Proud of our Baby Eagles
A Zander's Facts ode to the United States Men's National Team
The matches may be over, but the momentum is not.
On Saturday, the United States Men’s National Team faced the Netherlands in the first match of the World Cup knockout stages. Sadly, it would also mark the end of the tournament for the U.S. men.
After being the only nation in the Group Stage to have not conceded a goal during the run of play, it took only ten minutes on Saturday for Memphis DePay to strike and send the Dutch ahead. In the only additional minute of the first half, Daley Blind took advantage of nearly the same play to send the Netherlands up 2-0 at the break.
A Haji Wright backfoot flick (definitely intentional) from a great Christian Pulisic pass gave the Americans hope in the 76th minute, all for it to fade away as Denzel Dumfries was left unmarked five minutes later to bring the lead back up to two.
All three goals conceded by the U.S. were casualties of a defense, one that played spectacularly through Group B, that looked exhausted and forgot to mark one player. There was nothing Matt Turner, who was the U.S.’ man of the match, could do to save those.
“Man of the match? He gave up three goals!”
If it wasn’t for him, it would have been many more. Arsenal’s backup keeper made a serious case to start at the club level in this tournament.
At the end of the six added minutes in the second half, the Dutch were the ones celebrating, while the Americans could only watch, tears in their eyes, consoling one another.
After getting knocked out in the Round of 16, and playing poorly to have that result occur, it would make sense if the reaction is disappointment. That the U.S. have failed on what they set out to accomplish in Qatar.
But that should ABSOLUTELY not be the case.
Instead, the reaction should be that of excitement, pride, and hope.
Harken back to the Group Stage. Group of death? Maybe not. But the group with the highest average FIFA ranking at 15. A group with a hungry Wales side, the always-intimidating England, and a vastly underrated Iran.
Getting out of the group is no given at soccer’s ultimate competition. Just ask Belgium, or Germany, or Mexico. Or we could ask Italy, who didn’t even get to a group in the first place.
It’s a massive achievement to get out of the group, and while the U.S. have done so at every World Cup they’ve been to since 2006, it’s still a big deal.
Especially, when your roster has a grand total of one player with World Cup experience. That player, DeAndre Yedlin, didn’t even play in two of the matches.
Yes, your expectation may have been to go farther in this tournament. “We are the United States, we should not be accepting defeat!”
For those of you in that camp, all I ask for is one word. Patience.
The U.S. men came into this tournament with the second-youngest roster in this tournament to Ghana. With the youngest that made the knockouts. You may not know this, but Christian Pulisic? He’s 24. The captain Tyler Adams? 23. Sergiño Dest? 22. Yunus Musah? 20. Tim Weah? 22. Tim Ream? 35. Ok, maybe that doesn’t count, but he was still awesome these past two weeks.
There’s other names who played a pivotal part in the team that I could include in that list who would probably shock you for their youth. And with youth, comes inexperience.
Even though those who were in Qatar attempted to deflect the notion, they said they thought they could win it all this year, it’s not about this year.
It’s about 2026. It’s always been about 2026.
I mean, just take a look at how old those players will be then:
Also, if you didn’t know, 2026 is the year when the next World Cup will be played. Thankfully, it will not be housed in Qatar. This World Cup will be played in the countries of Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America.
Taking Qatar out of the equation, as should be done in most circumstances, home countries tend to perform pretty well in the World Cup.
The country that literally invented the sport, England, have only won the World Cup once. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, it was in 1966, the only year they’ve hosted.
Another five times has the host won the tournament. Uruguay in 1930, Italy in 1934, West Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978, and France in 1998. Another two times has the host made the final. Brazil in 1950 and Sweden in 1958. Heck, even Russia got out of their group four years ago and made the Quarterfinal.
So, there’s definitely something about hosting the World Cup.
Combine that with the experience these players just got and will continue to receive over the next four years. And with the talent that we don’t even know about yet that will come into the camp.
And with the fact that there’s just something about this team that just feels special. Has it ever felt like this with the American men? I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been a soccer fan that long.
But there is definitely something special about this team, this group of guys. They actually look excited to be with each other in camp. U.S. Manager Gregg Berhalter said his favorite day of camp is the first day, when everyone gets to see everyone for the first time in a while. He said he loves seeing their reactions when they greet one another.
It’s not just their continuity off the pitch. They play like a close-knit unit on it, a rarity in the international game.
The squad has a leadership council that typically rotates the duties of captain. Before this tournament, they voted for 23-year-old Tyler Adams to take the mantle for every game. It was potentially the most consequential decision for the team in this tournament. Adams was the best player on, and off, the pitch. (Mandatory plug of Adams’ press conference video.) He is the greatest representative of this country we could have.
All of that is a stark contrast to teams like Belgium, where infighting led to the nation flailing spectacularly this year.
The difference, this team has a culture. And more importantly, these are the guys that had to build that culture after the 2018 disaster.
This team is built out of a group of guys who come from not just all over the country, but the world. There are several dual-nationals on this team, including Antonee Robinson. Robinson was born and raised in England but was eligible to play for the U.S. because his dad is a U.S. citizen. This was his reaction in the locker room after the U.S. beat Iran to advance to the knockouts:
It means so much to these players, and it doesn’t matter if they grew up in this country. They will fight for this team and this country.
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”
- Emma Lazarus (1883)
This team is the actual embodiment of what makes our country great.
But it’s taken time to build that culture. Christian Pulisic admitted that he used to think he needed to carry the team on his back and do too much. He said during this tournament that that mentality is totally gone, that there is complete trust in this group. Pulisic, another one who cares so much about this team and country:
That’s why you need patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was a successful soccer team.
To win a World Cup, you need players who know how to play the game, and play it well, players who have experience, and players who actually like each other. Oh, and a little bit of luck. With the 2026 edition in this country, we might be able to get that tiny amount of luck.
We can be sad and down today, but tomorrow is a new day.
We’re entering the most consequential four years for soccer in this nation’s history.
The USA-England match was the most-watched soccer match on English television in U.S. history. The fans are here.
The United States Men’s National Team just advanced out of the toughest group in this tournament, with the second-youngest squad in the tournament, and with 25 of their 26 players having never been to this world stage. The momentum is here.
The next four years will determine whether this country can finally excel at the beautiful game.
But if history provides any lesson, it’s to never bet against the United States of America.
It’s a great time to be an American soccer fan.
2026, here we come. 🇺🇸
If you enjoyed that piece (and are ready to run through a brick wall for our National Team) then you might like this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts:
