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OT: We may win the World Cup in 2026

USA draw could have been a bit better and could have been a bit worse. Overall, I like the opponents we'll face. My sense is the odds to go to the knockout round will be fairly even all around, with England as the obvious favorite.

Remember, we won the group last time England was in our group. OTOH, facing Iran back in '98 was a nightmare. However, the '98 team imploded when Coach Sampson lost the team after leaving John Harkes off.

Finally, I'll take a moment to recall Joe Gaetjens, a US soccer legend before my time.
 
I like our group…personally I think Mexico and Canada will have a tougher time getting out of their groups…Costa Rica if they get by New Zealand in a really tough group…
 
I like our group…personally I think Mexico and Canada will have a tougher time getting out of their groups…Costa Rica if they get by New Zealand in a really tough group…

An interesting stat. Mexico has advanced out of the group stage for every World Cup since 1994. They have also lost every round of 16 match during this period. Including dos e cero numero uno.
 
USA draw could have been a bit better and could have been a bit worse. Overall, I like the opponents we'll face. My sense is the odds to go to the knockout round will be fairly even all around, with England as the obvious favorite.

Remember, we won the group last time England was in our group. OTOH, facing Iran back in '98 was a nightmare. However, the '98 team imploded when Coach Sampson lost the team after leaving John Harkes off.

Finally, I'll take a moment to recall Joe Gaetjens, a US soccer legend before my time.
IIRC, the rumor was that it wasn’t just a decision to drop Harkes on performance, but that Harkes was sleeping with the wife or girlfriend of one of the other players and the team was split into factions that supported each player (and probably other guys who stayed out of the issue but were affected by the instability).
 
USA definitely has a path to advance and playing the A group in knockout round is a nice draw

England was one of the 3 teams I wanted to avoid. They are overflowing with talent. They sat multiple 100 million dollar players in euros. That's how much talent they have

Iran sneaky tough as a Muslim regional team. Might be a home type crowd for them

Wales is best team in pot 4 if they advance. If it's Ukraine, the entire world will be rooting for them
 
I like this group. When it was down to the last 4 draws I thought for sure we were getting stuck with Ghana again. We are MUCH better suited to play European sides and Iran than be in a group with say Argentina, Ghana/Japan/South Korea type side and only 1 Euro.
 
IIRC, the rumor was that it wasn’t just a decision to drop Harkes on performance, but that Harkes was sleeping with the wife or girlfriend of one of the other players and the team was split into factions that supported each player (and probably other guys who stayed out of the issue but were affected by the instability).

Think he was banging Wynalda’s wife.
 
I like this group. When it was down to the last 4 draws I thought for sure we were getting stuck with Ghana again. We are MUCH better suited to play European sides and Iran than be in a group with say Argentina, Ghana/Japan/South Korea type side and only 1 Euro.
The part of this thread when a bunch of us all saw Ghana still on the board and posted at the same time made me laugh out loud.
 
Our kids are really rounding into form. Pulisic, McKennie, Reyna, Dest are all world class right now and they are so young. Adams is right there too. Then you have Musah who has come out of nowhere to look great. I think Richards will make the jump and pair up with Brooks. We are a great full back and striker away from having true studs at every position and we have depth. The striker part has me a little worried. Hoping Weah or Sargent can make the leap. Julian Green is also making noise and starting to fulfill the promise. He should get another look.
Congrats to OP, post has aged well! The core names listed have held up. Brooks is a question mark, and Green's time seems to have come and gone.
 
Sorry that was my AutoCorrect – meant the play in games for the last qualifying spots. Are they home and away or are they single games?
 
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