The question of what success would look like for the U.S. men’s national team has brought differing answers.
Read more What’s next for the Lakers after LeBron James bids farewell to LA?
Mauricio Pochettino, along with the team and staff, is thinking big.
“Making history is winning the World Cup. It’s not winning three matches only within the World Cup,” the USMNT coach said after Thursday’s 3-2 Group D finale loss against Türkiye. “What does it mean to win three matches if you lose the next one?”
The “next one” is Wednesday’s Round of 32 clash against Bosnia-Herzegovina. The USMNT finished first in Group D, while Bosnia-Herzegovina was the third-place team in Group B.
A loss wouldn’t label this as a successful tournament. A Round of 16 exit probably wouldn’t either, considering that’s been the exit ramp in the last three trips to the World Cup.
“Quarterfinals, for sure,” former USMNT star DaMarcus Beasley said before the tournament began of an attainable goal for the national team. “And then after that, it depends on who you get and it’s tough because in the past, we have not done well with the Top 10, Top 15 countries in the world of football. It’s been difficult.”
Beasley, the only man in U.S. Soccer history to play in four World Cups, was 20 when he made the 2002 team. That squad holds its place in national team history, advancing to the quarterfinals and coming close to moving to the semifinals before falling 1-0 to Germany.
“To be able to beat one of those teams, one of those favorites to get to a semifinal,” he said. “That’s tough. The World Cup is difficult, but I hope they do much better than what we did in ’02.”
Aside from a semifinals appearance in the first World Cup in 1930, which hosted just 13 teams, the 2002 club is the bar for all national teams to meet.
Wednesday offers the current group a chance to continue its pursuit of history. This is the first FIFA World Cup with a Round of 32, meaning the U.S. still has a lot of work to do to even reach the Round of 16. A win Wednesday would advance the U.S. to the Round of 16 on Monday in Seattle against Belgium or Senegal.
The path to the World Cup final is littered with European teams, which have proven to be a giant obstacle for the U.S. The U.S. has lost its last 10 games against European foes and has only one win in its last 18 matches. The last win came in 2021 against Northern Ireland.
Read more LeBron James tells Lakers he won’t be back next season
Despite the outlook, confidence reigns within the USMNT.
“We’re very confident,” defender Sergino Dest said. “We finished finished first in the group and that’s a difference already. I think everybody’s confident, we’re more experienced, we have better chemistry, I feel like, and we’re just in a good headspace. Everybody’s concentrated and the whole country believes, so I think that’s in our advantage. We still have belief that we can do it and that’s what we’ve got to show on Wednesday.”
Dest, along with Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson, Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic, was a starter in the Round of 16 loss in 2022 against the Netherlands.
“I feel like there is pressure, but in a healthy type of way,” Dest said. “Because we all have belief that we know that we can do it, so we want to do it, but pressure in a negative way, we don’t feel. Our belief is big and our focus is big.”
Bosnia-Herzegovina, ranked 63rd by FIFA, qualified through a UEFA playoff, eventually securing a World Cup spot by defeating Italy. In the group stage, the Bosnians drew with Canada (1-1), lost to Switzerland (4-1) in Inglewood, and ended with a 3-1 win over Qatar.
Aside from the 2014 World Cup, this is just the second tournament appearance for the Bosnians.
Coach Sergej Barbarez said after the group stage that “we will try to take on any team that comes our way. We are confident enough to face anyone.”
Ream, a defender and the USMNT captain, believes the group is prepared for anything that might present itself.
“If we do everything that we’ve done up to this point, we’re going to put ourselves in the best possible position to move on in the tournament,” Ream said. “It’s just focusing on us and what we need to do to accomplish the next step and that’s doing everything we did in the group stage and then some, because you are going to have to do more and more as the tournament goes on.
Read more Not so fast: Beloved bakery in Orange decides to stay open
“We’re absolutely where we want to be and ready to go for whatever happens.”
FIFA WORLD CUP ROUND OF 32
Who: United States vs. Bosnia Herzegovina
When: 5 p.m. Wednesday
Where: Santa Clara
TV: FOX, Peacock, Telemundo (Spanish)