Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna & Weston McKennie generating 'a lot of hype' for USMNT as Antonee Robinson admits Copa America hosts will have to deal with 'added pressure'

The United States are preparing to place host to one major tournament in 2024, before attention then switches to another that will be heading to the Americas in 2026. The U.S. will be World Cup co-hosts alongside neighbours Mexico and Canada in two years' time.

The plan is to be fully competitive by then, with the continued development of key men in European football expected to aid that cause. Fulham defender Robinson has told The Athletic of expectation levels rising around stars in England, Italy and Germany: “Nearly everyone in the squad is playing in a European league now, rather than MLS. And it’s a very, very talented squad. You look at the likes of Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna, who are incredible talents. Then Weston, who is an unbelievable player. There’s a lot of hype around that from the American side. With that just comes the added pressure that we want to be competing against the best teams in the world and people see that there’s no reason we can’t.”

The USMNT are making impressive progress, with Robinson laying out his goals for the upcoming Copa: “There’s definitely a little bit of needing to manage expectations. If you look at us, it would be foolish to say that we are the best team in the world, because we know we’re not, we’re not there yet. You look at how some teams have performed and it’s being able to find the ability to beat a team that’s better than you. I’ll take (facing) Argentina going into the final, them having 90 per cent possession and 30 shots on goal, if it means we win 1-0. I don’t care. We want to win the trophy.”

Overcoming Lionel Messi and Argentina will be no easy task, with Brazil and Vinicius Junior also very much in the mix for a prestigious continental prize, but the United States are feeling confident heading into a competition opener against Bolivia on Sunday.