WASHINGTON — Tyler Adams has set an ambitious target for the United States men’s national soccer team, expressing a desire to reach the World Cup semifinals for the first time since the tournament’s kickoff in 1930.
“Everyone expects us to say that winning it is the ultimate goal,” the American midfielder stated on Friday following the World Cup draw. “However, I think aiming for the furthest the U.S. team has ever progressed is a more realistic benchmark.”
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Ranked 14th, the U.S. will kick off Group D against No. 39 Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood, California, followed by a match against 26th-ranked Australia on June 18 in Seattle. They will wrap up the group stage on June 25 at SoFi Stadium against the playoff winner among Türkiye (25), Slovakia (45), Romania (47), and Kosovo (80).
“Securing all three points right from the start would be an incredible kickoff for us and would place us in a strong position within the group,” said Christian Pulisic.
The group is expected to be one of the less challenging among the 12 groups. The top two teams from each group, along with the four best third-place teams, will advance to the new round of 32.
“Ultimately, we all aspire to win a World Cup,” defender Tim Ream remarked. “You don’t enter a tournament just to participate; we’ve had discussions about our desire to win. People may scoff at that, but it’s our goal.”
In recent friendly matches, the U.S. faced Türkiye, suffering a 2-1 defeat in June, but rebounded with a 2-1 win over Australia in October and a 2-1 victory against Paraguay last month.
“Even though we faced all three of these teams recently, it may create a false sense of security,” Ream explained.
Throughout nearly a century of World Cup participation, the U.S. holds a 1-7 record in elimination games, having been outscored 22-7. The Americans’ sole victory was a 2-0 win over Mexico in the 2002 round of 16, followed by a 1-0 loss to Germany in the quarterfinals. The U.S. is winless in its last 12 World Cup matches against European teams, having been outscored 20-10 in those games.
“Every game in the World Cup is challenging. In fact, some of our toughest matches in the last tournament were against the teams perceived to be weaker,” Adams noted.
During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the U.S. drew with Wales 1-1 and England 0-0, before defeating Iran 1-0 with a goal from Pulisic to progress to the next stage.
“It’s safe to say that in the last World Cup, we couldn’t establish a benchmark for ourselves because we were unsure of what to expect,” Adams commented. “Looking back, we now have a wealth of experience. As individuals and as a squad, we have matured significantly.”
Coach Mauricio Pochettino has arranged friendlies against Belgium and Portugal in March, as well as a TBD opponent and Germany prior to the tournament.
As he contemplates his roster, Pochettino reflects on the film “Miracle,” a 2004 depiction of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s historic upset of the favored Soviet Union en route to winning gold. The coach was influenced by Herb Brooks’ decisions in the story.
“We don’t necessarily need the best players; we require the right players to form a successful team,” Pochettino remarked. “It’s crucial to assemble the right players to build a robust team capable of competing against any opponent in the world. Good and right are distinctly different.”