AL RAYYAN, Qatar — Every four years, when the United States men’s national team is eliminated from a World Cup — at least the one it qualifies for — the predictable refrain is, “We’ve proven we belong,” or some twist from that .
Only this time it sounded truer than in the past. Over the course of four games in Qatar, the USA went level with their opponents, pressing them effectively and defending strongly. Doing that with the second youngest team in the tournament also bodes well.
After the Netherlands defeated the USA 3-1 in a World Cup Round of 16, there was a slightly different taste of the same vibe. As US coach Gregg Berhalter said: “We came here with the aim of showing the rest of the world how we can play football. I think we partially achieved that, even if we missed our targets.”
The USA failed because of a lack of goals. And that was ultimately the difference between the two sides on Saturday.
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“They were clinical in theirs [scoring] Chances in the first half,” said Berhalter about the Dutch. “Otherwise the teams didn’t differ much.” But you can file the last comment under “An inch is as good as a mile”.
While there has been progress in some areas, there is one where Americans still have significant catching up to do. The name of the game – and the hardest part of the game – is scoring goals, and for all of America’s impressive showing at this World Cup, the Americans have hit the back of the net just three times in four games. In terms of expected goals per game, USA were in the bottom half of teams that reached the Round of 16 (even 12th) and also the tournament overall (23 out of 32).
With all the talk of this being the most talented team in the history of the U.S. men’s program, there’s one area where you could argue that the 2010 team was better — at least compared to the competition: the team had goalscorers and not this one. Sure, this 2010 side didn’t score enough goals from forwards at this World Cup, but goalscorers can be positioned elsewhere on the field. This team had two goalscorers in Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan that gave the USA hope of winning against anyone.
With this current US team, the reason for that belief has yet to be demonstrated with enough consistency to really take the Americans to the next level where they can actually threaten to beat the best teams enough times to win at a World Cup to go deeper.
There were a few chances against the Dutch. Christian Pulisic’s third-minute attempt, when he was put through clean by Tyler Adams – only to see his shot saved by Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert – is one he regrets.
“It hurts, man. It hurts,” Pulisic said of the missed shot. “I thought I was pretty much offside when it happened but I hit it anyway and he made a good save. It’s going to hurt for a while.”
Fix US scoring issue
Berhalter recognized the difference in quality and experience when it came to converting chances, particularly in the attacking position. “We don’t have a Memphis Depay at the moment who scores goals in the Champions League, plays for Barcelona and has been an international for years,” he said.
The US also doesn’t have Denzel Dumfries or Daley Blind to deliver pinpoint passes into the box. Too often in this tournament, the last ball into the penalty area was not good enough for the USA. It wasn’t just about the strikers and the bad finish, but also about creating too few high-quality chances.
For all the expected goals talk in this game, where the Netherlands (1.67 xG) barely had an advantage over the US (1.49 xG), there were only three big chances for the US where the xG was greater than was 0.19. One of those, Haji Wright’s goal, has to be considered a stroke of luck as it came from a heel defense he seemed to know little about. USA’s remaining scoring chances were percentage shots.
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It’s true, this is the World Cup and goals are hard to come by, but USA just have to get better at creating quality chances and taking the chances they get. With the next World Cup being hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026, the Americans have four years to fix that.
As for wing play, USA certainly have talent in that part of the field with Pulisic, Timothy Weah, Brenden Aaronson and Giovanni Reyna. Full-backs like Sergino Dest and Antonee Robinson, who had excellent tournaments up until the game against the Netherlands, also play a role in this equation. And over the next four years they need to continue the growth they’ve shown this cycle – they can’t afford to stand still if the US is to move forward, and there’s every reason to be optimistic about that they will build on this tournament. However, there are no guarantees.
Still, a consistent center forward remains this team’s elusive unicorn. Would Ricardo Pepi or Jordan Pefok have done better at this World Cup? It’s hard to imagine them doing worse than Wright and Jesus Ferreira, and Berhalter has to live with that decision. But the search goes on.
Pepi, just 19, reckons he’ll get plenty more chances in the next cycle, although it remains to be seen how many competitive games await USA given that the USA, as hosts, are likely to automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup will qualify. Ditto for Josh Sargent, still only 22, who was solid but failed to net at this World Cup.
No doubt more candidates will emerge to challenge those already in place — at least, that’s what the US should hope for. The ideal scenario is that the competitive environment within the national team and players’ clubs raises the collective level of the American team. Fixing the US’ missing targets could take some time but must be a priority.
Otherwise, at Worlds, the US will go back to talking about hanging out with the big boys instead of beating them.