sport news World Cup: After relative success in Qatar, USA must demand more than getting ... trends now
The USMNT could view holding England to a goalless stalemate and making it out of the group in Qatar a relative success but with a roster full of young, developing talent, that's no longer good enough.
Before the World Cup kicked off, Sportsmail looked at American soccer fans' true evaluation of their expectations.
'The United States should go into this tournament looking to get the team great experience on a much bigger stage than what CONCACAF provides,' the piece read. 'It's the youngest team at the tournament, and playing them now in a high-pressure situation like this should pay off in the future.
'In doing that, the USMNT will build momentum and team bonding towards a more likely scenario: domination at home in the 2026 World Cup.'
With uncertainty in the group going into the tournament, it was hard to predict what would happen for the United States as they faced Wales, England, and Iran.
This World Cup had ups and downs, but brought great experience to a young USA team
What we saw was a team that dominated in the midfield, stayed relatively solid in defense, and despite a lack of quality attacking chances, managed to stay threatening.
It led to advancement into the knockout stages - their third straight appearance in the Round of 16 in World Cups they've qualified for since 2006.
But against Holland, that defensive wall fell apart, the attacking chances lacked quality, and the midfield seemed to be lagging behind.
It was by far their worst performance of the tournament - with all three goals being contributed to poor marking from Tyler Adams, Sergino Dest, and Antonee 'Jedi' Robinson.
Antonee 'Jedi' Robinson failed to mark Denzel Dumfries, which led to the final Holland goal
For an American team that seemed to thrive on its defensive superiority across three matches, to have them lose because they were unraveled by Holland was a poor way to go out.
It highlighted that the United States had no reliable options in the middle of their attack - at least, there weren't any capable of putting decent shots on net through Nathan Ake, Virgil van Dijk, and Jurrien Timber.
Even so, the USMNT finished that match with an xG rating of 1.49 - their highest of the whole tournament. They also had their highest number of shots (17) and shots on target (eight) of their time in Qatar.
After a great group stage, Tyler Adams, committed an error leading to Holland's opening goal
So now that this is over, it's time to consider the good and the bad the USMNT showed us in Qatar and how they can improve in the future - through the defense, midfield, attack, and coaching.
Starting at the backline, in the three games played in the group stage, Gregg Berhalter's team never conceded a single goal from open play. That deserves a considerable amount of credit - considering they played against the likes of Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, and Mehdi Taremi.
Goalkeeper Matt Turner deserves a lot of credit for his performance. He managed five saves across all three games he played in - tied for the most of all the keepers in Group B with Wales' Wayne Hennessey.
Looking ahead at 2026, the two starting center backs will likely be out of contention for the jobs. Walker Zimmerman will be 33 and Tim Ream will be 39. In their place, expect two players who missed this tournament due to injury to step in: Chris Richards of Crystal Palace and Miles Robinson of Atlanta United.
This World Cup saw great displays from center back Tim Ream in likely his last World Cup
In midfield, the opportunities provided to the three starters will help them develop further with both the national team and their respective club teams.
Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie were both instrumental in their box-to-box roles for building up the attack, creating chances, and aiding in defensive recovery.
That final point was the main role of the engine of the midfield: Tyler Adams, who consistently turned in stellar performances. He shut down opposing attacks by running like a wolf with a rocket strapped to its back before promptly becoming the initial facilitator of the US's own scoring opportunities.
Come 2026, the three of them should all still be in starting roles - and they all should still be as dominant and dynamic as they were in Qatar.
The midfield was the engine of the team - especially from both Adams and Weston McKennie
The final two parts of the team are parts that arguably need the most improvement from this tournament.
In attack, the United States had severe struggles - especially from their three choices for No. 9's. In 360 combined minutes of play, Josh Sargent, Haji Wright, and Jesus Ferreira managed only ten total shots. Only two of those were on target. One of those two was Wright's goal in the loss to Holland.
That's a problem. It's one thing if you can prevent others from scoring on you, but you don't advance if you can't score. Those three
