In 2026 the soccer will take precedence over soccer at the second World Cup in North America, the first jointly organized by three countries? The United States, Canada, and Mexico Free Trade Association can help solve this linguistic dilemma. Meanwhile, in Qatar, the lion’s share was taken by the American footballers, the only survivors of the trio from the round of 16 stage of the 2022 World Cup. On Saturday 3 December, against the Dutch favorites, the USA team will try to find the quarterfinals final of the competition for the first time since 2002. The Mexican players, third in group C, and the Canadians, fourth in group F, are already on holiday.
This first round paints a portrait of a North American football family with several trajectories. Yankee Big Brother is a giant of international sport, where the soccer it is far from being the most popular discipline but whose demographic reservoir allows for the production of good players. North of the Great Lakes, the Canadian cousin, often mocked by his neighbor, is better known for his hockey players than his soccer players. Inspired by its women’s team, one of the best in the world, Canada nonetheless relied on a bold plan to develop its men’s elite.
South of the Rio Grande, Mexico is the only one of the three countries to have a historical “soccer culture”. Accustomed to the World Cup, which he organized twice in 1970 and 1986, he had remained since 1994 in seven consecutive round of 16 qualifiers.
“It all starts now”
North American hopes now rest on the “Boys”, the second youngest team in the tournament (25.15 years). The starting line-up for Tuesday’s eagerly awaited match against Iran (1-0) was the youngest line-up since the start of the World Cup with an average age of 24 years and 321 days. Behind the amazing captain Tyler Adams (23), as comfortable on the lawn as in front of the microphones of journalists, the US team can count on precocious talents such as Yunus Musah (20), Giovanni Reyna (20) or Weston McKennie (24 ), who they play in the major European clubs in Leeds, Valencia, Dortmund or Juventus Turin.
Unbeaten in three games, including a 0-0 draw against the English – watched by 20m viewers across the Atlantic – the United States, who missed out on qualifying in 2018, have responded this time.
You still have 47.17% of this article to read. The following is for subscribers only.
