The United States Men’s Soccer National Team is in the middle of a very important and chaotic period in its history. Following an unremarkable, albeit above par 2022 FIFA World Cup performance, the United States crashed out of the Copa America due to a disastrous 2-1 loss to 35th FIFA ranked Panama. This loss was particularly distressing given that the USA was a joint host of the tournament. In fact, the USA became the first Copa America host country to be eliminated during the group stage of the tournament; that’s not the statistic that optimistic USMNT fans would like to have for a team that they want to become a major competitor in international competitions within the next few years. 

Ironically, the USMNT has been described as being in a “Golden Generation” because they have a wealth of talented players that are playing at high levels all across Europe. Many of these players include Gio Reyna and Tyler Adams who play in the Premier League, Weston McKinnie who plays at Juventus, and Christian Pulisic, dubbed “Captain America,” who is one of AC Milan’s best players. However, despite individual successes, the USMNT has failed to perform as well as the sum of its parts, most recently struggling to tie 1-1 with New Zealand. 

With the United States as a host of the next FIFA World Cup in 2026, the USMNT will be in an international spotlight in the next few years. So the leadership has had to ask themselves the question: does the USMNT need change?

According to them, the answer to that question is yes. The USMNT higher-ups almost instantly fired the head manager, Gregg Berhalter, following the Copa America disaster. As of the writing of this article, the USMNT just announced the hiring of Mauricio Pochettino as manager, which has excited many USMNT fans. Pochettino has coached some of the most elite soccer clubs in the world, including Tottenham, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea. However, despite the positive vibes coming from the US camp, USMNT success is unlikely to come without a top-down restructuring of soccer culture in the United States.

First of all, despite being one of the most populous and sport-crazy nations in the world, the United States has consistently produced worse soccer players than tiny countries like Belgium, Uruguay, and Switzerland. Why? 

Because the commercialization of the game rewards wealth, not talent. In the United States, it costs a fortune to play club soccer, on average over $1k per year, per player. This means that very talented players with massive potential are unable to get valuable playing experience if their family isn’t willing to pay a large fraction of its income to American athletic trainers and greedy youth soccer leagues. Let’s contrast that with Brazil, who’s most recent prodigy, an 18 year old by the name of Endrick, grew up in poverty outside of Brasilia, routinely watching his parents skip meals to save money. 

The cultural difference is evident; if Endrick was born outside Chicago, not Brasilia, he would never have reached the professional level. In Brazil, players that are talented are given the opportunity to succeed and subsequently get scouted by professional clubs, whereas in the United States – keep in mind, a much wealthier and more developed country – players are only given the opportunity to play if they can pay.

But that’s not the only issue that plagues youth development in US Soccer. For players like Endrick, they did not start out playing for the best European clubs in the world; they started in their domestic leagues. For American players, they start in the MLS, which is said to be one of the most backwards leagues in the world. 

The MLS lacks the competition that is present in practically every other league on Earth. Most national league systems include a relegation and promotion system, where teams are rewarded for success and punished for failure. In Germany, for example, their top flight (called a league in America), the Bundesliga, is followed by their second flight, the aptly named Bundesliga 2. Teams that finish in the bottom two places of the Bundesliga are punished for failure by being relegated to the lower league. Conversely, teams that finish in the top two places of the Bundesliga 2 are rewarded by promotion to the Bundesliga proper the next season. 

While it seems cruel to floundering teams, this system is secretly brilliant. This is because of the threat of being removed from the most watched league. Teams are forced to be efficient, competitive, and innovative to stay in the better league. This is part of the reason why Germany consistently produces some of the best players on Earth. The MLS, obviously, has no such system. Teams can fail and fail, over and over again, and receive no punishment for doing so. 

The United States does have a second level soccer league, the USL, but the MLS refuses to establish a promotion and relegation system with the USL because they do not want to share revenue with them. This further underscores the way that greed stifles the growth of US Soccer. 

There’s no denying that Mauricio Pochettino is a great coach and a good move for the USMNT. It’s possible that in the next few years, the USMNT will outperform expectations and give some positive performances in international competitions. With this being said, without addressing the backwards pay-to-play system of American youth soccer, as well as the failures of the MLS to create actual competition and innovation in their league, the number one sports economy in the world will be doomed to tight rivalries with underdeveloped, yet soccer-passionate Central American nations.