Looking Through Blind Eyes by Reyna Hawk

has been built around players like Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Christian Pulisic, Sergino Dest and Brenden Aaronson.

In that way, it’s difficult to say that this cycle has been anything but a success. The task over the past four years was to give this young core crucial experience, both in CONCACAF qualifying and in a World Cup, that might transfer as they age into their primes. There was just one player on the roster, DeAndre Yedlin, with any World Cup experience. was the second-youngest team in the tournament here in Qatar, and may have been the youngest if not for the inclusion of 35-year-old center-back Tim Ream. I think it’s a great opportunity for us, without getting ahead of ourselves, everything that’s been done has been laying this foundation, and this World Cup will help do that as well.” “And we know the home field in the World Cup is important. coach Gregg Berhalter told The Athletic for the narrative podcast, From Couva to Qatar: Remaking the USMNT. “As you move into 2026, if our players continue to progress at the rate that they have been, we’re going to be dealing with a really, really talented player pool with experience and having the home field advantage,” U.S.

There has been an understanding - sometimes stated aloud, other times not - that part of this four-year cycle was about building a core that could carry momentum forward into the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S. Paul Tenorio, Sam Stejskal, Michael Cox and Simon Hughes analyse the key talking points

Looking Through Blind Eyes by Reyna Hawk