‘Hungry and ambitious for what’s next’ - USMNT’s Max Arfsten turns page on World Cup and vows to ‘make noise’ as Middlesbrough transfer nears

After the USMNT's loss to Belgium in Seattle, all 26 players on the team went their separate ways. Some went home, some left for vacation, but everyone went somewhere.

Arfsten's somewhere was California. He needed to be there.

"I spent like a week at home with my family," he says. "I went to the beach for a little bit. I just took a little mental break. Then, I came back to Columbus, started training, and I just played in a couple games.

"It kind of just ends, and you have to move on, but it was such a massive moment that it's kind of hard to move on."

The moments within that moment are obvious. After just about six weeks together, there are plenty of obvious memories: goals, wins, celebrations.

"The national anthem," Arfsten says with a smile. "Whenever people ask me, I always say that just because they let everybody go out there, so I was out there every game. You're singing the national anthem at the World Cup, and the world's watching. In that moment, it seems like everyone is watching."

There are also some less obvious ones, the ones where no one is watching. Arfsten has been thinking about those a lot more lately, too.

"The stuff you remember most is the relationships you make," he says. "For me, me and a group of like five other teammates, we'd play cards every single night on the balcony at the hotel in Orange County. We'd just look at the ocean, play cards. That was like such a fun time because you just talk about stuff. You learn a lot about people."

In many ways, Arfsten is about to learn a lot about himself now. Middlesbrough is a long way from Orange County, but it's a move a long time coming, too.

Speaking to GOAL back in January, Arfsten said that he had two goals for himself in 2026. The first was to make the World Cup. He, of course, checked that one off. The second? To get to Europe. That one is about to happen, too.

On the surface, then, it would seem like everything is going to plan. It would seem that everything is coming somewhat easily. Arfsten says that couldn't be further from the truth.

"My whole journey, it feels like ups and downs and going through a lot of hurdles just to get to Columbus," he said in January. "To be where I am now, I feel like I'm just learning as I go. All of this is new to me. I feel like the one thing I want people to understand is that this isn't linear."

He's right. After breaking through at UC-Davis, Arfsten's sophomore season was cancelled due to COVID-19. After his junior season, he signed with San Jose Earthquakes II, but instead of catching on with the Quakes, the Fresno-born winger/wingback went to Columbus via the MLS Draft. Before he made his USMNT debut in the January 2025 camp, Arfsten had no national team experience. He was never a highly-touted youth prospect. Nothing came particularly easy.

Now, he's off to Boro, a club that has some familiar faces. USMNT teammates Sebastian Berhalter and Aidan Morris are already on the team, giving him some prior relationships to build on once he arrives in England. There will be no time to really adjust, though, as the club's Championship season starts on Aug. 15. Even prior to that, an EFL Cup opener against Wrexham is set for Aug. 7, which means Arfsten will be jumping right into a team preparing for competitive matches.

Before making that leap, though, Arfsten had one more moment as a member of the Columbus Crew. Before heading to England, he soaked up one last week as an MLS All-Star.

The All-Star experience was, in general, a fun one for Arfsten. He played 44 minutes in the game itself, helping the MLS All-Stars to a 4-3 win over their rivals from Liga MX.

One of the more fun parts of the week, though, was the time spent with Tim Ream and Matt Freese, Arfsten's two USMNT teammates in the team. That trio was bonded through their World Cup experience before going their separate ways after the Belgium defeat. This week, for just a few days, they got to be teammates again for the first time since.

"It's super cool to see them," Arfsten says. "Obviously, this summer, that's like your family for over a month, almost two months, and you're with them every single day, training with them, battling with them. You go through all those emotions together, so it's definitely a special bond and it's always fun to see them."

Ream concurs. It's been chaotic for all three since as the USMNT's MLS-based group has jumped right back into the regular season. Then this All-Star game was another added layer of chaos.

"It's been a whirlwind for all of us," Ream said, "and I think we're all trying to get back to normal, but it was amazing to see those guys and catch up and talk about the World Cup and how amazing it was."

After the All-Star Game, Ream was asked if he had any advice to hand out to his two younger USMNT teammates. At one point, he was in Arfsten's shoes: a late-riser from the college game that had broken out in MLS and was bound for a new challenge in England.

"Just be yourself," Ream said. "You don't have to change. You don't have to change anything. You've gotten to this level and gotten to the World Cup by being yourself and doing what got you there. I think that's the key of going through a career. We all know there are ups and downs, that it's no different than anything. It's the same as going through life, but if you can be the same person, no matter if you're doing well or struggling, then you're going to be okay."

Arfsten will surely have ups and downs in his new life. The move abroad is hard. The Championship is known to be one of the toughest leagues in the world, due to the fierce competition to reach the Premier League. The fight to stay with the USMNT will be difficult as a new cycle begins and everything changes, with or without a new coach.

At the start of a World Cup cycle, everything is new, particularly for Arfsten, who is immediately leaping into something different. It's been a goal for a while now, and it's one he's now set to achieve. That means new goals are on the horizon. Those will be challenging, too.

"I think scoring goals, getting assists, making noise wherever I'm at, it's just making it hard to not select me," he says. "At the end of the day, that's what it's about. I feel like we can talk about who plays where, who does what, but like I feel like if I'm just always making noise wherever I'm at and just making it hard to not select me, that's my job as a player, and that's what I'm going to try and do."