First Touch ’26 - USA

2026 could be the biggest year in the history of American soccer. As co-hosts of the largest World Cup ever, the U.S. men’s national team enters the tournament with real expectations—and a familiar question hanging over everything: is this finally the tipping point where the sport stops disappearing for four years at a time? In this World Cup Capsule, David Gass breaks down the full story of the Red, White, and Blue, with USMNT icon Clint Dempsey weighing in on what a deep run could mean for the country.

We trace the surprisingly deep roots of the game in the United States—early leagues, the American Soccer League boom of the 1920s, and the chaos of the Soccer Wars—before jumping into the NASL fever dream, when Pelé, Cruyff, Beckenbauer and the Cosmos made soccer feel like the center of the sports universe. From there, we revisit the moments that built modern U.S. soccer: the legendary 1950 upset over England, the 1994 World Cup that changed fandom forever, and the roller coaster era from 2002’s quarterfinal run to “Go Go USA” in 2010, the 2014 Group of Death, and the 2018 failure that still stings.

Then it’s all about now: a host nation with a golden generation in Europe, a new era under Mauricio Pochettino, and a squad trying to rediscover the edge that defined past U.S. teams. We spotlight Diego Luna as the young player to watch—fearless, feisty, and quickly becoming the fan favorite symbol of old-school USMNT grit—and we frame the stakes plainly: in a manageable Group D with Paraguay, Australia, and one more European opponent to be determined, anything less than a quarterfinal run on home soil will feel like a disappointment.

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