First Golden Generations 2009

Second Golden Generations 2026

via Marcus Chairez/US Soccer Collective

Hear me out for a bit.

I’ve been thinking about the USMNT’s scheduling, especially how hard it is to get meaningful games against top-tier non-CONCACAF competition now that UEFA has locked up its schedule with the Nations League.

I think the US team should play African teams much more often. Honestly, I’d love to see something like a biennial tournament.

African teams might not consistently win World Cups, but they are some of the most engaging and challenging matchups for traditional powerhouses from Europe and South America. They play with immense physicality, pace, and technical skill. Playing them regularly would harden our national team in ways CONCACAF rarely does. Imagine if we played Senegal, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Egypt and all the upcomers often. These are the same countries that feed European top leagues now.

Our problem right now is the big countries don't take us too seriously. If we manage to schedule a European giant for a friendly, there's a high chance they will rotate heavily and give us a B-team. Not the Africans. Football is life there. Playing the US is a global showcase for them and they will bring their best and give a good run for their money to anyone on the pitch. I know this is an unpopular opinion but right now in the world, Africans are playing some of the most exciting football in the world.

Then there is the fan/network effect. African fans are some of the biggest proponents and drivers of world football fandom. They might not always have the highest disposable income, but their contribution to the love, passion, and growth of the game is immeasurable. Once they get engaged with you, they lock in. Building a cultural and sporting bridge with that fanbase would be huge for the US.

Lastly, scouting. A regular pipeline of high-level matches against CAF teams would be a massive boost for MLS and domestic scouting. A lot of incredible raw talent is bred on the continent, and exposing our domestic league structure to that talent pool directly would be a win-win.

It’s impressive, it’s more popular in the US than ever before. What do you make of the fact that the final was such a success over there? Surely that should give football in your country a real boost.

Surely that should lead to more motivation and enthusiasm for the football experience over there, or do you think interest will wane again? How do you see the situation in your country, and do you think things will now change for the better?

Today’s nationally televised matches (FS1):
Atlanta @ Charlotte (8:15 PM ET)
Salt Lake @ LAFC (10:30 PM ET)

1. New York Red Bulls @ Philadelphia Union [7:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

2. Real Salt Lake @ Los Angeles FC [10:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

3. Chicago Fire @ Inter Miami [7:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

4. San Diego FC @ Colorado Rapids [9:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

5. Orlando City @ San Jose Earthquakes [10:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

6. CF Montreal @ Nashville SC [8:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

7. New York City FC @ Columbus Crew [7:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

8. Minnesota United @ Sporting Kansas City [8:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

9. Toronto FC @ New England Revolution [7:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

10. Atlanta United @ Charlotte FC [8:15 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

11. Vancouver Whitecaps @ FC Cincinnati [7:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

12. DC United @ Houston Dynamo [8:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

13. Seattle Sounders @ Austin FC [9:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

14. St. Louis City @ LA Galaxy [10:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

15. FC Dallas @ Portland Timbers [10:30 PM ET]

Three players to keep an eye on:

Subscribed to Apple TV to watch MLS games and will attend MLS games in person more often. Will look for more TV channels that cover top European leagues where Americans play. Are there TV series or courses that teach about soccer: strategy, history, America’s place in it, etc.?

Have you ever thought about your own Finalissima?

For anyone unfamiliar with this competition: it was the predecessor to the Confederations Cup and was only revived in 2022. The format is quite simple: the European Championship winners face the Copa América winners in a single match. The CONCACAF winner could play against another continental winner. Unfortunately, due to the current situation, the match has been postponed but is still due to take place this November.

So it would be Argentina versus Spain once again.

Of course, that would probably be rather similar to the Confederations Cup again. But it would be a brilliant opportunity for the USA, wouldn’t it?

In addition, he said: "In 2026 we will only have friendly matches, but they have this character of being preparatory to improve a team that is consolidating. We are already closing some friendly matches formally with next year's rivals, but it is a year that we have to take advantage of a lot for the start of the 2027 qualifiers."

In that line, he confirmed that the United States will be one of the Red's rivals next year: "We have the United States confirmed for September. We are working with some other American for that date. It is a date of four games, that of October and September united, and we are advanced with a game of March and June, but we can't say details yet."

Before this WC, every match in the WC seemed like a fight to the death for us to get a point. It seemed like any match could end up as a loss no matter the opponent. This is the first WC where we comfortably cruised against lower competition. Now obviously we have yet break the glass ceiling of beating the elite European and South American nations, but do you think we've at least raised the floor to what we can comfortably do?

During Gregg's tenure as head coach, Flo, Malik, Dest, Pepi, Musah, and other impact players decided to represent the US. My impression is that Gregg was a big influence in convincing these players to play for us.

Poch, whether he was trying to change the culture, be a tough guy, or because he came in mid-cycle, seemed uninterested in trying to convince players to play for us.

When we hear reports about Mexico going after dual-nats, it's often said that the federation is pushing the player to join El Tri, not the coach.

On a scale of Gregg to Poch, how important is it for the coach to be doing the dual-nat recruitment versus the federation? Is our federation applying an equal amount of pressure to Mexican dual-nats as the Mexico federation?

It's well known that soccer is the 4th most popular sport in the United States after football, basketball, baseball, and in some regions ice hockey. Traditionally, it has been 5th, but it has passed hockey to be 4th nationwide and in most states.

In which regions of the U.S. is soccer the most popular?

Google Search trends seem to indicate California, particularly southern and central California (sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5), followed by Texas (particularly the major metro areas and border regions), Florida (especially south Florida), the Pacific Northwest and the New York City area. Is that right?

Growing up in southern California, I legitimately thought for many years that our "4 major sports" were American football, basketball, baseball and soccer - until I was explicitly told the 4th sport was actually hockey. Soccer is popular to play and to watch, although as usual, soccer fans tend to prefer watching European or Mexican leagues over MLS.

Just like that, the World Cup 2026 has come to a close and I wanted to share that footage Fox showed here. I hope everyone here had fun watching it all with your friends, family, randoms and so on. Now we see all the old guard World Cup players stepping down for good from Luka, Ronaldo, Neymar, Messi (potentially) and perhaps several more. The part where Cape Verde was eliminated and Luka was stepping down and from that point on really hits you in the feels with how fast it was coming to an end. 😭

Would an organized fan boycott actually work? Or is our only hope that the rival United Soccer League succeeds and forces their hand? It feels like an open system would make every game so much more competitive and significantly improve the future of the U.S. Men's National Team. How do fans actually make this happen?

If you ask me he did really well despite the suspension controversy.