It would have been nice to get a win against Costa Rica to end World Cup qualifying. In what felt like a 90-minute countdown until the United States could call themselves qualifiers of the 2022 World Cup, they did not play well by any means. But when the final whistle rang, none of that mattered anymore. The celebration had begun.
It has been a long eight years. The year was 2014. Barack Obama was president. Adam Silver just took over as NBA Commissioner. A Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared. Jay Leno was still hosting the Tonight Show. Julian Green was the emerging star for the U.S. I was just starting high school. Now? It is two presidents later. There has been a worldwide pandemic. I am a month away from graduating college, and there is a real, young core that includes European standouts Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, and Sergiño Dest.
American soccer fans have waited a long, long time to play in the World Cup again. For some young fans, this will be the first World Cup with the U.S. that they can really remember. While we unfortunately all have to wait until November due to the tournament being played in the unfriendly climate of Qatar, eight months is nothing compared to the eight years it has been thus far.
Though it still took the United States until the last day of World Cup qualifying to officially earn their spot, this time feels a bit different than the teams of years past. This is a new generation ready to make their mark and put America on the world football map. Gone are the days of Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley, who despite their career successes, were not the caliber of players that these young stars are who play for the best teams in the world including Chelsea, Juventus, and Barcelona.
Center back Walker Zimmerman is the oldest player that is consistently in the starting XI and he is just 28 years old. Perhaps the U.S. still is not on the level of the likes of France, Brazil, and England but in a tournament, you never know what can happen. That is the hope that the World Cup brings, and what American fans have been waiting on for such a long time. Perhaps 2026 is a bit more of a realistic timeline, as the World Cup will be played in the U.S. and the aforementioned players will be in the primes of their careers. But in the meantime, Americans can finally sleep well knowing that they will see their country compete on the biggest stage of them all in November 2022.
The fans can take solace that their captain is far from satisfied. In the post-match interview, the man who has been dubbed “Captain America” by Americans and Chelsea fans alike, Christian Pulisic was asked his thoughts. His response? “It’s a bit of a weird feeling right now because I hate to lose so much.”
Growing up playing soccer, every coach would always say that everybody likes to win, but a hatred for losing is what really pushes people to achieve great things. The fact that the American soccer leader is not complacent with just qualifying for the World Cup says a lot about what the future of the United States soccer program looks like. Hopes are high, and I, along with every American fan of the sport, should be ecstatic that the players are ready to embrace the expectations and take U.S. soccer to a new level.
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