{"id":62070,"date":"2025-07-13T11:06:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T11:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/62070\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T11:06:32","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T11:06:32","slug":"usmnt-captain-has-high-hopes-for-2026-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/62070\/","title":{"rendered":"USMNT captain has high hopes for 2026 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As Tyler Adams stood tucked away from the adoring group of youth soccer players, family and friends that had gathered in Wappinger Falls for a special ceremony to honor the U.S. Men\u2019s National Team captain, he couldn\u2019t help but smile.<\/p>\n<p>In the grand scheme of things, Adams has had a lot to smile about as of late, first with the United States\u2019 run in the Gold Cup \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/07\/06\/sports\/usmnt-blows-early-lead-for-heartbreaking-loss-to-mexico-in-gold-cup-final\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">which ended in a frustrating 2-1 loss to Mexico in the final<\/a> \u2014 and now having the soccer field where he grew up playing renamed in his honor.<\/p>\n<p>With the house his grandmother used to live in steps behind him and the field that he told The Post this week had \u201ctoo many memories to tell you\u201d about in front of him, it was difficult to distinguish what he was prouder of in the moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis one means an awful lot to me,\u201d said Adams, who has partnered with Scotts lawn care products to support youth access to natural-turf sports fields and give away five natural-turf field refurbishments to youth sports nonprofit organizations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was a camper there once. Now to see so many young kids there that have a role model and kind of shows that I\u2019m doing the right thing, or continuing to try to do the right thing, is really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The quick stop home was a welcome break after the grueling run the USMNT had during the Gold Cup that took place from June 14-July 6, the final competitive matches the team will play before next year\u2019s World Cup \u2014 which will be hosted, in part, by the United States.<\/p>\n<p>The attention now will only increase in the lead-up to the World Cup, which is being viewed as a monumental moment for soccer in the United States. <\/p>\n<p>The U.S. team faces pressure to make a run with the tournament on home turf.<\/p>\n<p>USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams takes a penalty shot during penalties in their quarterfinal win over Costa Rica in the Gold Cup. Matt Blewett-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Asked if there was any concern when several marquee American players didn\u2019t participate in the Gold Cup \u2014 star Christian Pulisic created the biggest waves opting to take time to rest \u2014 Adams said he didn\u2019t \u201cfeel any single way\u201d about it and they \u201cmade a decision that was best for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are continuing to build a culture that we want to build, and I think that showed throughout the tournament,\u201d Adams said.<\/p>\n<p>Days after the Gold Cup had wrapped up, Adams looked back and noted the growth the team went through during the tournament and the depth it developed heading into 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Adams will return to his club team \u2014 Bournemouth \u2014 now that the Gold Cup is over. AP<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you come away from this tournament, the amount of players that gained experience now going into a World Cup,\u201d Adams said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many variables that go into a World Cup, and to give these guys experience now, every single player that represented the national team during that tournament deserves to be. They\u2019ve all played amazing at their clubs. They\u2019ve all grown tremendously.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Adams noted the excitement he got from seeing so many MLS players as part of the USMNT \u2014 one of whom was New York City FC goaltender Matt Freese, who became a breakout star during the Gold Cup. Freese appeared in every match during the Gold Cup and made six saves in the loss to Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew that he would be important to our team, and the way that he stepped up in so many different occasions,\u201d said Adams, who started his professional soccer career with the Red Bulls. \u201cPeople obviously talk about the penalty shootout and the saves that he had, but just his personality and how he grew into himself throughout the tournament was amazing. You know, he made big saves in the final against Mexico. He\u2019s going to be an important player for us moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tyler Adams passes the ball during USMNT\u2019s loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Adams will return to his club team \u2014 Bournemouth \u2014 now that the Gold Cup is over. <\/p>\n<p>The New York native will play locally later this month when Bournemouth visits MetLife Stadium as part of the Premier League Summer Series.<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old mentioned one thing his teammates will need to do to be ready for 2026 is to put themselves in the \u201cright environment,\u201d noting that some players will move teams, among other potential changes between now and the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have guys that were on loan, guys in MLS that want to move to Europe, and vice versa,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just about finding that balance and understanding if it\u2019s the right move for you to put yourself in the best position for the team next year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Tyler Adams stood tucked away from the adoring group of youth soccer players, family and friends that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":62071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,221,62,67,586,132,5230,68,33686,2969,21490],"class_list":{"0":"post-62070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-us-mens-national-team","23":"tag-usa","24":"tag-world-cup"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114845606655982705","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}