The United States men’s national team only needed the first two group stage games to secure a spot in the knockout stage — an electric 4-1 win over Paraguay followed by a sound 2-0 defeat of Australia — at the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup.
U.S. soccer fans nationwide are bleeding red, white, and blue and maybe even tempted to purchase a pet bald eagle as they are starting to believe that the USMNT could actually be one of the last teams standing.
Landon Donovan, the USMNT’s all-time leading scorer, and Tim Howard, the USMNT’s best all-time goalkeeper, are also all-in on this squad. But Donovan is pumping the brakes on the notion that the USMNT can win the Cup.
“These are games we should’ve won, Tim,” Donovan said on “Unfiltered Soccer with Landon Donovan & Tim Howard” on June 19. “Let’s be honest. Like, when the draw came out, we thought it was win, win, we’ll see what happens with Turkiye. So, I know the country — and I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer. I was on my fantasy football text thread this morning, and everyone’s like, ‘We’re gonna win the World Cup!’ And I’m like, ‘OK, settle down. Settle down.’ Like, it’s Australia. This is not a good team.”
Donovan added, “We should be excited, but we’ve not faced a real team.”
Howard agreed with Donovan, noting that he predicted the USMNT’s World Cup run to play out exactly as it has so far.
“Australia and Paraguay are not good teams,” Howard said. “No disrespect because the whistle blew, and the U.S. had to win the games. So, hats off to the U.S. for, by the way, not even winning the games, [but] doing their job, and their job was to blow these teams out. And they did that.”
Donovan and Howard each asserted that they believe that the USMNT is fully capable of reaching the quarterfinal.
The USMNT’s best all-time World Cup performance was a third-place finish in 1930. Since then, the USMNT has exited in the group stage or Round of 16 in nine of its past 10 appearances. The U.S.’s lone quarterfinal appearance resulted in a loss to Germany in 2002.
With help from Paraguay, the USMNT won Group D and will play a third-place finisher out of Group B, E, F, I, or J in the Round of 32 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on July 1.
As of this writing, Bosnia and Herzegovina, third place in Group B, is the USMNT’s most likely Round of 32 opponent. Ecuador, Japan, Senegal, and Jordan are currently the third-place teams in Groups E, F, I, and J, respectively.
The USMNT will finish group play against Turkiye on Thursday, June 25, in what is now a formality matchup. It’s overwhelmingly likely that the USMNT will hold out most of its starters to ensure full health for the knockout stage.
Watch Howard and Landon’s full podcast episode below.
