by Cameron Moore (8th)

The US Men’s National Soccer Team is currently in a state of turmoil approaching the 2026 World Cup, as a series of poor performances and drama within the national team has made World Cup hopes for the hosting USA slim.

As many nations do before a tournament as big as the World Cup, the US national team has scheduled a wide array of friendlies against other national teams. Safe to say, the results have not been great--at all.

This year, the United States has not looked convincing at all. The US’s first major blemish on their 2025 résumé was their shocking upset to Panama in the UEFA Nations League Semifinal.

That was six months ago. Six!

It only got worse for the US, however. They would proceed to lose the third place match of the Nations League to a Canada side that was fifteen spots lower than the US in the FIFA rankings at the time. 

FIFA Rankings of the US Men’s National Team since the last World Cup, in late 2022. They have peaked at 11th and have gone as low as 18th in the world since the WC.

The disappointing performance at the end of the Nations League would, unfortunately, not be the end of their slide. They scheduled two friendlies prior to the Gold Cup tournament, which also ended in disaster and had even more US soccer fans scratching their heads.

US head coach Maurio Pochettino, who took over for Gregg Berhalter following his firing after the 2024 Copa America, was not happy after the performances against Panama and Canada in the Nations League Final Four. So, he brought in 8 new starters against Turkey. Despite former Philadelphia Union midfielder Jack McGlynn scoring within 59 seconds, Turkey would score two goals within two-and-a-half minutes and eventually take the game 2-1, putting the US on a three-match losing streak.

But Switzerland? That was even worse, somehow. Switzerland scored a 40-minute quartet as the US lost its final test before the Gold Cup by a score of 4-0. It marked the stars and stripes’ first 4-match losing streak in 18 years.

Now, it was time: the Gold Cup. This would be the states’ last international tournament before they co-hosted the World Cup the next year. The US would humiliate their 2018 World Cup spoilers--Trinidad and Tobago--by a blowout score of 5-0, an incredible sign for the skidding team.

However, they didn’t look like themselves for the rest of the tournament. They only won 1-0 against Saudi Arabia and 2-1 against Haiti (who are ranked 59th and 90th in the world, to be exact). Then, they would barely beat Costa Rica in the Quarterfinals on penalties, and then would face 100th ranked Guatemala in the semifinals, beating them by a close 2-1.

The US would then lose their next two matches, the first against Mexico in the Gold Cup final, and the other more recently in a friendly vs. South Korea. Thankfully, they have recovered and delivered with a 2-0 clean sheet against Japan this past week. However, they have struggled in the long run these past few months. They are 5-6 since losing to Panama in the Nations League, with only one of those wins coming against a top-39 team: Japan. However, the results aren’t the only thing that has thrown the national team into chaos.

One of the more well-known incidents happened with AC Milan and US National Team star Christian Pulisic. Despite being the face of the team, he opted to sit out of the Gold Cup, earning backlash from US Soccer fans and former star for the national team, Landon Donovan.

"[Ronaldo's] 40 years old. He's played a long season. He's tired. He's out there grinding. Hurt himself in the process, and I can't help but think about some of our guys on vacation, not wanting to play in the Gold Cup. It's p*ssing me off," Donovan would later say.

There is also controversy over the coaching staff, and the head man, Maurio Pochettino. He replaced former US coach Gregg Berhalter after being grouped in the Copa America last year, and was considered a good coach by many. However, many in the country are now starting to doubt Poch’s coaching of the national team, with many even calling for his firing.

Despite their recent win, it is clear that something is up with the national team. And with less than a year until the World Cup, it is clear that something must change.