Qualify for 2022, make a run in 2026. I feel like I wrote that many times regarding the United States men's national team during the previous World Cup qualification process. With more major-club talent and more youth than ever, the U.S. seemed in a position to maintain the same roster core over a pretty long period of time.
Exorcizing old qualification demons and getting young guys experience in Qatar seemed like reasonable goals, and those goals were achieved. The U.S. not only qualified for the World Cup with what the CIES Football Observatory deemed the third-youngest squad in the world in 2022; it also survived a tricky group to advance to the knockout rounds.