How the USMNT Can Prove They Are Not Underperforming Tattooed Millionaires

They need to reach the knockout stage. After the draw put them in Group B with England, Iran, and Wales, success for this team was defined internally and externally first by getting out of the group. Some want to see this team match the 2002 achievement of making a quarterfinal. I personally will settle for being competitive against a contender in the Round of 16.

This team is better than Iran and Wales. They were the better side in their previous two games, but only managed draws. The time for moral victories is over. No more “but they had a better xG.” No more “they played well, they just need to finish their chances.” There was plenty of time for those over the last five years when they were figuring things out and it didn’t matter. This is the World Cup. It matters now more than ever.

This team and this federation is on the brink of opportunity. England is likely to win the group, meaning if the US advances, they will get the winner of Group A. Group A is up for grabs. The Netherlands are the favorite on paper but have shown vulnerabilities similar England on Friday. Senegal are without Sadio Mané. Ecuador has impressed but seem reliant on Enner Valencia, who appears on the brink of injury.

There is no 2002 Germany or 2014 Belgium awaiting them in the next round. At worst is a team that is not playing up to its talent who provide a favorable matchup stylistically for the Americans. If they want to do something special in 2026 as hosts like make a semifinal, they need experience in the knockout stage now. Failing to get out of the group will not be enough.

Iran just need a draw to advance. They are a defensive team that will force the USMNT to do something they are bad at: Break down a low block. Perhaps this is the way it has to be, one final exorcism of an issue Berhalter has not solved and no center forward has been the solution to. In that, this will be a group game that feels like an elimination game.

This is a soccer generation who have been given everything. They have stood on the shoulders of giants who achieved so much with less. This fanbase and this country wants to believe in this team again so bad. To put the failure of missing the 2018 World Cup behind us, an equal but opposite achievement is needed.

Beat a team you are supposed to and need to. Get out of the group and don’t look like minnows in the Round of 16. Lose or draw tomorrow, and you will fairly or unfairly be cast as soft underperforming tattooed millionaires. Win and you will show your nation that you have learned from and transcended the final and greatest failure of your predecessors.