If France could not touch Spain, what was the United States Men’s National Team really going to do?
There is no doubt that the sport of soccer took a big step forward in the USA during the 2026 World Cup.
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But huge questions will shadow USMNT for another four years, and Spain’s super-smooth 2-0 dismantling of France in the semifinals on Tuesday was another reminder of how far the US soccer program still has to climb.
“The US cannot, unequivocally, win the World Cup,” former USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard said last month on his Unfiltered Soccer podcast with ex-teammate Landon Donovan.
“The US will have to play the greatest game they’ve ever played … four games in a row. Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, finals.”
The Secretary of Defense received some serious blowback for that harsh truth — but he was 100 percent right.
Transparency and honesty is needed within the halls of US soccer with the 2026 World Cup final still to be played.
Sure, the stunning and last-minute decision to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red-card suspension had an effect on USMNT’s Round of 16 match.
But Mauricio Pochettino’s team was barely in the game, Christian Pulisic was humbled again and Belgium was clearly the better squad in a 4-1 defeat for the home team.
Factor in USMNT playing on its own soil throughout the 2026 World Cup and the top-four strength of the semifinal squads (Spain, France, Argentina, England), and all the suggestions that the USA could actually win its first World Cup now appear absurd.
“It’s literally impossible for the US to win the World Cup. That’s just the reality,” said Howard, who’s one of the best players in USMNT history.
How right he was.
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Not because Howard was hating on the team that he used to proudly represent.
But simply because the former Everton and Manchester United star understands better than most how global the game is, and how difficult the opposition is from the United Kingdom and Europe to South America and Africa.
Kylian Mbappe and France were widely hailed as the clear World Cup favorites as the Group Stage progressed to the Round of 32 and 16.
Spain flipped the fluid French attack upside down inside Dallas Stadium, on a night when Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was loudly booed and 19-year-old Lamine Yamal outplayed Mbappe.
Pochettino loved to say ‘Why not us?’ during the early days of this World Cup.
USMNT star defender Chris Richards embraced the buzz, while USA fans dreamt bigger and bigger following early wins over Paraguay, Australia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that we want to win it,” Richards said. “Obviously, we have a lot more games before we get to that moment, but you know, we take it one game at a time.”
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Coming to America
He added: “We want to lift a trophy by the end of this.”
That was never going to happen — and it could be 20 more years before USMNT cracks the semifinals.
Belgium throttled USMNT, then fell 2-1 to Spain in the quarterfinals.
Norway, Morocco, Switzerland and Mexico, among others, possessed the power and depth that USMNT lacked.
Balogun’s rise and resilience give US soccer hope for 2030.
But to win the first World Cup in American history, USMNT must somehow eclipse Spain, France, England, Argentina and about 20 other countries fighting for the same golden trophy — and almost every opponent treats soccer like the biggest sport in the world.
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