United States aim for World Cup redemption after recent final failures

Time is flying by, almost unnoticed. Life comes at you fast, and before you know it, we'll be deep into the next World Cup. There's huge anticipation for what will unfold in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026, a tournament that is still 279 days away.

Nations are battling to reach a tournament that already has 16 qualified teams, including the United States national team. Despite not participating in the qualifying phase as hosts, the 'Stars and Stripes' continue to fine-tune their preparations to put on a strong showing.

Participating in a World Cup is a blessing for any country, and even more so for the Americans. That sense of belonging to the USA and that pride are characteristic. 'Soccer' is gradually gaining followers, although there is still a long way to go. That is the Federation's objective: to leverage the FIFA tournament, the first to feature 48 teams, to attract more fans to football and the national team.

Part of that task falls to Mauricio Pochettino, a coach with extensive international experience, to lead the project. Coincidentally, he is the first coach not born in the United States to manage the 'Yanks' in their entire history. The Argentine, on the cusp of his first year as national team coach, is continuing his work despite having two blots on his copybook in two finals: a defeat in the CONCACAF Nations League final against Canada (2-1) and another in the Gold Cup final against Mexico (1-2).

The coach still has eight months to continue testing players and build a starting eleven for the World Cup debut. Pulisic is the leader of the 'Stars and Stripes' and there is a group of players who are attracting a lot of attention. This is the case of Tim Weah, Malik Tillman, Diego Luna, Tyler Adams and Alejandro Zendejas, among others...

The United States are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the World Cup, in which they will participate for the 12th time. Their best performance was the third place they achieved in the first tournament, in Uruguay 1930. Since then, their best result has been the quarter-finals of Korea and Japan 2002. Their last appearance in the tournament was in Qatar.. Now, all eyes will be on them.