The United States men's national team have looked like a machine through their first two matches at the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup.
The USMNT executed a dream 4-1 victory over Paraguay in their opener last Friday, June 12, and carried that momentum through to a 2-0 win over Australia on Friday, June 19. Now, they're already through to the knockout stage with one group matchup left on the schedule, and U.S. soccer fans have dreams of watching their team make their deepest-ever run at a men's World Cup.
It's not just American delusion, however.
After the USMNT topped Australia, FOX studio host Rebecca Lowe asked Zlatan Ibrahimović whether the U.S. is capable of winning this World Cup. "Yes," said the Swedish and international footballing legend.
"If you didn't believe before, I will repeat: Start believing," Ibrahimović said separately during the FOX postgame broadcast. "They have the country behind them, and when you have this support, it's difficult to beat you. And that is what they need. They just need to continue, bring confidence from game to game."
The USMNT will win Group D if Paraguay beat or draw against Turkiye on Friday night. If Turkiye win, then the USMNT will need a result against Turkiye at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on on Thursday, June 25.
If the USMNT win the group, in whatever fashion it happens, they will earn the benefit of facing a third-place finisher from the group stage, which dramatically helps the odds of reaching the late stages of the tournament.
The USMNT's best World Cup result was a third-place finish in 1930. Since 1990, six of seven appearances ended in the group stage or Round of 16, with the outlier being when they reached the quarterfinal before losing to Germany in 2002.
The next 30 days could supersede the past 30 years of USMNT history.
Source: Newsweek
