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The United States has been waiting for men’s soccer to take off; it has been close, but next summer could be the big ascend.
Next year, of course, marks the first time since 1994 that the United States will host the World Cup (along with Canada and Mexico).
The U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) has yet to get over the hump, but they have reached the knockout stage in each of their last two World Cups. With one good showing, former USMNT star Clint Dempsey thinks the sport could be the next big thing in America.
“When I think back to the 1994 World Cup and going to my first game in Dallas, because of how well the U.S. team did and how much the game grew because of having the World Cup here, I’m curious to see what will happen from a good showing next year, if the U.S. can perform well, what could come of that,” Dempsey told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. “It’s too many times it seems like every four years, everybody that’s mainstream American taking notice instead of mainstream American taking notice every year.
“You have [Lionel] Messi moving the needle in terms of creating an impact in mainstream media, but if the U.S. have a great showing at the World Cup, the sky is the limit as to what can be accomplished. I am a little bit nervous, though, right now, but I’m looking forward to a strong showing at the Gold Cup to get a dance for the big dance in 2026.”
Why is Dempsey nervous? Well, not advancing out of the group stage in the Copa América last year, a tournament that only includes countries in North and South America, on their own home soil will do that.
“It was a failure. You’re the only host country to not get out of the group stage in COPA America,” Dempsey said bluntly.
“But they can get back on track. I think [head coach Mauricio Pochettino] needs a little more time with them. Hopefully Gold Cup, strong showing, get back on track, and try to do something special.”
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The World Cup will naturally garner viewers and grow the game on its own. However, Dempsey has always felt a “responsibility” to do it himself. So, that is why he has partnered with Abbott, the Official Health and Nutrition Sciences Partner of Real Madrid Football Club, to make the Abbott Dream Team.
Abbott and Real Madrid are hosting soccer tryouts for 18- and 19-year-olds in Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Dallas this summer, when the 11 top players will travel abroad on an all-expenses-paid trip to Ciudad Real Madrid in Valdebebas, Madrid this fall.
“I’m happy to give kids a platform to chase their dreams. One of those cities to try out happens to be Dallas where I kind of started it all. It comes full circle for me, as that’s where I played my club ball growing up in the classic league. So look forward to being a part of that,” Dempsey said. “These young players have an opportunity to chase their dreams and also learn about nutrition to prolong their careers if they get lucky enough to get to do this as a profession. I’m happy to get people be a part of something that gives people the chance to chase their dreams, because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about. I was lucky enough to make it my dream and do it for a living.”
“I just kind of always felt like I’ve been trying to grow the game in terms of trailblazing, but at the same time, if you have opportunities like this to give back and give people that platform to have those experiences, it’s special, because that’s what life’s about,” he added. “I have six kids, and it’s pretty busy chasing them around, and sometimes it feels like you’re an Uber driver, but’s it’s me watching them try to chase their dreams. That’s what this life is about. You wanna give people the chance to to do something special in their life so you can be at peace and look back be happy with everything. So that’s just kind of I’m at in life. I wanna help people out, and this was a perfect platform for that.”
Dempsey, like all of us, is hoping the word “failure” is not brought up next summer during the World Cup. The USMNT can avoid that, Dempsey said, as long as they can continue what they have done in recent Cups.
“At the bare minimum, I think you have to get out of the group. If you don’t the group, it’s a failure,” Dempsey said. “There’s gonna be a lot of pressure on this team for being one of the host countries, and not getting out of the group will be a failure. It starts with getting out of the group, get people believing, and anything can happen when you get into the knockout rounds.”
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