One wouldn’t exactly call this year a fruitful one for the U.S. Men’s National Team. While a few international windows have seen them secure decent victories, most have ended in disappointment, whether it was falling short in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinals or, more recently, losing the CONCACAF Gold Cup final. Simply put, they haven’t looked like a team worthy of hosting the World Cup. And although there’s still time to turn things around with crucial friendlies on the horizon, iconic USMNT forward Alexi Lalas thinks otherwise.
The American boys just went back to their respective domestic setups after the unfortunate 1-2 Gold Cup final defeat to Mexico. Now, the next time they will be returning to the field is after two months, where they are bound to play two friendlies against South Korea on September 6 at Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, New Jersey, and Japan on September 9 at Lower.com Field, Columbus, Ohio.
Then, after a span of over three weeks, they’ll again gather around for the October window, facing Ecuador on October 10 at Q2 Stadium, North Austin, Texas, as well as Australia on October 14 at DSG Park, Commerce City, Colorado. Though both of these next windows would present some significant challenges for Mauricio Pochettino and Co., Lalas still views it as games that won’t challenge the boys much.
“The future schedule of the US men’s national team is really going to be interesting for a number of different reasons,” began the former American defender while speaking on The State of the Union podcast, “not the least of which is who Pochettino is going to call in for these matches. The other part of it is that the US is not qualifying, and so they are all going to be friendly games.”
Though Lalas respects opponents like South Korea and Japan—solid teams with consistent World Cup appearances—he still believes they present a meaningful challenge. In fact, the former LA Galaxy star has a gut feeling that the USMNT could end up facing teams of similar caliber when the group draw takes place in December.
(This is a developing story…)
The post Soccer Icon Alexi Lalas Warns USMNT Coach Over 2026 World Cup Despite Crucial Match Lineup appeared first on EssentiallySports.
