USMNT’s 2026 World Cup hopefuls can draw on shared experiences this January

Doug McIntyre

Soccer Journalist

In the days and weeks after the United States men got knocked out of last summer’s Olympics in Paris, it was difficult to regard the tournament as a success.

Sure, these American men had qualified for an Olympics for the first time since 2008 and then survived a group that included host nation France. But the young U.S. squad, made up mostly of players 23 years old or younger per FIFA rules, was soundly outclassed in a dispiriting 4-0 quarterfinal drubbing by Morocco that didn’t appear to reflect well on the USMNT program’s depth.

History could look at that team differently.

Five members of the 2024 Olympic side are currently in camp with the senior squad under coach Mauricio Pochettino. And with America’s top talent — European-based stars like Christian Pulisic and Tyler Adams — unavailable this month because they’re busy playing for their clubs, several have the chance to impress Pochettino over almost two weeks of training sessions in Florida and in friendly games against Venezuela and Costa Rica.

“For me, the Olympics was a huge learning experience,” 21-year-old midfielder Jack McGlynn said ahead of Saturday’s meeting with the Venezuelans in Fort Lauderdale.

McGlynn made his senior U.S. debut last January, under then coach Gregg Berhalter. Same for fellow 2024 Olympians John Tolkin and Patrick Schulte. Inter Miami’s Benjamin Cremaschi won his lone senior cap in late 2023.

All of them have grown as players since then, and representing their country at a major international competition — even one that ended in disappointment — is part of the reason why.

“The Olympics is very tough,” said Cremaschi, 19. “It’s very short. It comes and goes. But I feel like we had a good group. We played against some tough opponents, and we fell short. But as a group, we were happy with how we prepared, how we performed on some occasions.

“Hopefully the next time I have an opportunity like that,” he added, “I could show my experience. I have been there, so I know how the pressure is. I know how it feels.”

That matters. Correlation isn’t causation, but the evidence suggests that getting youngsters major tournament reps helps when the next World Cup rolls around.

The best American World Cup performance since 1930 came in 2002, when the USMNT reached the quarterfinals. Two years earlier in Sydney, Australia, many members of that squad led the U.S. to the Olympic semis. Similarly, the Americans’ shocking failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup was foreshadowed by missing out on Olympic appearances in 2012 and ’16.

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It’s not just the youngsters who arrived in South Florida last week who are better prepared this time around. Center back Walker Zimmerman started three of the USMNT’s four World Cup games in 2022, but injuries have limited him to just four appearances since. Yet Zimmerman was named as one of the three over-agers permitted on the U.S. Olympic roster, along with Miles Robinson and Djordje Mihailovic. With Robinson and fellow Qatar 2022 vets Tim Ream, Shaq Moore and Jesús Ferreira also on this January roster, Zimmerman has long-established relationships with a significant percentage of this squad. That’s helped him hit the ground running this month.

“I did get to know a lot of these guys at the Olympics and build a lot of chemistry with them and just become good friends on and off the field,” Zimmerman said. “That’s always fun, just getting back together and hanging out again.”

The priority remains on business, though. There’s a World Cup on home soil next year, and everybody wants to be part of it. While Pochettino focused on fitness during the first few days of this camp with the almost entirely MLS-based roster between seasons, the Argentine still expects to win these exhibitions. The U.S. lost standalone January games in 2023 and ’24.

With precious little time to waste, the newcomers must get up to speed quickly if any are to stick around when Pulisic, Adams and all the other locks return in March for the Concacaf Nations League final four. Twenty of the 24 players in Florida are getting their first experience under Pochettino. Any existing familiarity they have with each other could prove invaluable.

“Everything counts,” Ream said. “Everything matters every single day, from the minute you wake up till you go to sleep. It’s important to understand that and understand what he wants.

“That’s something that we’ve all learned from his first two camps,” continued Ream, who served as Pochettino’s captain in October and November. “The guys who are in now in January [are getting] their first taste of it, they’re understanding even through the first two days how important that is.”

Even if the payoff doesn’t arrive until 2026.

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports who has covered the United States men’s and women’s national teams at FIFA World Cups on five continents. Follow him at @ByDougMcIntyre.

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