{"id":614970,"date":"2025-12-06T01:51:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T01:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/614970\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T01:51:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T01:51:22","slug":"tyler-adams-says-usa-can-make-history-with-furthest-ever-world-cup-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/614970\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyler Adams says USA can make history with \u2018furthest ever\u2019 World Cup run"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 USA midfielder Tyler Adams said Friday the national team\u2019s \u201cbenchmark\u201d at the 2026 World Cup should be to go further in the tournament than any of its American predecessors.<\/p>\n

If Adams is considering only modern times, that would mean his eyes are on a dream run to the semifinals.<\/p>\n

If he knows his history, and specifically the USMNT\u2019s third-place finish at the inaugural 1930 World Cup, it means an even more lofty goal of reaching the final.<\/p>\n

Even after Friday\u2019s draw landed Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s team in a favorable group along with Paraguay, Australia and a European playoff qualifier, either of those outcomes next summer would be instantly classified as a monumental success.<\/p>\n

The context, Adams said, is that at the 2022 tournament, when only one of the USMNT\u2019s 26 players had been to a World Cup previously, \u201cwe couldn\u2019t set a bar or standard for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t know what to expect. We hadn\u2019t been through the process. We didn\u2019t know what it was gonna be like,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n

Adams, speaking Friday via video call two hours after the World Cup draw, continued: \u201cNow, looking back on it, I think we have more experience, we\u2019re a lot more mature, we\u2019ve grown a lot as individuals and as a team. Everyone\u2019s going to want us to say winning (the World Cup) is obviously the goal. Our idea is to win. That\u2019s the goal. But I think setting the benchmark of \u2018the furthest a U.S. team has gone\u2019 is also realistic.<\/p>\n

\"Tyler<\/p>\n

\n Tyler Adams and Christian Pulisic spoke remotely to the media Friday. (Jamie Sabau \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we want to go and make a run. But again, it\u2019s a game-by-game mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n

The USMNT\u2019s best finish at a modern World Cup came in 2002, when an unheralded team surprised global soccer by advancing from a group that also included Portugal, Poland and co-host South Korea. That U.S. team then beat Mexico 2-0, dos a cero, in the round of 16 \u2014 which remains the program\u2019s only knockout-round win at a World Cup. (It lost to Germany in the quarterfinals.)<\/p>\n

Bettering that result, presumably, would mean winning a quarterfinal \u2014 and winning three knockout-round games in total, because the World Cup\u2019s new expanded format includes a round of 32.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the same video call, U.S. forward Christian Pulisic seconded Adams but framed his answer slightly differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou kind of split it into different parts as well,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cObviously, the first goal is to make it out of the group. We know our opponents \u2014 well, two of them at least. \u2026 We have to finish in the top half of that group, that\u2019s our first goal. And then once we get there, it\u2019s a knockout tournament. And from there, no matter what round we lose in, we won\u2019t be happy. So we want to push as hard as we can. And we\u2019re gonna try to make a good run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both were speaking after the U.S. got group-stage matchups that were generally considered favorable. But he was not reacting to the draw, and certainly not interpreting it as \u201ceasy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no easy game at a World Cup. In fact, some of our hardest games in the previous World Cup were two against the lesser opponents,\u201d Pulisic said, presumably referring to Wales and Iran.<\/p>\n

Both were also asked about the spotlight that the 2026 World Cup will bring. The grandiosity of the occasion began to sink in Friday as they and millions of others watched the draw. Pulisic, though, sounded unfazed.<\/p>\n

\"Tyler<\/p>\n

\n Tyler Adams and Christian Pulisic helped the USA to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup. (John Todd \/ ISI Photos \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a World Cup. There\u2019s pressure no matter what,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cI don\u2019t think we see it as a bad thing. We\u2019ll be criticized, and I think that\u2019s normal. But, I mean, for me \u2014 and me and Tyler speak often \u2014 we\u2019re just looking forward to this. We\u2019ve been playing together for so long, since youth soccer. Being able to play a World Cup in our home country \u2014 I mean, you can\u2019t ask for anything better. It\u2019s what we dreamed of as kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is important to go into it with the mentality of, \u2018We\u2019re gonna enjoy it. We\u2019re gonna try to take in the whole experience. It\u2019s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,\u2019\u201d Pulisic added. \u201cBut obviously, when it gets down to it, we\u2019re going to be ready to fight, we\u2019re gonna give it everything we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams added: \u201cIt\u2019s just important to stay present in the moment, and just enjoy the moment. The performances will come, and you\u2019ll be at your best, when you enjoy the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying on home soil, of course there\u2019ll be pressure. But our job is pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tim<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe have to worry about how we are, and who we are, and what we are,\u201d Tim Ream said on a video call. (Vincent Carchietta \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Tim Ream: \u2018We have to focus on ourselves\u2019<\/p>\n

Defenders Tim Ream and Chris Richards, speaking on the same video call, were asked whether they\u2019d thought about potential best- and worst-case scenarios ahead of Friday\u2019s draw. Ream said he hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to focus on ourselves,\u201d Ream said. Pochettino and the staff have preached that to players, he added. \u201cWe have to worry about how we are, and who we are, and what we are.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point, you\u2019re gonna have to play some of the best teams. So, do you play \u2019em in the group stage? Do you play \u2019em in the knockouts? It doesn\u2019t really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richards added: \u201cIf you want to be the best, you gotta beat the best. So, regardless, we would\u2019ve had to play some tough countries. \u2026 There was really no easy route to get to a final. You always have to play some tough teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he concluded: \u201cOne thing Poch has really instilled in us is: If we play to the best of our abilities, no team can beat us. And I think we all firmly believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 USA midfielder Tyler Adams said Friday the national team\u2019s \u201cbenchmark\u201d at the 2026 World Cup should…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[186,157951,55985,168286,22709,1438,2558,10031,461,49,978,46400,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-614970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","10":"tag-international-football","11":"tag-mexico-mens-national-team","12":"tag-paraguay","13":"tag-romania","14":"tag-slovakia","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-turkey","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-us-mens-national-team","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115670122045754867","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}