WASHINGTON — USA midfielder Tyler Adams said Friday the national team’s “benchmark” at the 2026 World Cup should be to go further in the tournament than any of its American predecessors.
If Adams is considering only modern times, that would mean his eyes are on a dream run to the semifinals.
If he knows his history, and specifically the USMNT’s third-place finish at the inaugural 1930 World Cup, it means an even more lofty goal of reaching the final.
Even after Friday’s draw landed Mauricio Pochettino’s team in a favorable group along with Paraguay, Australia and a European playoff qualifier, either of those outcomes next summer would be instantly classified as a monumental success.
The context, Adams said, is that at the 2022 tournament, when only one of the USMNT’s 26 players had been to a World Cup previously, “we couldn’t set a bar or standard for anything.”
“We didn’t know what to expect. We hadn’t been through the process. We didn’t know what it was gonna be like,” Adams said.
Adams, speaking Friday via video call two hours after the World Cup draw, continued: “Now, looking back on it, I think we have more experience, we’re a lot more mature, we’ve grown a lot as individuals and as a team. Everyone’s going to want us to say winning (the World Cup) is obviously the goal. Our idea is to win. That’s the goal. But I think setting the benchmark of ‘the furthest a U.S. team has gone’ is also realistic.
Tyler Adams and Christian Pulisic spoke remotely to the media Friday. (Jamie Sabau / Getty Images)
“So, we want to go and make a run. But again, it’s a game-by-game mentality.”
The USMNT’s best finish at a modern World Cup came in 2002, when an unheralded team surprised global soccer by advancing from a group that also included Portugal, Poland and co-host South Korea. That U.S. team then beat Mexico 2-0, dos a cero, in the round of 16 — which remains the program’s only knockout-round win at a World Cup. (It lost to Germany in the quarterfinals.)
Bettering that result, presumably, would mean winning a quarterfinal — and winning three knockout-round games in total, because the World Cup’s new expanded format includes a round of 32.
Speaking on the same video call, U.S. forward Christian Pulisic seconded Adams but framed his answer slightly differently.
“You kind of split it into different parts as well,” Pulisic said. “Obviously, the first goal is to make it out of the group. We know our opponents — well, two of them at least. … We have to finish in the top half of that group, that’s our first goal. And then once we get there, it’s a knockout tournament. And from there, no matter what round we lose in, we won’t be happy. So we want to push as hard as we can. And we’re gonna try to make a good run.”
Both were speaking after the U.S. got group-stage matchups that were generally considered favorable. But he was not reacting to the draw, and certainly not interpreting it as “easy.”
“There’s no easy game at a World Cup. In fact, some of our hardest games in the previous World Cup were two against the lesser opponents,” Pulisic said, presumably referring to Wales and Iran.
Both were also asked about the spotlight that the 2026 World Cup will bring. The grandiosity of the occasion began to sink in Friday as they and millions of others watched the draw. Pulisic, though, sounded unfazed.
Tyler Adams and Christian Pulisic helped the USA to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup. (John Todd / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
“It’s a World Cup. There’s pressure no matter what,” Pulisic said. “I don’t think we see it as a bad thing. We’ll be criticized, and I think that’s normal. But, I mean, for me — and me and Tyler speak often — we’re just looking forward to this. We’ve been playing together for so long, since youth soccer. Being able to play a World Cup in our home country — I mean, you can’t ask for anything better. It’s what we dreamed of as kids.
“I think it is important to go into it with the mentality of, ‘We’re gonna enjoy it. We’re gonna try to take in the whole experience. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,’” Pulisic added. “But obviously, when it gets down to it, we’re going to be ready to fight, we’re gonna give it everything we have.”
Adams added: “It’s just important to stay present in the moment, and just enjoy the moment. The performances will come, and you’ll be at your best, when you enjoy the moment.
“Playing on home soil, of course there’ll be pressure. But our job is pressure.”
“We have to worry about how we are, and who we are, and what we are,” Tim Ream said on a video call. (Vincent Carchietta / Getty Images)
Tim Ream: ‘We have to focus on ourselves’
Defenders Tim Ream and Chris Richards, speaking on the same video call, were asked whether they’d thought about potential best- and worst-case scenarios ahead of Friday’s draw. Ream said he hadn’t.
“We have to focus on ourselves,” Ream said. Pochettino and the staff have preached that to players, he added. “We have to worry about how we are, and who we are, and what we are.
“At some point, you’re gonna have to play some of the best teams. So, do you play ’em in the group stage? Do you play ’em in the knockouts? It doesn’t really matter.”
Richards added: “If you want to be the best, you gotta beat the best. So, regardless, we would’ve had to play some tough countries. … There was really no easy route to get to a final. You always have to play some tough teams.”
And he concluded: “One thing Poch has really instilled in us is: If we play to the best of our abilities, no team can beat us. And I think we all firmly believe that.”
