There are less than six months until World Cup 2026, and while Auld Lang Syne might still be on your lips, yet to be replaced with It’s Coming Home, there is not much time to prepare for what will be the largest ever World Cup.
With 48 teams competing in 104 matches, across three countries (USA, Mexico, Canada) with 16 cities in the US alone, it’s huge.
If you just read that and see only a slurry of numbers you better realise that you have limited time to buy tickets – they’re tripled the price of Qatar’s World Cup in the US – book hotels, and start reading maps, as the land mass between these cities of play will be of monumental proportion and no rail system will easily whisk you around. Choose your matches wisely.
A Yank’s Guide to the Stars and Stripes
If you’re solely an England supporter these choices won’t be as difficult, but if you fancy a second team, or are interested in following the US Men’s national team (hereafter referred to as the USMNT) you might want to get to know what the host country’s team will look like as they play on home soil.
I asked ChatGPT what team in the World Cup most resembles West Ham in character and I got Paraguay, Australia and USMNT.
While ironically all three of these teams will be playing in Group D during the group stages, as one of Blowing Bubbles few Yank writers, I thought I’d give you a side-by-side comparison of West Ham to the USMNT so that you can cheer on the stars and stripes when not supporting the three lions, and in so doing support a gritty underdog like West Ham.
Ownership Chaos and Underdog Status
What makes West Ham like the USA team? Is it the fact that they both have a controversial, smut peddling “owner” who makes horrible decisions, has constant protest marches against their leadership, and relies on a brand to sell their image rather than in-depth institutionally sound planning? But that’s not the reason they are so alike.
The USNMT team, like West Ham, is a mid to lower tier team within their respective realm. The US is always expected to make some sort of show of it on the premier stage, just like West Ham, but with no real expected results, just some hope, prayers and metaphorical bubbles.
And while the US might be one of the most powerful and wealthiest nations that need not require any sympathy, our football (henceforth referred to as soccer) team is diminutive comparatively with the sport once ranking 7th in most popular sports behind Nascar racing, and now having only having risen to 4th place behind other American past times.
Rivals and Rising Stars
Our main rivals? Canada and Mexico. While Canada is more like the Spurs, who are a posh type rival whom we look down on, Mexico is more like a Millwall who we get dirty and gritty with and walk away usually bloodied; though Mexico is far superior at actual gameplay.
This rise in popularity coincides with the fact that this is the largest group of our players – 17 in total – who are currently playing in the top five football leagues: 5 (PL); 2 (La Liga); 3 (Serie A); 5 (Bundesliga); 2 (Ligue 1).
So like West Ham, we come ready to play, but with little hopes of winning. But this is our country, our tournament, and even though we naturally qualified, our current win record would put us in.
And just like the Conference League to West Ham, our first group stage will be an easier one as we seeded first: Paraguay, Australia and a yet to be named country from Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, or Kosovo.
The Managerial Parallel: From Moyes to Pochettino
There is new hope in having changed managers: after having Greg Berhalter at the helm for six years who had a very strict, disciplined style similar to David Moyes with good success in small competitions, but limited in big competitions where consistency and predictability were valued over dynamic play, creativity, and adaptability, the USMNT have gone with Pochettino.
Instead of a downward spiral that West Ham saw in choosing Nuno, there is still like comparisons in the newness of the manager (only 10 games under Poch so far) and that Nuno and Poch will both respectively want more from transitions in their team: both are attempts to move from rigid pragmatism to adaptive, transition based football.
Each change reflects a desire to energise the team, embrace flexibility, and shake off predictability but both carry risks of inconsistency if the balance between structure and freedom isn’t managed well. Both rely on a gritty, underdog mentality built on defensive counterattacks, direct play and set pieces.
Pulisic, McKennie, and Tactical Similarities
Thus far the US team, even with Poch, has yet to have real impact in the final third, just like West Ham.
The US relies on Christian Pulisic on the wing, and just like Jarrod Bowen, he has an underdeveloped relationship with his rotating strikers in Folarin Balogun, Ricardo Pepi, and Josh Sargent similar to Bowen’s difficulty in forming a true pairing with Wilson, Fulkrig or Soucek.
Westin McKennie only slightly resembles Soucek in that they’re a hardworking box-to-box, with an aerial threat and the engine room of the team, but McKennie differs as does most of the USMNT team in that he’s young and more tactically versatile.
And there are further comparisons with Gio Reyna and Lucas Paqueta who are both creative flairs on the team, but have offered up inconsistent passages of play, as well as drama for the team.
Looking Toward the Quarter Finals
While both the USMNT and West Ham have reached a higher stage than before they still find themselves struggling with identity and respect in the big league.
I predict that the US team will get out of the group stage and maybe fare well to the Round of 16 as they did four years ago. Under Poch and with higher quality players, they stand a fair chance, but like West Ham you really have no idea.
So although I know most’ve you will be supporting England and America’s world dominance and current political theatre draws no sympathy, you might want to give a look over to the youthful bunch of underdogs who are trying to carry football into the hearts of Americans to make soccer climb as a national sport in popularity and try to rise enough to maintain dignity as the host nation.
There’s no possibility that the US will even play England until the Quarter finals, so pick a city (I recommend Philly) and support the US when you’re not supporting England so that hopefully we can find one thing nationally and internally to unite on in this New Year.
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