newYou can listen to Fox’s news articles!
US Men’s Soccer Team They will become home teams for next year’s World Cup and they can make a big splash.
Of the 16 host stadiums in next year’s tournament, which begin exactly one year from Wednesday, 11 are in the US. Metlife Stadium in New Jersey Host the final.
Major League soccer was born since 1994, and it goes without saying that the popularity of soccer has been exponential in the country.
For sports coverage on foxnews.com, click here
Landon Donovan, left, Alexi Laras (Imajan;Getty Images)
However, it appears to have hit a wall in recent years, as USMNT does not give Americans an accurate opportunity to grasp it.
The team entered 16 rounds in 2010 and 2014, but did not even qualify for the tournament in 2018. USMNT returned to round 16 three years ago, Copa America Group Stage Last year, in the soil of their own homes.
But Team USA legend Landon Donovan feels that even if Team USA is disappointed, football is “safe” domestically and that its popularity can only rise from here.
“There is certainly a lot of pressure on this team. They play the World Cup in front of the crowds of people at home, and certainly there will be pressure.
“There are big opportunities on a large scale [for this team]. My experience at the ’02 World Cup was that when we did really well, my life changed and the trajectory of USA football changed a bit. ”
But once again, Donovan has won one of the most famous goals in the history of American football. His goal for a downtime against Algeria was to win the US through group stage for the first time since 2002.
“In 2010, when there was an iconic moment, if this team could do one or two things, if they had one or two iconic moments, they would catapult football through the roof of this country.”
US Landon Donovan (10) celebrates after the US defeated Algeria 1-0 at South Africa’s Tshwane/Pretoria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Group C match after scoring the winning goal in the 91st minute. (Sports media via Adam Jacobs/Icon SMI/ICON Getty Images)
The Road to World Cup 2026: What to expect from the biggest team
Alex Lasry, CEO of the NYNJ Host Committee, offered similar sentiments, saying that the global star coming to the US is enough to grow the sport itself.
“If it’s not what we want in the end, I don’t think that will dampen what the World Cup means for the United States,” Lasley told Fox News Digital at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, home to the 2026 World Cup Fan Festival and held its one-year countdown launch party on Wednesday.
“I don’t think it would dampen how people who are six, seven, eight years old viewed it. [Lionel] Messi, [Kylian] mbappe, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Christian] The star of sports here, Purisic is what leads to the next generation of athletes who say, “I want to be a part of it.”
A fellow alumni Alexi Lalas took the other side of the coin. While agreeing to Donovan, he said he wasn’t letting the team “off the hook” in that it was all that needed was a special moment to latch the country.
“This is a generation that has worked for the last 30 years to make sure everyone has everything they need in terms of opportunity and resources. “I hope that anyone who is finally in that field next summer will recognize the opportunity and responsibility they will promote the game. [does that look] Like? It can come in a variety of ways. But as that last whistle was blowing on the US team, you said, “It was something I remember. It was a proud thing that I was not only an American football fan, but also an American.”
Alexiralus (FIFA/FIFA via Katelyn Mulcahy – Getty Images)
Click here to get the Fox News app
“You have to be prepared, accept the opportunity with both hands and make the most of it,” he said. “I don’t want to take them off the hook because I think they can do things we’ve never seen before. They need the gods of football to smile, but every team in the World Cup needs a bit of luck going forward.
2026 FIFA World Cup It will be held in North America next year and featured on Fox Sports.
Follow Fox News Digital’s x Sports Coverageand subscribe Fox News Sports Huddle Newsletter.
