Written by Megan Taylor, sports reporter covering international sports since 2020
USMNT World Cup 2026 preparations have placed American soccer back under the global spotlight as the United States men’s national team begins its home tournament campaign against Paraguay in Los Angeles on Thursday.
The United States enters the FIFA World Cup as a far more settled soccer nation than it was in 1994, with Major League Soccer now at 30 clubs and several leading players based at top European teams.
The tournament build-up has already included major off-field talking points, including Omar Artan World Cup Controversy: FIFA Faces Questions After Referee Denied US entry, as North America prepares to stage the world’s biggest football event. Supporters can follow official tournament updates through the FIFA website.
American Soccer Faces Its Next Test
Former United States player Janusz Michallik remembers a very different era, when the national team trained on a beach before the 1994 World Cup because its facility was not ready.
“We’re better, but we’re still far away,” Michallik told The Sporting News.
The modern picture looks sharper, with a new $250 million training base near Atlanta and a squad filled with Major League Soccer academy products and Europe-based players.
Growth Has Not Solved Everything
Landon Donovan said the United States has built stronger depth, better facilities and more youth pathways, but still lacks the elite top-end quality of the world’s best nations.
American soccer also faces competition from American football, basketball, baseball and hockey, which continue to pull young athletes away from football.
Stu Holden said the United States must raise its expectations without copying every part of the global game.
“We need to get over this inferiority complex and feeling like we need to do everything like everybody else,” Holden told The Sporting News.
World Cup Could Push the Game Further
The United States has moved a long way from its 40-year World Cup absence before 1990, but the 2026 tournament offers another chance to bring domestic football closer to the mainstream.
If the United States men’s national team makes a strong run, it could create the kind of moments that inspire young players in the same way Landon Donovan’s 2010 goal against Algeria did for a past generation.