The World Cup of Soccer begins June 11, partly in the United States, and we are being bombarded with suggestions that our national team will fare well.
The timing of the optimism is propitious, coming as it does before the dark reality of results must be factored into the equation.
Simply put, the United States is far from a world soccer power. It’s been that way for decades and probably will be for many more.
Picking up on that underdog theme, I’ve seen ads referencing the 1980 Olympic Miracle On Ice, when an American hockey team upset the Soviets and went on to claim gold. Why not us? we are asked.
Sure, we won Olympic hockey gold again this past Olympics. But, back in 1980, the Soviets were professionals and our team was a bunch of amateur college players.
Fast-forward to 2026 and the Russians were banned from the Olympics and the U.S., like other countries, fielded a team of NHL players.
Can the U.S. men’s soccer team duplicate that success? Very unlikely.
But, for a few weeks we can continue to witness the triumph of hope over experience.
Just Sunday, I was watching a “friendly” match between the U.S. and Senegal. By way of background – I had to look it up myself – the U.S. team is ranked 16th in the world and Senegal is 14th.
So, when the United State jumped out to a 2-0 lead, the announcers were euphoric and were rambling on about our greatness. Then, Senegal scored a late goal just before halftime and there was considerably less excitement.
I tuned the TV to something else, after the U.S. had an apparent second-half goal taken away on an offside call. I see Senegal did manage to tie the game at 2-all – understand overcoming a two-goal deficit in soccer is stunning – but the Americans pulled out a 3-2 win.
As for me, I was glad to see our unquestionably No. 1 player, Christian Pulisic, assist on the first goal and score the second, before not playing in the second half. Pulisic had been on something of a scoring drought, both on the national team and with his club AC Milan in the prestigious Italian league.
Americans will go nowhere in World Cup play without significant Pulisic contributions. I have written here before, and will restate, Pulisic is the best American soccer player ever.
I heard the announcers singing the praises of Landon Donovan during that Sunday friendly game broadcast. In my mind, there is no contest. Donovan tried to play in the foreign pro leagues and pretty much failed. Pulisic played for a championship Chelsea team from the English Premier League that also won the Champions League.
Pulisic currently is a starter and main contributor for AC Milan.
If you are ranking Americans all-time, Pulisic is first based on pedigree and Donovan is second.
What will that mean in this World Cup, being hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico? Probably not much.
The good news is the United States team isn’t in an extremely tough group. It will open play June 12 against Paraguay, currently ranked 40th in the world. Also in the Americans’ group are Turkey (No. 25) and Australia (27).
There are 12 such four-team groups. Each team plays the other three teams in its group and the top two advance to the knockout round, along with the eight best third-place teams.
Do the math and you will find that fully two-thirds of the 48 teams advance to the single-elimination knockout round. Not exactly elite status.
Remember this should the Americans make it that far. But, understand that our national team could lose to any or all our group foes, too. Such is the state of American soccer.
When all the stars align, when every key player is healthy, when the opposition perhaps is not playing well, we can be competitive, even win. But, the margin for success is slim when you are talking U.S. men’s soccer.
Another friendly, Saturday vs. a German team ranked No. 10 in the world, may or may not provide some insight ahead of the World Cup. This is, after all, a friendly game in which neither side will move Heaven and Earth to win.
Enjoy this upcoming friendly and the World Cup games. Root, root, root for the home team. Just don’t expect much beyond advancing to the round of 32.
Sam Ross Jr's site 