I agree with you re: the grassroots and academy structure: it is dreadful and pay-to-play. However, we have a population 10x many of the best footballing countries. Soccer’s popularity in the country is increasing. We have a larger genetic pool to pick top talent from. We have a culture of “i need to be the best” that overshadows many others. I’m not saying its’ going to be this or the next WC. All I’m saying is if you want to bet on a non-Europe or South American nation to win, it will be the US.
I’m not even a fan of the US team, I support Scotland. But we (for better or worse) will win the WC simply due to athelticism and a larger population to pull talent from than many other countries, if nothing else.
EDIT: Oh and the US has already made it to the Semifinals, although their best RECENT result was the Quarters, which in itself is already better than 85% (my made up percentage to just highlight my point) of other nations vying for the WC.
The popularity of the sport is increasing absurdly fast. Football (soccer) is now considered the second most popular sport for children and teenagers (CNN/ESPN), and it’s considered the fourth most popular sport overall (8% of voters), just slightly behind baseball (10%). It also surpassed hockey (Washington Post).
The USMNT is already a powerhouse in concacaf, and yes, concacaf sucks but we’re talking about a relatively young culture around the sport, which makes the teams domestic success impressive. They can be contenders in a couple of years.
They will.
I agree with you re: the grassroots and academy structure: it is dreadful and pay-to-play. However, we have a population 10x many of the best footballing countries. Soccer’s popularity in the country is increasing. We have a larger genetic pool to pick top talent from. We have a culture of “i need to be the best” that overshadows many others. I’m not saying its’ going to be this or the next WC. All I’m saying is if you want to bet on a non-Europe or South American nation to win, it will be the US.
I’m not even a fan of the US team, I support Scotland. But we (for better or worse) will win the WC simply due to athelticism and a larger population to pull talent from than many other countries, if nothing else.
EDIT: Oh and the US has already made it to the Semifinals, although their best RECENT result was the Quarters, which in itself is already better than 85% (my made up percentage to just highlight my point) of other nations vying for the WC.
The popularity of the sport is increasing absurdly fast. Football (soccer) is now considered the second most popular sport for children and teenagers (CNN/ESPN), and it’s considered the fourth most popular sport overall (8% of voters), just slightly behind baseball (10%). It also surpassed hockey (Washington Post).
The USMNT is already a powerhouse in concacaf, and yes, concacaf sucks but we’re talking about a relatively young culture around the sport, which makes the teams domestic success impressive. They can be contenders in a couple of years.