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Dax McCarty Apple TVGOAL
Ryan Tolmich

‘I feel pride watching this team again’ - Apple TV’s Dax McCarty on Mauricio Pochettino rebuilding the USMNT and what he expects at the World Cup

Mic’d Up: The former USMNT midfielder breaks down the team’s revival, Pochettino’s culture reset and what he expects from next summer’s World Cup.

There was a point earlier this year when just about everyone had questions about the U.S. men’s national team - and those questions came from a very real sense of anxiety. One year out from the World Cup, the USMNT simply didn’t look ready. After an embarrassing CONCACAF Nations League defeat, a new-look squad walked into the Gold Cup amid debates about passion, desire and team culture. 

Dax McCarty was among those asking the same questions. A former USMNT midfielder, McCarty didn’t reach that level because of elite athleticism or technical gifts; he earned it through heart and intelligence. That’s not a slight - it’s the truth. His 13 caps and nearly 18-year MLS career were built on being sharper and more determined than almost everyone around him. And in recent years, he’d watched a U.S. team that seemed to be losing those qualities. 

That’s no longer the case, from his point of view. A string of big results in the fall reinforced that those foundations are back. The U.S. are a team that fights again, and McCarty couldn't be happier to see it. 

"I feel a sense of pride watching this team again, which is something that's really exciting heading into, for me, the biggest sporting event in the history of the sport coming up with the 2026 World Cup," the Apple TV analyst told GOAL. "You just wanted to watch a team that cared, a team that was going to put it all on the line for the red, white and blue and for that jersey. I don't think this is to say that players that represent our country in our national team didn't care before; I think it's just to say that we didn't see that manifest itself on the field all the time, right?" 

You can count McCarty among the believers now. After seeing the U.S. take down multiple World Cup-bound teams, the longtime midfielder believes that this team is now ready for the gauntlet set to come their way next summer. The questions no longer focus on the team’s flaws; they focus on how far this team can go now that this group has put some of those flaws behind them. 

McCarty talks about that evolution and his hopes for the USMNT in the latest edition of Mic'd Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL taps into the perspective of analysts, announcers and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.

NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.