USMNT boss Gregg Berhalter reveals ambitious goal for World Cup 2026 and says it 'would change soccer in America forever'

Along with Canada and Mexico, the USA will host the next World Cup and Berhalter sees it as a great opportunity to impact football in the North American nation. The USMNT have only ever made it to the semi-finals on one occasion - the first ever World Cup in 1930 - and the manager feels going far once again would make their campaign a success.

He told USAToday: "There's varying degrees of success, in my opinion. But I think it starts with going to a round or getting to a place where we haven't been before. I think that's where you start to say: 'Wow, this group really did something with that. The United States would be crazy. It would change soccer in America forever."

USA's stature in world football has grown over the years, with many top stars now plying their trade across Europe. Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Yunus Musah are all performing well in Italy, while striker Folarin Balogun has become a star in France with Reims and now Monaco. Rising star Giovanni Reyna and goalkeeper Matt Turner are now in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest and Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi are playing for PSV in Netherlands. If their top players continue to excel in competitive leagues, USMNT could put together a strong team in upcoming competitions.

The Stars and Stripes made it to the final four in 1930 because only 13 teams entered the competition and the group stage was immediately followed by the semi-finals. Since then, the farthest they have gone on the global stage is to the quarter-finals, having done so in 2002. Three round-of-16 finishes have followed since then, most recently at the 2022 competition in Qatar.

Berhalter is currently preparing to get his team in order for the Copa America, which takes place in his homeland this summer. They last hosted and competed in the tournament in 2016 and came in fourth place, losing to Argentina in the semi-finals.