A Golden summer is vital for USMNT’s progress

The United States Men’s National Team recently learned who they would face in the group stage of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup, setting the stage for their summer competition. The Gold Cup marks the final competitive matches the USMNT will have before they co-host the 2026 World Cup.

For the USMNT, this summer’s Gold Cup has become vital to demonstrate the progress that fans have been hoping to see in the leadup to the World Cup. Since the 2022 World Cup ended, the USMNT have participated in five official competitions, with the schedule set up for the team (along with Canada and Mexico) to continue to test themselves while preparing for the World Cup as co-hosts). The results started out okay but have since trended downwards:

• 2023 Concacaf Nations League Finals – won (beat Mexico in semis; beat Canada in final)
• 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup – lost in semifinals via penalties to Panama
• 2024 Concacaf Nations League Finals – won (beat Jamaica in extras in semis; beat Mexico in final)
• 2024 Copa América – did not get out of the group (beat Bolivia, lost to Panama and Uruguay)
• 2025 Concacaf Nations League Finals – 4th out of 4 teams (lost to Panama in semis, lost to Canada in 3rd place match)

The results of the 2024 Copa América prompted U.S. Soccer to make at change at the head coaching position, replacing Gregg Berhalter with Mauricio Pochettino. However, the team under Pochettino failed to win the Concacaf Nations League after winning the first three editions of the tournament. That has placed even more pressure on the team and the coach to perform well this summer and claim the Gold Cup title.

As the team was seeking to test itself against the best teams in the world, the general sentiment was that playing teams from Concacaf – outside of maybe Mexico – was not helping the team get better. However, they have failed to win in 3 of the 5 major tournaments since the 2022 World Cup, and Concacaf was involved in each of them. Panama has either eliminated or helped to eliminate the USMNT from each of those tournaments, further adding to the idea that the team needs to focus on beating the teams in front of them in the region.

Group D at the Gold Cup will pose some challenges, with the USMNT facing Trinidad & Tobago, Saudi Arabia, and Haiti in June in San Jose, Austin, and Dallas. Trinidad & Tobago has beaten them twice in official competitions in the past 8 seasons dating back to that fateful night in Couva, while Haiti has always given the USMNT trouble. Saudi Arabia and the USMNT drew in a pre-World Cup friendly in September 2022, but the Saudis are not scared of any team and will try to take it to a United States team that many think are reeling.

So, to ensure that progress is made, what does that mean for the USMNT? It means that the approach needs to be serious with the goal to win while putting their best foot forward. It is expected that Mauricio Pochettino will bring his A roster to the Gold Cup, outside of the players who may be injured and those players (Tim Weah, Weston McKennie, Gio Reyna) who will be unavailable due to the Club World Cup.

Photo by Robin Alam/ISI Photos/Getty Images

It will not be a time for experimentation. The team needs to inject some positivity into the fanbase, to show them that they can be once again comfortable in defending home turf during a major tournament. They have to play with the vigor that will be needed to make a run at the World Cup and that vigor, tenacity, never quit mentality shouldn’t fluctuate based on the perceived level of the opponent. How the team feels it should play in order to beat Germany should be how they play against Grenada or Guatemala. How they fought to try and beat England in the 2022 World Cup should be how they take the field in the Concacaf Nations League against El Salvador. The toughness that is present in a draw against Brazil cannot be absent in a match against Belize.

A big step is recognizing that the improvement needs to come and the awareness that it starts with each player individually bringing the passion to USMNT camp every time. “The mentality has to change,” Tyler Adams said before the Concacaf Nations League third place match against Canada. “We’ve had good talks about where we are and where we need to go, just an honest evaluation and then there needs to be a response.” Fans didn’t see it against Canada, which was another loss, but fans want to see that mentality this summer. The Gold Cup, and the preceding friendlies against Türkiye and Switzerland, will be the last prime opportunity for the team to show they can win a major tournament on home soil.

Ultimately, Mauricio Pochettino wants the fans to be positive about the outlook of the United States Men’s National Team. “I want to send the message to the fans: don’t be pessimistic or get bad feelings,” he said after the loss to Canada back on March 23rd. “I don’t want the people to feel pessimistic. Disappointed? Disappointed, we are all. And the fans need to feel the disappointment that we didn’t win. But I don’t want to allow (them) to feel pessimistic, because I think we have good players. We are going to find a way to perform. And for sure we are going to compete in a different way. And (at) the end, we are going to get different results than [against Panama] and [Canada].”

If the USMNT can’t get to the Gold Cup final with a real chance to claim the team’s eighth Gold Cup title, the pessimism will only grow. And on the cusp of the biggest moment in American men’s soccer history, the last thing the USMNT want to do is to flub on the sitter and blow a great opportunity to create a lasting legacy. Regret can’t be on the menu in 2027, but it could be if they blow the amazing opportunity 2026 presents.

Winning the Gold Cup won’t mean that the team will emerge as the favorites to win the World Cup. It will give the fanbase some much needed juice and it will give everyone confidence. That’s going to be much needed as they prepare to host the world, and it’s why the 2025 Gold Cup is so vital to the USMNT’s progress on the path towards success.