Josh Sargent vows improvement following tough USMNT camp

Josh Sargent didn’t sugarcoat it when asked about the U.S. men’s national team’s disappointing CONCACAF Nations League window last month.

“It was a tough camp to say the least, I think, for everybody, to be honest. It definitely didn’t go the way we expected it to,” Sargent said in an interview with English outlet Pink UN. 

The USMNT lost both of their matches in Final Four play, falling to both Panama and Canada to finish fourth in the 2024-25 edition of the tournament.

Sargent, who started against the Panamanians in semifinal action, failed to end his five-year international goal drought, striking the post once and also scoring on an offsides play. 

The Missouri native didn’t feature in the USMNT’s 2-1 loss to Canada in the third-place match, admitting he tried his hardest in the window overall. 

“With my performance, there was an unlucky deflection that hit the post, and I scored another goal that was offside,” Sargent said. 

“So I don’t want to say I was thrilled about my performance because overall it was just a very lacklustre game,” he added. “But I just try my hardest every time I’m out there, and then it’s the coach’s decision.”

Injuries have hurt Sargent’s USMNT chances over the past three seasons despite his consistent goalscoring production with Norwich City. Sargent has been a regular contributor for the Canaries in the last two EFL Championship campaigns, but hasn’t been able to translate that production over to the international level.

While Sargent’s main focus remains on helping Norwich City get back to the English Premier League, he continues to keep one eye on improving with the USMNT at every opportunity. 

“It’s not like I’ve been at every single camp for five years,” Sargent said. “I think it’s an easy thing to say that I don’t score a lot for the national team, which obviously I want to be in form with the national team and score there as well.

“So I’ve just got to keep working hard and try to make that happen,” he said.

Sargent and Norwich City travel to last place Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.