Teuta Durres Overview

In March, after the U.S. men's national team suffered back-to-back humblings at the hands of Belgium and Portugal, Mauricio Pochettino wondered aloud about the players he had at his disposal. Whether that vocal wondering came from a place of honesty or from a place of motivation, only Pochettino knows. The only certainty was that his assessment was blunt: his team, man for man, wasn't as good as the elite.

GOAL’s complete USMNT FIFA World Cup 2026 viewing guide, including how to watch for free and without cable!

Does it have anything to do with the TMNT? Here's how the US soccer teams' abbreviations may have come along

GOAL takes a look at the big storylines and takeaways in the latest installment of the USMNT notebook.