USMNT’s greatest-ever World Cup run: A heartbreaking exit on the brink of glory
With the World Cup coming to the United States, Mauricio Pochettino believes this young USMNT squad can reach the semifinals and dream even bigger.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has become a defining target for U.S. Soccer and the United States men’s national team. With the tournament coming to North America, and the U.S. serving as one of the main hosts, federation executives, players and fans all expect the USMNT to deliver a historic performance on home soil.
Under Mauricio Pochettino, the Americans have set an ambitious goal for the tournament: reach the semifinals and dare to dream of winning the World Cup. The Argentine coach has repeated that objective on multiple occasions since taking charge of the team.
If the USMNT were to pull off that feat, it would become the most iconic achievement in the history of American soccer.
A semifinal appearance in the modern World Cup era, now expanded to 48 teams, would already place this generation among the greatest teams in U.S. sports history. Winning the title, while a far more difficult task, would completely transform the global perception of soccer in the United States.
The best World Cup finish in USMNT history
Reaching the semifinals in 2026 would allow the USMNT to equal its best-ever finish at a FIFA World Cup, achieved all the way back in the inaugural tournament in Uruguay in 1930.
That U.S. team reached the semifinals before being eliminated by Argentina. At the time, there was no official third-place match, meaning the Americans finished tied for third alongside Yugoslavia.
Even nearly a century later, that remains the deepest World Cup run in U.S. men’s soccer history.
Every USMNT World Cup finish
- 1930: Third place
- 1934: Round of 16
- 1938: Withdrew from World Cup competition during World War II
- 1950: Group stage
- 1954: Did not qualify
- 1958: Did not qualify
- 1962: Did not qualify
- 1966: Did not qualify
- 1970: Did not qualify
- 1974: Did not qualify
- 1978: Did not qualify
- 1982: Did not qualify
- 1986: Did not qualify
- 1990: Group stage
- 1994: Round of 16
- 1998: Group stage
- 2002: Quarterfinals
- 2006: Group stage
- 2010: Round of 16
- 2014: Round of 16
- 2018: Did not qualify
- 2022: Round of 16
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