World Cup, a race that ended in the 16 round, but all were young. Now, four older years, with experience both internationally and for European clubs, they are expected to help lead a deep World Cup race.
But some follow doubts in saying that this group can achieve it. Up to this point, it lacks a true victory in the firm and has fallen short in recent competitions. In the Copa América last summer, which the United States organized, the USMNT could not leave the group stage after losses against Uruguay and Panama.
The result raised questions about whether this list was talented enough to overcome the hump.
“You can’t be a ‘golden generation’ until you do something that has not been done before,” Davies told NBC News.
Edu said: “I felt that the ‘golden generation’ label was coined based on the potential. And now some of these types are reaching their best moment, so that potential must be done. Everything, for me, now revolves around what happens next summer.”
To help them reach their potential, the program went from coach Gregg Berhalter of a lifetime and replaced it with Mauricio Pochettino. His hiring was seen as a big problem, since Pochettino, Argentine, has achieved some of the greatest stages of world football: Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
So far, the results have mixed.
It has five victories and four losses in nine games, but the team disappointed in March with two losses in the Concacaf Nations League. The team has also fallen four games in a row, including a 4-0 defeat against Switzerland on Tuesday, although the alignments were far from being full, with certain stars, such as Pulisic, not playing.
The American sports director, Matt Crocker, said that Pochettino’s reputation stands out for herself. ” It is too early in the process to criticize the work you have done.
“We have a great generation of young players who want to convert the potential into performance, and we could not have had and asked a better coach to enter and have the ability to do so,” Crocker said. “Now, you just need to have the time with players and games and experiences to be prepared for next summer, which is our goal.”
A year away from the largest tournament in sports, the product in the USMNT field is still far from ordering.
The most important position to decide can be the goalkeeper.
Turner, who started in the 2022 World Cup, is expected once again that he has that role. But after a year when he played in moderation as a backup for Crystal Palace, some wonder if his lack of game time will have it adequate for next summer. This week’s reports say Turner agreed to join the Lyon French squad.
No one knows that the goalkeeper plays better than Meola, who said: “There are many questions.”
“In general, we have entered world drinks knowing who our number 1 or two or three types that fight for the position is. That has been the rotation since 1990. This particular group, I think we are restless in that position,” he said.
If Turner obtains a constant action in Lyon, it should be that guy again in 2026. Patrick Schulte, Zack Steffen and Matt Freese are the following options.
Meola’s other position group to see is the return center. Wide, Robinson and Dest are close to the locks, but half of the field remains a assumption of anyone. Candidates include Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson or Cameron Carter-Vickers.
“There are too many interrogation signs in the middle of the field at this time,” Meola said. “If I’m going to focus on one, that would be everything.”
Edu and Davies said they want to see how the next 12 months develop in the front center. The USMNT won a very close battle with England to obtain the Mónaco Folarin Balogun (which has double citizenship), but after it there are many names to consider in Ricardo Pepi, Patrick Agyemang, Haji Wright, Damion Downs and Josh Sargent.
“Even if there are question signs in other positions, if we feel good with position number 9, I think that gives us a great opportunity,” Edu said.
Conrad focuses similarly on the middle of the field, this time in the center of the field. Pochettino could go with McKennie, Yunus Musah, Johnny Cardoso, Tanner Tessman, Diego Luna or Malik Tillman.
He had a prediction that could surprise fans.
“Gio Reyna … I will throw it there, but at this time I do not hope that the team will do. That is my great shock,” said Conrad. “I will put my flag on the floor and I will say that it has a lot of work to do to enter this team by 2026, which would probably be a surprise for many, but I think there are other players who are playing well and could fit a little better at this current time.”
Although questions abound in the middle, Conrad said he feels very well outside.
“It would put our external backups internationally against anyone,” he said. “Our strength, in terms of our headlines, is Antonee Robinson, Sergiño Dem and then in Christian Pulisic and Timothy Weah. I feel safe to face any nation with our external players.”
This summer, the USMNT has matches of the Concacaf Gold Cup followed by friendlies in September, October and November. Then, the players will compete for their clubs, either in Major League Soccer or abroad, and then return for more friendly before the World Cup.
The final list, limited to 26 players, will be set 10 days before the tournament.
No one is more important in that decision than Crocker, the technical director. Previously with the English Club Southampton and the National Team of England, he focused on obtaining the best possible product in the field for next June.
He said that questions about particular positions really don’t matter because no one is really locked at this time.
“I don’t think there are 12 months of a world cup,” he said. “You are trying to develop the depth in the team but also continues to monitor the players’ performances. We need to know who are the best three players in each position. In the preparation of an important tournament, there will always be a player who reaches the form; there may be a player who receives an injury. Therefore, you must be ready.”
Twellman, a striker in the national team from 2002 to 2008, said that his concerns are not based solely on the level of talent in specific position groups. Everything is reduced to the results, and the team simply has not received enough for him to trust a world cup.
“There is only one feeling of apathy throughout the United States Men program,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s a hot shot.”
Crocker said he has heard part of the negative discourse about the program, but “he cannot control the external noise.”
“Our work, both as a personal and players, is almost looking within ourselves, continuing to work as hard as possible, continue trying to improve every day to put the actions we need every day,” he said. “We would love that all are great supporters and begin to talk positively about the team, but we would also know that we also have a responsibility through our actions to control that narrative.”
