There’s little optimism to be felt this morning. A perfect storm of events—wins by Honduras and Panama, coupled with a United States loss to Trinidad and Tobago—resulted in a scenario we never thought would happen: the United States failing to book a ticket to Russia.
At this point, it’s difficult to imagine a World Cup without the Yanks, as it should be. A U.S. side that dominated Panama and Honduras in World Cup Qualifying will now watch at least one of those nations compete on the biggest stage in sports.