Who had ranch dressing or Waffle House or pantomiming rowing a boat among the topics of discussion when the World Cup initially touched down on these shores?
Read more World Cup: Pochettino has instilled belief within his soccer team, and across the country
I will admit it: I certainly didn’t expect much 2½ weeks ago, before this tournament began its 39-day run in North America. Here in the U.S., little was expected of the men’s national team, which has been traditionally second fiddle to the four-time women’s World Cup champions and usually would be considered a success if it merely got out of group play.
Who could have guessed, for example, that Mauricio Pochettino, the Argentinian who had been hired to lead the national team this World Cup cycle – and already has an offer of a contract extension for the next four years, according to The Athletic – could turn out to be a Spanish-speaking Herb Brooks?
That Fox ad depicting what a World Cup championship celebration in this country might look like ended with Mike Eruzione, one of the architects of the 1980 Winter Olympics hockey gold medal, telling a USMNT skeptic, “What, you don’t believe in miracles?” And after Our Boys’ convincing group-stage victories over Paraguay and Australia put them in the Round of 32, people actually have been daring to dream.
Not to throw cold water on the whole Miracle on Sod scenario, or Pochettino’s “Why not US” mantra. But the USMNT still needs two victories in the knockout round to get to the quarterfinals, thanks to the bloated 48-team field that fulfilled FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s vision of more teams, more games and more money. It’s a steeper hill than it’s ever been.
That said, the 3-2 loss to Türkiye on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium – on a score at the very end of stoppage time, the closest thing soccer has to a walkoff goal – ended an intense game but really wasn’t that much of a negative from the USMNT standpoint.
It didn’t change the Round of 32 opponent, Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. And it (a) got some players who haven’t been playing some time on the pitch, (b) specifically enabled Christian Pulisic to get back in action and demonstrate that he’s back in good health, and (c) shielded the four players who had yellow cards from possibly incurring another and missing that first knockout round game.
Plus, a loss always gets a team’s attention.
ALSO READ: What have we learned so far at this World Cup? Not much
So what really are the chances of a deep USMNT run? It might come down to just how much belief Pochettino has instilled in these players. (And yes, some fans held up a huge “BELIEVE” sign behind the north goal Thursday night at SoFi. Thanks, Ted Lasso!)
But some history: The USMNT finished third in the very first World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay, but there were only 13 teams entered and Argentina smoked the U.S. 6-1 in the semifinal before losing to the hosts. In the more modern iteration of the World Cup, the Americans have reached the quarterfinals only once, in 2002, by beating Mexico in the round of 16. (Ah, yes, dos a cero.)
As much as I’d like to believe they can get to the quarterfinals or even beyond, my first reaction is, “Well, good luck with that.”
Read more Los Alamitos consensus picks for Saturday, June 27, 2026
It’s how we’ve been conditioned. Like it or not, in worldwide soccer we are still a developing nation.
Yet there is another side to this World Cup, one equally as unexpected before the tournament began, when there were doubts as to just how welcoming this country and its government actually would be to its international visitors.
Some of those fears were realized early, with travelers – including a tournament referee – denied entry and the Iranian team switching its training base to Tijuana, for obvious reasons, even though its three group-play matches would be in the U.S.
But as the tournament has progressed, there have been the other, quirkier stories that have highlighted the human side of this World Cup. For example, overseas tourists becoming obsessed with ranch dressing. (I find that puzzling, actually. I can’t stand the stuff.)
Or visitors to a certain region of the country who were exposed to Waffle House restaurants – or Buc-ee’s (if you know, you know) – have come away impressed. Some have come away dazzled by the spacious (and opulent) NFL stadia used for this World Cup, which may say something about the facilities they’re used to back home.
Even the generic yellow school bus appears to have impressed them. Go figure.
And there are any number of YouTube videos describing our international visitors as shocked about the difference between what they expected and what they’ve experienced in the United States. In other words, people are a lot friendlier than they expected. Even fans vigorously singing along to “The Star-Spangled Banner” impressed them.
My reaction? Too bad Scotland’s Tartan Army didn’t make an appearance in SoCal. Or the Norwegian fans who pantomime rowing a boat, in unison, by the dozens. Our international visitors may be enjoying our culture, but they’ve given us things to smile about as well.
Which means that we had less reason to be apprehensive about this World Cup than we thought. Maybe the 2028 Olympic Games in L.A. will have the same sort of effect, showcasing the best of our culture instead of our fractured politics.
Read more Beach crowds, big surf call for increased safety measures at beaches ahead of July 4 weekend
And who knows? It’s not likely, but why not root for a Miracle on Sod?