Columbus, Ohio – Tonight, the United States Men’s Soccer Team defends their third-place finish in the World Cup tournament competition from ninety-six years ago; in 1930, the “stars and stripes” team had their best finish in this magnanimous international event.
“This team so badly wants to advance further than it ever has before, but there are too many glaring issues,” said Laken Litman, FOX Sports soccer analyst. “It seems hard to comprehend that the Americans will get much further than they did four years ago. I think the U.S. will be eliminated following the Round of 16.”
Moreover, the odds aren’t good for the men’s soccer team either. FanDuel gives them a 6000 to 1 chance of winning the FIFA World Cup.
The glaring questions are twofold. Why do our men’s national soccer teams suffer so much, ranking between tenth and twentieth in the world? Going into tonight’s game the team is ranked 16th! And why is the United States Women’s Soccer Team so much better in their competition. The USWNT is ranked one in the world.
The “land of milk and honey,” has between 3 million and 4.5 million kids playing soccer from age five to high school every year. In 2025, the Sports & Industry Association estimates almost 18 million American youth have played soccer at one time in their lives. Families with soccer players average $1,024 per year to support their youngster on the pitch.
The USA has made the financial commitment, the family commitment and the time commitment to support their young XY “footballer.”
Yet, the men’s team has only made it as far as the quarterfinals in 2002 in modern World Cup play. Conversely, the women’s team has won the World Cup four times, which is more than other nation in the world. Clearly, our ladies are the gold standard for soccer in America.
Landon Donovan, USA Men’s National Soccer Team legend has been very critical of youth soccer in America offering the following reasons for poor results in this sport:
- win-at-all-costs coaching for young kids
- unqualified or overly ambitious coaches
- high pay-to-play fees ($10k–$20k/year) that exclude talent, and
- a focus on results over skill development
“My kids are in youth soccer and I see the youth soccer environment — it’s a disaster, it’s an absolute disaster… We’re not developing players like the rest of the world do,” said Donovan.
Secondly, soccer requires only one ball to play similarly to basketball. There really isn’t any expensive equipment like hockey, football or baseball to get active. However, a youngster with a basketball can spend all afternoon on a court shooting in a confined space. Soccer doesn’t easily lend itself to practicing without a partner or two on a field that is 130 years long, no matter how many “kick back” or rebounder boards mom and dad buy.
Thirdly, Americans view soccer as a low scoring game like hockey but at a lesser speed than skates and certainly not as much physicality. A game with low scores compels coaches to think defensively.
Taylor Twellman (Former USMNT player, ESPN/MLS analyst) said it best after the USMNT missed the World cup in 2018 exclaiming, “we cannot do soccer the American way.” He was suggesting that our national team’s leadership focused on being safe so as to not get blown out in any games and he furthered his comments degrading the development system that focuses on “play it safe” strategies at the youth competition level.
Finally, when comparing the men’s team to the women’s team much of the lady’s success stems from Title IX and a cultural perspective. Title IX compelled our country to invest equally, sort of, in women’s soccer. Many other countries thought of soccer as a “boy’s sport” as such the ladies in those nations suffered. Additionally, the USA really saw an opportunity to be a pioneer in women’s soccer and has capitalized on that opportunity with overwhelming success.
Anyway, the FIFA World Cup has begun and the United States will host 78 games in 11 cities over 38 days. Over 1.4 billion people will watch soccer being played in our country. The Secretary of Homeland Security suggests we will have 78 Super Bowls in less than a month and a half on our home turf. It will very much focus the world on our country and our national teams.
As I shake up my Magic 8 Ball to gain more insight, I ask, “will the USA beat Paraguay tonight?” The reply is “probably. Will we advance out of our grouping? “Maybe.” Will the US Women’s National Team win the FIFA World Cup? “Bet on it.”
