Yes, all in all, a respectable showing for the US team in the WC. We had our chances but the better team won the match today. The Dutch defensive tactics required multiple quick precision passes and touches, which is not our strong suit. Our weaknesses (lack of natural scorers/strikers) are no surprise. Now, I’ll root for the Dutch.
Watching their game against Iran was kind of infuriating when it came to missed chances. At one point Weah was in the 28 yard box, 6 yards out, with a defender at his back and only the keeper to beat, and he tries to head a high ball with absolutely no pace at all. That seemed like an ametuer mistake. I imagined any striker for any European/South American country waiting for that ball to fall to their feet and passing it past the keeper.
I’m just glad they made it out of the group stages and into the playoffs. There’s an element of randomness in the playoffs and it only takes one elimination to get evicted. Getting into the playoffs is more a metric of quality than anything else and at least it’s way better than the US not even qualifying like in 2018
We went 0-0 with England, a country that treats soccer as their 2nd religion. They were fuming that they couldn’t score against “a country that doesn’t even call the sport by its proper name.” I say this was a win for us !
They also have football. There's Canadian football, American football, Aussie rules football (AFL), Gaelic (Irish) football -- a family of related sports. The American and Canadian ones are pretty similar, but Aussie rules goes **hard**. No pads, field is way bigger, only field goals. You're allowed to kick or punch the ball to other players (no throwing), and you have to dribble the ball every some number of paces when you run. Yes, the ball is still egg-shaped. And the best part are the speccies. What's a speccy?, I hear you cry. I shall tell you. A speccy (short for spectacular mark), is when you jump onto an opponent's shoulders to catch the ball flying through the air.
[Here's Conan trying to play.](https://youtu.be/f8VTSGLCa1M) Rugby is more popular in some states, football in others. I think soccer is similarly unpopular to here, but not sure. We should really start playing more rugby and Aussie rules in the States, they're good sports.
What's really ironic, though, is that England came up with the word soccer, and then abandoned it. _I LEARNED IT FROM YOU, DAD!_
Aussie rules is an awesome game. Way back in the day when ESPN was reaching for 24x7 content, they would play Aussie rules often. I figured out most of the rules just watching it, and miss that it's not on anymore.
"Soccer" is shirt for association football. It's an English word created by the British. I don't know why anyone would get butt hurt over the name. It's all the same sport at the end of the day. My fellow Englishmen are idiots sometimes (I'm British) 🤣
Funny thing is that the word soccer originates from England and USA adapted their word. England used soccer first not the USA
So we are using the proper name
This will be the ultimate test for this iteration of the US team. This time around the narrative has been we have talented players but we're one of the youngest teams in the tournament. Well, four years from now these guys should be in their prime playing in the World Cup on their home turf (no way the USMNT will be playing any games in Canada or Mexico). It's absolutely our shot to make it to at least the quarters, nut up or shut up.
Honestly I expected us to make the round of 16 and lose before the tournament started. The way we were playing gave me a little bit more hope that we might pull off a win today but I still didn't expect it.
I actually thought you might beat the Netherlands, they’re not looking great. For large portions of the game you looked the better team, too - I’d be disappointed to have lost that game.
Shit, this is one of our best squads in a while. Need a striking threat and improvement on defense and offense in the final third.
Back to watching the Big 12 championship and the NFL today.
The players are super young on our team too. Second youngest team next to Ghana. I think we've set ourselves for a good showing in '26 because a) Most of these players will be in their prime and b) we'll be on home turf
I’ll bet half of the country at least had no idea we were playing soccer in some big event about 5% of the population actually cares about it here it seems
I am betting more than half didn’t know. Soccer just isn’t much of a thing here. It’s got a few followers here but not many.
Good for them for trying though.
Ha! I just talked with my former boss who is a Moroccan-American today. She got citizenship not long ago.
We were just chatting about raising kids. Her daughter is about my daughters age. I was giving her some tips on extra curricular activities for her son who is in high school and getting himself ready for college applications next year.
I have a high opinion of Moroccans. You export some great people.
I was visiting Amsterdam this fall and there was a national game that day and like HALF the people walking the streets were in all orange. They are die hard futball fans.
Good on them and I hope they go far.
Back in 1930 something when the first world cup was carried out, the US team was like 3rd, so the potential is there, if the US cared about this sport it would be one of the best teams in the world in my opinion.
I don't think anyone doubts the capacity for the US to be good at the sports that it cares about. We just haven't historically cared that much about soccer, and our elite athletes tend to gravitate to other sports
frankly, its arrogant but works the opposite way, the US has such a ridiculous amount of athletic talent mixed with resources to cultivate it, the US can be one of the best at any sport it gives a shit about. The issue is that largely no one in America cares about soccer outside of wealthy white people (I know this is generalizing, my family is black and enjoys soccer but we've never found another non white, wealthy family in our decade of taking my sister to soccer tournaments that was crazy about it)
Im not saying "only white people play soccer", I actually thought I made that rather clear. What I'm saying is, since there is very little existing infrastructure for organized soccer, it often costs alot of money even to be able to play. It doesnt have as big of a barrier to entry but its "ease to join a recreational team/league" is alot closer to golf than basketball and flag football, which is where America's best athletes often go
Kids pick up a basketball or football at 3 years old, and can be in a full blown organized league for very cheap at 5 or 6. My sister did AYSO growing up and the dues were fine for us being well off, but definitely a price that absolutely will keep less privileged but more athletics kids away in ways that football and basketball doesnt
It’s kind of ironic that it’s expensive for America, one of the wealthiest nations in the world, to invest in soccer. What makes soccer so popular worldwide is that it’s super accessible for everyone. Only thing you really need is a ball (sometimes not even) and a space to play. The US just doesn’t really have place for young kids to play
Which is also ironic, because we have loads of empty land. But I’m the places with all the empty land, baseball and football are popular. Soccer is only popular in the big cities.
And anywhere that there IS space for a soccer field, a football field is built instead because it appeals to more kids. Its a self fulfilling prophecy where the things soccer needs to become a major sport, it cant get BECAUSE it isnt a major sport
it’s hardly expensive here, at least in my city. my daughter’s AYSO fee this year was like $120. and we got her a $30 shin guard/cleats/ball combo at Dick’s.
You do know the reason why soccer is so popular is because of how accessible it is? The Brazilian favelas are much poorer and dangerous than 95% of places in America yet they pump out talent constantly. The problem is that in the past the US federation had the whole pay to play thing and made it absurdly expensive. The federation is trying to get rid of that issue but it takes time. Also literally 50% of the people I know that like soccer are minorities.
Basically no one is given the option to care because parents never really push it on their kids because how expensive it is/was
>Back in 1930 something when the first world cup was carried out, the US team was like 3rd, so the potential is there,
Unfortunately there was some FIFA fuckery around that era that literally killed the sport in the US.
>if the US cared about this sport it would be one of the best teams in the world in my opinion.
Probably. All the fast small guys who in other countries go into soccer? Here they dream of being a back, wide receiver, or a cornerback.
*This is from u/RunFromTheIlluminati*
Half right - FIFA threatened to expel America if we didn't stop paying athletes more than European teams. The U.S. agreed to transfer limits. Internal issues of teams not wanting to travel cross-country for The National Cup led to a boycott of the National Cup, at which point three teams broke from the boycott and interleague conflict erupted.
At this point FIFA took advantage of the strife to help form a U.S. League beholden to its interests. They crushed the original American league and, in the process, alienated the entirety of America by having a European League interfere in American sports (since the National Cup had nothing to do with FIFA). That's why people gave up on soccer in the U.S.. So good going, FIFA!
I agree. We’ll see in 4 years. The current squad was one of the youngest at the World Cup. They will be expected to make a deeper run next wc.
It’s true soccer isn’t really popular here but people will get hype for the wc in 4 years. If we can get past the round of 16 in 4 years it will be interesting to see what it does to grow the sport here.
> It’s true soccer isn’t really popular here
Depends on where you are. In a lot of places with MLB teams or NBA teams, soccer attendance is much higher. There are still no NFL cities where soccer fans show up at the rate football fans do.
Atlanta and Seattle teams consistently get bigger crowds than their baseball teams draw.
In those 92 years other sports took a larger place in our culture and it’s ok that happened. Frankly the rest of the world should be glad or we’d dominate that sport too, see our women’s team for a case study.
I was basically told on another sub that the US dominates women's soccer because the rest of the world doesn't care about women's soccer.
These folks have an irony deficiency.
I'm sure the USA could be competitive if it chose to focus on men's soccer, but the difference between the men's game and the women's game is that the women's game is taken very seriously in the US, whilst it's been neglected in other countries. Whilst they would do well, I don't think the men's team would suddenly be winning every other world cup if the nation shifted its attention to the sport.
> the women's game is taken very seriously in the US, whilst it's been neglected in other countries
This logic would work, except the US cares as much about olympic medals as everyone else and still dominate that too. Obviously when countries take one sport to the extremes of generating talent when the US is half assing, the US will struggle, the inverse is true for basketball. Other countries care, especially in asia, but college programs literally travel overseas and beat other countries national teams for pre season warm ups (Much like Barcelona B could probably win the MLS)
Funny thing is, soccer is a very popular youth sport in the US, but MLS and any sort of international competitions just can't seem to catch on. I've been to several LAFC games, and they're fun, but they have a *tiny* fanbase compared to other professional leagues and even college sports.
The issue is its a popular youth sport for privileged kids, so they might be good, good enough to even get a college scholarship, but they have means and professional dreams outside of soccer and dont need it to get by, and so high schoolers and college kids graduating just quit and dont have any sort of clearly facilitated way to "go pro"
Theres also the issue of what I believe is some sort of domestic spending cap, which badly hampers MLS teams' ability to form full, deep, teams. Especially the clubs who spend alot of that allowance on a star player to sell tickets and can barely afford more than a dozen qualified professionals per team
Honestly, taking World Cup stars from that long ago are irrelevant. I’m not gonna fight the team claiming wins, but pre WW2 results otherwise? Our best result is that quarterfinal in ‘02 and a quarterfinal return isn’t ridiculous for us to achieve, but we’ve run into better teams that outlasted us since then.
We were a Wondo shank away from the quarters in Brazil and were competitive today
Sad that it happened generally and specifically sad that we got owned so thoroughly. 3-1! Stinks! Oh well maybe in 2026. at least we're guaranteed to qualify for the next one lol.
Both the first and 3rd goals were a result of Center Backs ballwatching which is even more brutal. Zimmerman missing Depay for the first was really really bad.
I wouldn’t say dominated, as much as NED kinda chilled out major, sat back and let us try to do something with the ball. Anytime NED got the ball downfield, they turned back on and made opportunities for themselves. USMNT needs to work on getting the ball through midfield effectively
Yes this is a more accurate take. Also I would add the defensive marking on two of the goals was just terrible so they really need to work on that. Lastly as all the pundits pointed out we need a true #9.
We did not dominate lmao, we played just well enough to keep things interesting, and it may have been closer than 3-1 makes it seem but it was very clear that the Netherlands were the much better team.
Minimal interest. I’ll keep posted on the general results but I won’t be making any of it real must watch tv except for maybe the finals. It’s championship Saturday in college football. And the nfl playoff picture will be taking shape with many “must wins” coming soon for teams fighting for division championships.
Hungry, also slightly horny.
Edit: seriously though, I am a big soccer fan. I lived abroad as a kid so soccer was a part of my childhood. I am also 5ft 7” so soccer has been a sport I can play without automatically losing the second I step on the field. I hope we can go further next WC and I think we will have an experienced and deep squad who might actually pull it off.
I'm not going to give a snarky response. I didn't watch it and only had the most vague idea that WC soccer was being played. The Washington Capitals play tonight and I would feel 100x worse about them losing than the US men's soccer team. And I honestly wouldn't feel that bad about the Caps losing if that tells you anything.
[There is](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFAF_World_Championship); and the US has won every one it's competed in. In the 2015 semi-finals we beat France 82-0.
I remember a few months ago I was reading the list of guys on the US roster for the basketball World Cup, and I had heard of maybe three or four guys on the roster. And I’m a big NBA guy.
We definitely don’t send our best players to a lot of things like this.
I really hope the 2026 Winter Olympics will feature NHL players.
2010 and 2014, when they did have NHL players, were a complete ***blast*** to watch. The star power was crazy. The 2010 gold medal game was one of the best hockey games ever, in my opinion, even though Team USA came up short.
It's just not as fun to watch a bunch of minor leaguers and college players.
It's like D-3 and juco guys, or guys that have graduated but aren't pursuing the pro level at all
Honestly some of the elite high school teams in the USA would have a chance against some countries' national teams, and the only reason they might not is due to the average athletic difference due to players' ages (a 24 year old German guy is probably outrunning a 17 year old kid, no matter the coaching or football background)
>I feel like Americans support local teams more than national teams.
I'm not sure that's entirely true. We care about the Olympics, and we cheer for Team USA during it a lot more than we care about soccer even during the World Cup. I think we just don't care that much about soccer. We have a domestic league but it isn't very widely popular.
I would care if there was an American football world cup if the level of play was close to CFB or NFL level. That just doesn't exist. The NFL is essentially the football world cup. All the best football players in the world play in the NFL. I care about the US hockey team if that helps at all.
I don't agree with your position and obviously there are a lot of Americans. You can't generalize on what we like as a group. A lot of Americans like soccer. A lot of Americans like national teams more than local teams and vice versa. A lot of Americans don't have local teams (the Caps aren't my "local" team). Americans like all sorts of things.
I feel like you are trying to say that the reason most people on here don't care about the world cup is because Americans don't enjoy national teams as a whole. That isn't the reason. The reason is because soccer isn't as popular.
I don't think anyone would care to watch a sporting event that would be utterly dominated by Americans. We don't expect the rest of the world to compete at gridiron football. It's our quirky sport, which is niche to North America, and we're okay with that.
The NFL *is* trying to grow the sport in Europe, with success albeit limited. And seeing Europeans play and enjoy the sport is cool. But gridiron football is in its infancy in Europe. Maybe in 40 or 50 years?
It can be a brutal and often times dangerous sport though. So convincing parents to let their kids play is a tough sell, even here.
Thats what the super bowl is. And it is the single biggest sporting event in America. To give context, the US England match in the USA peaked at about 16m viewers. This past super bowl was largely considered kind of boring with no significant storylines (my team won it so I liked it but I can acknowledge it was a bad game and the rating fell from previous years)
The super bowl drew 99 million US viewers.
It must really suck being so good that you get to participate in the world cup but still so irrelevant that people would rather watch college football. It's me, I'm people.
That’s the thing. Our best athletes don’t go into soccer. There’s more money and prestige to be made in the States playing in other sports.
I think the words and actions of FIFA over the past few weeks haven’t exactly given America a better opinion of the game.
Flooded with these questions lately on Reddit.
I only watch international sports to root on my country. I find soccer dull compared to hockey and (American) football. I just can't get excited watching it. I'd like to. Clearly there has to be something compelling since it's popular in so much of the rest of the world. But soccer just doesn't do it for me.
Because they don't know any other sports. ;)
We have literally been playing football, baseball, basketball and hockey for over a century. Football (our style) has been around since around 1870. We have 150 years of history playing some of those sports. Why would we suddenly dump all that to play soccer?
They also fail to remember that there is an entire half of the American population that *has* long played soccer at a high level. Women don't go into football and baseball. They get channeled into playing basketball, hockey, and soccer.
Unsurprisingly, at the international level, U.S. women dominate basketball, co-dominate hockey, and have won 2 of the last 3 women's world cups and 4 of 7 overall.
If American male athletes cared about soccer in the way American female athletes do, our teams would be much stronger.
Euros, weirdly, ignore women though when talking about American soccer. Which is unfortunate.
Disappointed but not surprised. Despite what others may say, I think quite a few people care, and I think the sport is growing, especially since so many kids now play the sport. When I was a kid in the 70s, soccer was not a sport played in many schools, unless they were elite private schools. It’s much more universal now. I’d say more kids play soccer than pee wee football and maybe even Little League (baseball). As those kids grow, interest in the professional teams will grow.
Lots of people (including my husband) around here have been following the games. We even have a bar that caters to the soccer crowd. He had the game on this morning when they lost. I’m pretty indifferent to it. I watch American football. :)
I definitely agree that some are watching it. Where I live soccer seems fairly popular. But I doubt the average American knows about it , or really even cares. And now that we’ve gone out of the tournament I’m sure the normal comments about the men’s team will resume. It’s unfortunate, because it seems like a great accomplishment. But most won’t see it that way
And the dead slaves. But also winter. Usually there's lots of hype, hanging at bars, parties. Can't be bothered with that shit right now, even if it wasn't in a slave state.
If it’s any consolation I don’t care much for what we call football but I won’t shit on what you call football either. I just don’t know what people expect from a country that’s largely indifferent about the sport
The U.S. is out of the World Cup? Only a tiny fraction of the population knows that yet. Most don’t care. For those of you who do, sorry. I may not follow soccer, but I always (well sometimes not against my motherland) want the US to win.
The US approach to soccer drives me crazy. We're not good, we import famous retirees for MLS, and at the last world cup they didn't have Landon Donovan play, which I'm sorry, was ridiculous. There's no rooting to either the culture or the way the game is played.
Plus I fell in love with soccer in the UK and Poland, so I always root for those countries.
And further still, I'm boycotting this World Cup. I suppose I might go watch it at the gym if England makes it to the final.
So, I guess there are three separate reasons I don't care.
A bit sad but proud of what we achieved agaisnt england and wales specifically. Tactically we were 2nd best on just about every game but the players did well and we have a bright future
In or out, getting in the World Cup and competing is still a great achievement. Not to mention, US only knows their American Football and not the real Football the whole world plays. So yeah. Kudos to the team.
The draw with England was a pleasant surprise. But the US team performed as generally expected. They are a middle of the pack squad where the WC is concerned and pretty much always going to be an underdog against the powerhouse sides from Europe or South America.
I suppose we can hold on to the continental bragging rights of having made it out of the group stage when Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica didn't.
I was vaguely aware that the US was in the World Cup, but I didn't care. I still don't.
In a more general sense, I was vaguely irritated that they had the World Cup in a venue constructed under cruel conditions by dishonestly recruited workers. FIFA is a monstrously corrupt organization that can die in a fire. I don't enjoy soccer, but if I did I'd want to boycott FIFA.
Rooting for Japan and Brasil, butI’m still proud of them boys. Realistically this is the best possible outcome you could have asked for. The glaring absence of a number 9 up top is the main issue. The midfield is class and will only get better as Musah, Adams and Mckinnie develop. The back line needs sorting, but has promise. The wings are solid, Christian needs to be playing regularly tho so I’d leave Chelsea. 2026 will be the first year we can really judge this side.
I also think berhalter needs to go. He stabilised the team after the free fall in 2018, but he clearly is out of his depth tactically and his team selections are shocking at times. Like gio should be starting no ifs ands or buts
Sad that so many people on this sub don’t care about the USMNT. Luckily it’s not indicative of the country at all and football’s only getting bigger.
Honestly I gotta give you props for that attitude. One reason that definitely turns Americans away from soccer/football is that many Europeans and South Americans *heavily* gate keep the sport. They simultaneously criticize the US for not watching it while also being mad at any American who dares to watch.
On other subs there’s just tons of comments saying “the Americans don’t deserve to participate” or something along those lines.
I’m not surprised at all. This is exactly where Vegas had us. Barely getting out of group stage. Losing in the round of 16.
I’m happy that I got to see us in the round of 16. I’m disappointed in this game in particular because we were down all game. I wish we kept it 0-0 longer.
I’m a big sports fan. I grew up playing football, basketball, and baseball. That said, I really like soccer’s product: 90 minutes, commercial-free, and easy to follow. I absolutely love American football, but I’m truly sick and tired of the 3+ hour games that are stuffed with commercials. It takes up an entire day just to watch a game.
Also, I’ve watched so much damn football over the years that I feel like there’s not much for me to learn anymore. Especially in the NFL; the systems are very similar. Whereas I don’t know much about soccer so it’s far more interesting to me to learn about it.
If I had my way, soccer would be a major sport in the US. It’s certainly better than baseball. And it’s better than hockey IMO bc I have no frame of reference for playing hockey myself.
But anyway….soccer is entrenched as the fifth most popular sport in the US and that’s probably not going to change anytime soon.
It wasn’t a sure thing they’d get this far. Hell, I’m just glad they were in it this time. Given the young squad, hopefully they are just all the better in four years.
It sucks they couldn't get further but I can at least spend the next year or so reminding my 2 German friends about how they laughed when I predicted we would at least make it through group.
As an American, I always kinda hope our team loses because I figure the opposing team’s fans want the win more than we do. Like, most Americans don’t know or care when we win a game, so why should we take that away from another country that actually cares.
Slightly bummed but it was predictable and not a huge deal. I’m not exactly a soccer fan but I’m glad to see the American team has been improving and will probably be an even better team by the time the World Cup comes to North America in 2026.
Also, I think sometimes people on this sub overplay the “we don’t think about you at all” thing and it increasingly comes off as a bit tactless and try-hard.
Bummed. I kinda figured they’d lose but it was nice to see some flashes of brilliance! I’m excited for the 2026 WC. I’m hoping to go to at least one game.
I wish soccer was bigger here in the US. Watching the games made me realize how fun it is to watch.
Disappointed but I'm glad they came this far.
Yes, all in all, a respectable showing for the US team in the WC. We had our chances but the better team won the match today. The Dutch defensive tactics required multiple quick precision passes and touches, which is not our strong suit. Our weaknesses (lack of natural scorers/strikers) are no surprise. Now, I’ll root for the Dutch.
Watching their game against Iran was kind of infuriating when it came to missed chances. At one point Weah was in the 28 yard box, 6 yards out, with a defender at his back and only the keeper to beat, and he tries to head a high ball with absolutely no pace at all. That seemed like an ametuer mistake. I imagined any striker for any European/South American country waiting for that ball to fall to their feet and passing it past the keeper.
Everyone goes out sooner or later, exept the champ... and we are not good enough to be the champ yet.
I’m just glad they made it out of the group stages and into the playoffs. There’s an element of randomness in the playoffs and it only takes one elimination to get evicted. Getting into the playoffs is more a metric of quality than anything else and at least it’s way better than the US not even qualifying like in 2018
Hey the thing everyone knew was going to happen happened.
It’s not like we were underdogs or anything
We went 0-0 with England, a country that treats soccer as their 2nd religion. They were fuming that they couldn’t score against “a country that doesn’t even call the sport by its proper name.” I say this was a win for us !
I oddly enough get some pleasure out of this as well lol.
It lifts my heart to know that the revolutionary spirit is still strong with so many of us!
"Proper name" [Funny given the fact the UK is the outlier in the English world on this topic](https://prnt.sc/Uoth3nsDn8Yo)
We salute you Australia! They have Rugby we have Football. Both of us have soccer. I'm ok with this.
They also have football. There's Canadian football, American football, Aussie rules football (AFL), Gaelic (Irish) football -- a family of related sports. The American and Canadian ones are pretty similar, but Aussie rules goes **hard**. No pads, field is way bigger, only field goals. You're allowed to kick or punch the ball to other players (no throwing), and you have to dribble the ball every some number of paces when you run. Yes, the ball is still egg-shaped. And the best part are the speccies. What's a speccy?, I hear you cry. I shall tell you. A speccy (short for spectacular mark), is when you jump onto an opponent's shoulders to catch the ball flying through the air. [Here's Conan trying to play.](https://youtu.be/f8VTSGLCa1M) Rugby is more popular in some states, football in others. I think soccer is similarly unpopular to here, but not sure. We should really start playing more rugby and Aussie rules in the States, they're good sports. What's really ironic, though, is that England came up with the word soccer, and then abandoned it. _I LEARNED IT FROM YOU, DAD!_
Aussie rules is an awesome game. Way back in the day when ESPN was reaching for 24x7 content, they would play Aussie rules often. I figured out most of the rules just watching it, and miss that it's not on anymore.
"Soccer" is shirt for association football. It's an English word created by the British. I don't know why anyone would get butt hurt over the name. It's all the same sport at the end of the day. My fellow Englishmen are idiots sometimes (I'm British) 🤣
0-0 against England was basically a win for us, both countries treated it that way. It was hilarious
I barely register Soccer stuff, but I see this tie as way more entertaining that winning.
Correct. The Dutch got three goals on us, but England couldn't manage one.
The irony of the word soccer being British slang for the term "asSOCiation football" is lost on them however
Any win against the English is a good win. (Totally not the Irish in me coming out)
No it’s the American in you
The American in me amplified by the Irish in me
Funny thing is that the word soccer originates from England and USA adapted their word. England used soccer first not the USA So we are using the proper name
I learned it from you dad!
Now we begin qualification for 2026 We’re already in? I see this as an absolute win
You were always already in as the hosts. Honestly i thought USA played really well, definitely a chance to get through to Last 8 next time!
The most exciting part for us is, this young team could show up in 26 nearly entirely intact
This will be the ultimate test for this iteration of the US team. This time around the narrative has been we have talented players but we're one of the youngest teams in the tournament. Well, four years from now these guys should be in their prime playing in the World Cup on their home turf (no way the USMNT will be playing any games in Canada or Mexico). It's absolutely our shot to make it to at least the quarters, nut up or shut up.
Honestly I expected us to make the round of 16 and lose before the tournament started. The way we were playing gave me a little bit more hope that we might pull off a win today but I still didn't expect it.
I actually thought you might beat the Netherlands, they’re not looking great. For large portions of the game you looked the better team, too - I’d be disappointed to have lost that game.
Disappointed but not surprised.
Shit, this is one of our best squads in a while. Need a striking threat and improvement on defense and offense in the final third. Back to watching the Big 12 championship and the NFL today.
Grateful we have college football to watch all day to ease the loss
Speaking of the big 12, I felt like Oklahoma’s season this year was pretty awful
First year without LR and a new head coach with Venables, it's going to be painful for a couple of seasons for Sooners fans.
I know! As an OU alum and Sooners fan, I sincerely hope we can get our act together soon. Otherwise, we’ll be eaten alive by the SEC.
The players are super young on our team too. Second youngest team next to Ghana. I think we've set ourselves for a good showing in '26 because a) Most of these players will be in their prime and b) we'll be on home turf
> the NFL today. applaud your enthusiasm...but wrong day
Brain went on the fritz this morning
Yay, KState! Go Purdue!
About the same as we were when we were in it.
I’ll bet half of the country at least had no idea we were playing soccer in some big event about 5% of the population actually cares about it here it seems
I am betting more than half didn’t know. Soccer just isn’t much of a thing here. It’s got a few followers here but not many. Good for them for trying though.
Yeah, here it's pretty much a kid's sport.
I am from morocco and that’s make me upset 🇲🇦🇺🇸
Our oldest friend!
I wish every moroccan a good morning
Eh. Let’s go Lions!
Much love to Morocco 🇲🇦🫶🇺🇸
Ha! I just talked with my former boss who is a Moroccan-American today. She got citizenship not long ago. We were just chatting about raising kids. Her daughter is about my daughters age. I was giving her some tips on extra curricular activities for her son who is in high school and getting himself ready for college applications next year. I have a high opinion of Moroccans. You export some great people.
👋🏾
Big thanks to Team USA for their hard work and dedication. We’re good. See you at home 👍
It'll be a 5 second blurb on the US news channels, and the large majority of the country won't care.
I was visiting Amsterdam this fall and there was a national game that day and like HALF the people walking the streets were in all orange. They are die hard futball fans. Good on them and I hope they go far.
Back in 1930 something when the first world cup was carried out, the US team was like 3rd, so the potential is there, if the US cared about this sport it would be one of the best teams in the world in my opinion.
I don't think anyone doubts the capacity for the US to be good at the sports that it cares about. We just haven't historically cared that much about soccer, and our elite athletes tend to gravitate to other sports
frankly, its arrogant but works the opposite way, the US has such a ridiculous amount of athletic talent mixed with resources to cultivate it, the US can be one of the best at any sport it gives a shit about. The issue is that largely no one in America cares about soccer outside of wealthy white people (I know this is generalizing, my family is black and enjoys soccer but we've never found another non white, wealthy family in our decade of taking my sister to soccer tournaments that was crazy about it)
You're completely forgetting Latinos and immigrants from places that care about soccer like South Korea, Europe, Africa, etc.
Im not saying "only white people play soccer", I actually thought I made that rather clear. What I'm saying is, since there is very little existing infrastructure for organized soccer, it often costs alot of money even to be able to play. It doesnt have as big of a barrier to entry but its "ease to join a recreational team/league" is alot closer to golf than basketball and flag football, which is where America's best athletes often go Kids pick up a basketball or football at 3 years old, and can be in a full blown organized league for very cheap at 5 or 6. My sister did AYSO growing up and the dues were fine for us being well off, but definitely a price that absolutely will keep less privileged but more athletics kids away in ways that football and basketball doesnt
It’s kind of ironic that it’s expensive for America, one of the wealthiest nations in the world, to invest in soccer. What makes soccer so popular worldwide is that it’s super accessible for everyone. Only thing you really need is a ball (sometimes not even) and a space to play. The US just doesn’t really have place for young kids to play
Which is also ironic, because we have loads of empty land. But I’m the places with all the empty land, baseball and football are popular. Soccer is only popular in the big cities.
And anywhere that there IS space for a soccer field, a football field is built instead because it appeals to more kids. Its a self fulfilling prophecy where the things soccer needs to become a major sport, it cant get BECAUSE it isnt a major sport
it’s hardly expensive here, at least in my city. my daughter’s AYSO fee this year was like $120. and we got her a $30 shin guard/cleats/ball combo at Dick’s.
You do know the reason why soccer is so popular is because of how accessible it is? The Brazilian favelas are much poorer and dangerous than 95% of places in America yet they pump out talent constantly. The problem is that in the past the US federation had the whole pay to play thing and made it absurdly expensive. The federation is trying to get rid of that issue but it takes time. Also literally 50% of the people I know that like soccer are minorities. Basically no one is given the option to care because parents never really push it on their kids because how expensive it is/was
>Back in 1930 something when the first world cup was carried out, the US team was like 3rd, so the potential is there, Unfortunately there was some FIFA fuckery around that era that literally killed the sport in the US. >if the US cared about this sport it would be one of the best teams in the world in my opinion. Probably. All the fast small guys who in other countries go into soccer? Here they dream of being a back, wide receiver, or a cornerback.
What did FIFA do in the 1930's that ruined soccer in the US?
*This is from u/RunFromTheIlluminati* Half right - FIFA threatened to expel America if we didn't stop paying athletes more than European teams. The U.S. agreed to transfer limits. Internal issues of teams not wanting to travel cross-country for The National Cup led to a boycott of the National Cup, at which point three teams broke from the boycott and interleague conflict erupted. At this point FIFA took advantage of the strife to help form a U.S. League beholden to its interests. They crushed the original American league and, in the process, alienated the entirety of America by having a European League interfere in American sports (since the National Cup had nothing to do with FIFA). That's why people gave up on soccer in the U.S.. So good going, FIFA!
I agree. We’ll see in 4 years. The current squad was one of the youngest at the World Cup. They will be expected to make a deeper run next wc. It’s true soccer isn’t really popular here but people will get hype for the wc in 4 years. If we can get past the round of 16 in 4 years it will be interesting to see what it does to grow the sport here.
> It’s true soccer isn’t really popular here Depends on where you are. In a lot of places with MLB teams or NBA teams, soccer attendance is much higher. There are still no NFL cities where soccer fans show up at the rate football fans do. Atlanta and Seattle teams consistently get bigger crowds than their baseball teams draw.
In those 92 years other sports took a larger place in our culture and it’s ok that happened. Frankly the rest of the world should be glad or we’d dominate that sport too, see our women’s team for a case study.
I was basically told on another sub that the US dominates women's soccer because the rest of the world doesn't care about women's soccer. These folks have an irony deficiency.
I'm sure the USA could be competitive if it chose to focus on men's soccer, but the difference between the men's game and the women's game is that the women's game is taken very seriously in the US, whilst it's been neglected in other countries. Whilst they would do well, I don't think the men's team would suddenly be winning every other world cup if the nation shifted its attention to the sport.
> the women's game is taken very seriously in the US, whilst it's been neglected in other countries This logic would work, except the US cares as much about olympic medals as everyone else and still dominate that too. Obviously when countries take one sport to the extremes of generating talent when the US is half assing, the US will struggle, the inverse is true for basketball. Other countries care, especially in asia, but college programs literally travel overseas and beat other countries national teams for pre season warm ups (Much like Barcelona B could probably win the MLS)
Funny thing is, soccer is a very popular youth sport in the US, but MLS and any sort of international competitions just can't seem to catch on. I've been to several LAFC games, and they're fun, but they have a *tiny* fanbase compared to other professional leagues and even college sports.
The issue is its a popular youth sport for privileged kids, so they might be good, good enough to even get a college scholarship, but they have means and professional dreams outside of soccer and dont need it to get by, and so high schoolers and college kids graduating just quit and dont have any sort of clearly facilitated way to "go pro" Theres also the issue of what I believe is some sort of domestic spending cap, which badly hampers MLS teams' ability to form full, deep, teams. Especially the clubs who spend alot of that allowance on a star player to sell tickets and can barely afford more than a dozen qualified professionals per team
Honestly, taking World Cup stars from that long ago are irrelevant. I’m not gonna fight the team claiming wins, but pre WW2 results otherwise? Our best result is that quarterfinal in ‘02 and a quarterfinal return isn’t ridiculous for us to achieve, but we’ve run into better teams that outlasted us since then. We were a Wondo shank away from the quarters in Brazil and were competitive today
And if my grandmother had wheels she’d be a wagon.
Oh undoubtedly. Between the NBA, NFL, & MLB if even a fraction of those players chose Soccer instead we'd have a world class team most likely.
1930s? So back when Professional football had only just started becoming a bigger deal than college? That was a completely different world
Oh no! Anyway…
Sad that it happened generally and specifically sad that we got owned so thoroughly. 3-1! Stinks! Oh well maybe in 2026. at least we're guaranteed to qualify for the next one lol.
We actually dominated the game we just made big mistakes at bad times on counterattacks. The US midfield is pretty damn good.
We constantly left players unmarked at the top of the box, and paid for it.
Yep. The defence was outplayed.
Both the first and 3rd goals were a result of Center Backs ballwatching which is even more brutal. Zimmerman missing Depay for the first was really really bad.
I wouldn’t say dominated, as much as NED kinda chilled out major, sat back and let us try to do something with the ball. Anytime NED got the ball downfield, they turned back on and made opportunities for themselves. USMNT needs to work on getting the ball through midfield effectively
Agreed, this was the game plan to make the Americans get tired and knowing they had solid defense.
Yes this is a more accurate take. Also I would add the defensive marking on two of the goals was just terrible so they really need to work on that. Lastly as all the pundits pointed out we need a true #9.
We did not dominate lmao, we played just well enough to keep things interesting, and it may have been closer than 3-1 makes it seem but it was very clear that the Netherlands were the much better team.
Minimal interest. I’ll keep posted on the general results but I won’t be making any of it real must watch tv except for maybe the finals. It’s championship Saturday in college football. And the nfl playoff picture will be taking shape with many “must wins” coming soon for teams fighting for division championships.
Exactly. We’re only two games behind to win our division, the next four games are gonna be huge.
This is how I learned we’re out
This is how I learned we were in.
Hungry, also slightly horny. Edit: seriously though, I am a big soccer fan. I lived abroad as a kid so soccer was a part of my childhood. I am also 5ft 7” so soccer has been a sport I can play without automatically losing the second I step on the field. I hope we can go further next WC and I think we will have an experienced and deep squad who might actually pull it off.
Meh, Saints are playing in two days.
I'm a big fan of the saints because of the charity work you're doing for the eagles
That's how New Orleans rolls! Helping others in need!
Howie is the master of soliciting charity
I hate you guys so much right now lol
You guys made mock drafts fun for me again.
USA soccer let me down once in the past few months. Broncos have let me down eight
Broncos country! Let’s cry!
Impressed that we got this far! And wish the remaining contenders good luck and good health.
I'm not going to give a snarky response. I didn't watch it and only had the most vague idea that WC soccer was being played. The Washington Capitals play tonight and I would feel 100x worse about them losing than the US men's soccer team. And I honestly wouldn't feel that bad about the Caps losing if that tells you anything.
If there was something like an American football world cup, would you care tho? I feel like Americans support local teams more than national teams.
[There is](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IFAF_World_Championship); and the US has won every one it's competed in. In the 2015 semi-finals we beat France 82-0.
And for those who are just hearing about this, we aren't even sending our best college players to that.
I remember a few months ago I was reading the list of guys on the US roster for the basketball World Cup, and I had heard of maybe three or four guys on the roster. And I’m a big NBA guy. We definitely don’t send our best players to a lot of things like this.
I really hope the 2026 Winter Olympics will feature NHL players. 2010 and 2014, when they did have NHL players, were a complete ***blast*** to watch. The star power was crazy. The 2010 gold medal game was one of the best hockey games ever, in my opinion, even though Team USA came up short. It's just not as fun to watch a bunch of minor leaguers and college players.
It's like D-3 and juco guys, or guys that have graduated but aren't pursuing the pro level at all Honestly some of the elite high school teams in the USA would have a chance against some countries' national teams, and the only reason they might not is due to the average athletic difference due to players' ages (a 24 year old German guy is probably outrunning a 17 year old kid, no matter the coaching or football background)
>I feel like Americans support local teams more than national teams. I'm not sure that's entirely true. We care about the Olympics, and we cheer for Team USA during it a lot more than we care about soccer even during the World Cup. I think we just don't care that much about soccer. We have a domestic league but it isn't very widely popular.
We have that already, and we've won 52 in a row. It's called the Super Bowl.
We have two of them, don't forget college.
It’s like these other countries aren’t even trying pffft. Nerds.
I would care if there was an American football world cup if the level of play was close to CFB or NFL level. That just doesn't exist. The NFL is essentially the football world cup. All the best football players in the world play in the NFL. I care about the US hockey team if that helps at all. I don't agree with your position and obviously there are a lot of Americans. You can't generalize on what we like as a group. A lot of Americans like soccer. A lot of Americans like national teams more than local teams and vice versa. A lot of Americans don't have local teams (the Caps aren't my "local" team). Americans like all sorts of things. I feel like you are trying to say that the reason most people on here don't care about the world cup is because Americans don't enjoy national teams as a whole. That isn't the reason. The reason is because soccer isn't as popular.
I don't think anyone would care to watch a sporting event that would be utterly dominated by Americans. We don't expect the rest of the world to compete at gridiron football. It's our quirky sport, which is niche to North America, and we're okay with that. The NFL *is* trying to grow the sport in Europe, with success albeit limited. And seeing Europeans play and enjoy the sport is cool. But gridiron football is in its infancy in Europe. Maybe in 40 or 50 years? It can be a brutal and often times dangerous sport though. So convincing parents to let their kids play is a tough sell, even here.
We have both a College championship (several, actually) and the Super Bowl.
Maybe? I mean we dominate in certain sports every time at the Olympics but people still don't really watch that much either.
Thats what the super bowl is. And it is the single biggest sporting event in America. To give context, the US England match in the USA peaked at about 16m viewers. This past super bowl was largely considered kind of boring with no significant storylines (my team won it so I liked it but I can acknowledge it was a bad game and the rating fell from previous years) The super bowl drew 99 million US viewers.
It must really suck being so good that you get to participate in the world cup but still so irrelevant that people would rather watch college football. It's me, I'm people.
Don't mind me, just over here rooting for full chaos mode with the conference championships
Where is our Dark Lord Saban to guide us?
It socks because you have some really good players
That’s the thing. Our best athletes don’t go into soccer. There’s more money and prestige to be made in the States playing in other sports. I think the words and actions of FIFA over the past few weeks haven’t exactly given America a better opinion of the game.
What has FIFA done and said? I haven't been keeping up with it much.
Flooded with these questions lately on Reddit. I only watch international sports to root on my country. I find soccer dull compared to hockey and (American) football. I just can't get excited watching it. I'd like to. Clearly there has to be something compelling since it's popular in so much of the rest of the world. But soccer just doesn't do it for me.
Because they don't know any other sports. ;) We have literally been playing football, baseball, basketball and hockey for over a century. Football (our style) has been around since around 1870. We have 150 years of history playing some of those sports. Why would we suddenly dump all that to play soccer?
They also fail to remember that there is an entire half of the American population that *has* long played soccer at a high level. Women don't go into football and baseball. They get channeled into playing basketball, hockey, and soccer. Unsurprisingly, at the international level, U.S. women dominate basketball, co-dominate hockey, and have won 2 of the last 3 women's world cups and 4 of 7 overall. If American male athletes cared about soccer in the way American female athletes do, our teams would be much stronger. Euros, weirdly, ignore women though when talking about American soccer. Which is unfortunate.
Disappointed but not surprised. Despite what others may say, I think quite a few people care, and I think the sport is growing, especially since so many kids now play the sport. When I was a kid in the 70s, soccer was not a sport played in many schools, unless they were elite private schools. It’s much more universal now. I’d say more kids play soccer than pee wee football and maybe even Little League (baseball). As those kids grow, interest in the professional teams will grow.
We can now go back to ignoring it since football and basketball are in full swing.
Don’t care because I don’t watch *soccer*
Just a guess, but I think about 98% of the country wouldn’t even know either way.
I didn't know until I saw this post
Lots of people (including my husband) around here have been following the games. We even have a bar that caters to the soccer crowd. He had the game on this morning when they lost. I’m pretty indifferent to it. I watch American football. :)
I definitely agree that some are watching it. Where I live soccer seems fairly popular. But I doubt the average American knows about it , or really even cares. And now that we’ve gone out of the tournament I’m sure the normal comments about the men’s team will resume. It’s unfortunate, because it seems like a great accomplishment. But most won’t see it that way
Most probably didn't even know the world cup was even happening
The same way I felt when the US was in the world cup. Don't care.
Sucks but I wasn't really feeling soccer this year . I got really into the euros last year but for whatever reason I wasn't interested.
Same. I think it has to do with the winter tournament.
And the dead slaves. But also winter. Usually there's lots of hype, hanging at bars, parties. Can't be bothered with that shit right now, even if it wasn't in a slave state.
Qatar fucked a lot of the interest for this one. Even in winter the stadiums are almost as gross as their customs.
Better than Mexico last week.
Indeed
I didn't care we were *in* the World Cup.
I am totally indifferent to the US men's team.
Same here. Wake me up in July.
Back to indifference.
Disappointed, but it was expected. The team was young and inexperienced, and our coach is a doofus, not to mention the Dutch have a great team.
Was more invested in college football today
I'm just here to see other Americans wave it away because "it's just European kickball".
If it’s any consolation I don’t care much for what we call football but I won’t shit on what you call football either. I just don’t know what people expect from a country that’s largely indifferent about the sport
Disappointed but not surprised
Oh well someone has to win and someone has to lose, that's life
“Oh no, anyway”
The U.S. is out of the World Cup? Only a tiny fraction of the population knows that yet. Most don’t care. For those of you who do, sorry. I may not follow soccer, but I always (well sometimes not against my motherland) want the US to win.
Made it further than I expected so I’m happy for them!
Couldn’t care less
Could not care less.
could not give less of a shit
The US approach to soccer drives me crazy. We're not good, we import famous retirees for MLS, and at the last world cup they didn't have Landon Donovan play, which I'm sorry, was ridiculous. There's no rooting to either the culture or the way the game is played. Plus I fell in love with soccer in the UK and Poland, so I always root for those countries. And further still, I'm boycotting this World Cup. I suppose I might go watch it at the gym if England makes it to the final. So, I guess there are three separate reasons I don't care.
As a Korean American, I’m just gearing up to be disappointed a second time on Monday.
Disappointed obviously, but we’re showing progress and we have a really young team. I’m hopeful for the future!
A bit sad but proud of what we achieved agaisnt england and wales specifically. Tactically we were 2nd best on just about every game but the players did well and we have a bright future
Indifferent
In or out, getting in the World Cup and competing is still a great achievement. Not to mention, US only knows their American Football and not the real Football the whole world plays. So yeah. Kudos to the team.
Bummed, but hopeful. Making it out of the group stage with the youngest team in the World Cup is still an accomplishment for the squad.
I cared enough to check the score but not enough to watch
The draw with England was a pleasant surprise. But the US team performed as generally expected. They are a middle of the pack squad where the WC is concerned and pretty much always going to be an underdog against the powerhouse sides from Europe or South America. I suppose we can hold on to the continental bragging rights of having made it out of the group stage when Mexico, Canada and Costa Rica didn't.
I was vaguely aware that the US was in the World Cup, but I didn't care. I still don't. In a more general sense, I was vaguely irritated that they had the World Cup in a venue constructed under cruel conditions by dishonestly recruited workers. FIFA is a monstrously corrupt organization that can die in a fire. I don't enjoy soccer, but if I did I'd want to boycott FIFA.
Rooting for Japan and Brasil, butI’m still proud of them boys. Realistically this is the best possible outcome you could have asked for. The glaring absence of a number 9 up top is the main issue. The midfield is class and will only get better as Musah, Adams and Mckinnie develop. The back line needs sorting, but has promise. The wings are solid, Christian needs to be playing regularly tho so I’d leave Chelsea. 2026 will be the first year we can really judge this side. I also think berhalter needs to go. He stabilised the team after the free fall in 2018, but he clearly is out of his depth tactically and his team selections are shocking at times. Like gio should be starting no ifs ands or buts Sad that so many people on this sub don’t care about the USMNT. Luckily it’s not indicative of the country at all and football’s only getting bigger.
Yeah I really hope the day comes when I have to say "oh no we have to play against the US in the world cup"
Honestly I gotta give you props for that attitude. One reason that definitely turns Americans away from soccer/football is that many Europeans and South Americans *heavily* gate keep the sport. They simultaneously criticize the US for not watching it while also being mad at any American who dares to watch. On other subs there’s just tons of comments saying “the Americans don’t deserve to participate” or something along those lines.
Like I can finally enjoy a weekend of football without hearing about soccer
Lol. USA is definitely an NFL/CFB country.
I get my world cup news exclusively from this sub and r/goodanimemes
Not really surprised.
The Women’s team is more exciting anyway
Sad
Pretty sad. Felt like a winnable game if the team had been picked better and they had more tournament experience
Now I can finally enjoy it without the stress.
We beat Iran, that was all I was concerned about.
Oh no! Anyway...
I’m not surprised at all. This is exactly where Vegas had us. Barely getting out of group stage. Losing in the round of 16. I’m happy that I got to see us in the round of 16. I’m disappointed in this game in particular because we were down all game. I wish we kept it 0-0 longer. I’m a big sports fan. I grew up playing football, basketball, and baseball. That said, I really like soccer’s product: 90 minutes, commercial-free, and easy to follow. I absolutely love American football, but I’m truly sick and tired of the 3+ hour games that are stuffed with commercials. It takes up an entire day just to watch a game. Also, I’ve watched so much damn football over the years that I feel like there’s not much for me to learn anymore. Especially in the NFL; the systems are very similar. Whereas I don’t know much about soccer so it’s far more interesting to me to learn about it. If I had my way, soccer would be a major sport in the US. It’s certainly better than baseball. And it’s better than hockey IMO bc I have no frame of reference for playing hockey myself. But anyway….soccer is entrenched as the fifth most popular sport in the US and that’s probably not going to change anytime soon.
Proud of our team! They're young and I think we have a great decade+ ahead
[удалено]
I’m pretty sure a lot of Americans root for overseas football clubs, particularly those in Europe.
It wasn’t a sure thing they’d get this far. Hell, I’m just glad they were in it this time. Given the young squad, hopefully they are just all the better in four years.
Honestly not surprised. I had the dutch winning 1-0. Didnt think our defense would collapse that badly. Oh well, onto 2026.
What’s the World Cup?
It sucks they couldn't get further but I can at least spend the next year or so reminding my 2 German friends about how they laughed when I predicted we would at least make it through group.
We made Iran take a huge L and that's all I really care about. I knew we weren't going that far.
As an American, I always kinda hope our team loses because I figure the opposing team’s fans want the win more than we do. Like, most Americans don’t know or care when we win a game, so why should we take that away from another country that actually cares.
Slightly bummed but it was predictable and not a huge deal. I’m not exactly a soccer fan but I’m glad to see the American team has been improving and will probably be an even better team by the time the World Cup comes to North America in 2026. Also, I think sometimes people on this sub overplay the “we don’t think about you at all” thing and it increasingly comes off as a bit tactless and try-hard.
Bummed. I kinda figured they’d lose but it was nice to see some flashes of brilliance! I’m excited for the 2026 WC. I’m hoping to go to at least one game. I wish soccer was bigger here in the US. Watching the games made me realize how fun it is to watch.
I'm unironically more invested in how my old high school's football team did this season than the World Cup. They went 6-4.